Activities at Beeston View Memory Lane Community

Hands up - who would like a bit of pampering?

We all love being pampered. Relieving stress is one of the biggest benefits of our Pamper Sessions at Beeston View.

There is growing evidence that the well-being of people living with dementia can be significantly improved through the use of therapeutic touch and massage. This is our aim when holding our sessions, which involve not only massage but manicures and foot spas too.

Whether the activity involves putting brush to paper or assembling images into a collage, expression through the visual arts can powerfully improve the quality of life for people with dementia.

Guided art activities can rekindle a sense of self in people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias by facilitating a reconnection with long-term memories.

Art therapy helps patients cope with anxiety and encourages meaningful reminiscence.

For people with dementia, activities have a different value. While providing an excellent vehicle for emotional release and social connection, art can also enhance cognitive functioning by helping individuals tap into brain functions that remain relatively intact, including long-term memory systems. "When we talk about art, we always talk about the creative process and the emotional process, but it's important for us to recognize that art allows people with Alzheimer's disease to use their preserved cognitive skills. People are very surprised that those living with dementia can create such beautiful art. Every time you see someone's mouth drop is a time that you decrease the stigma of what it means to have Alzheimer's disease.

We have continued regular Arts and Crafts Sessions at Beeston View. Recently we have been holding Adult colouring afternoons with the residents.

It’s easy to assume that colouring – with pencils, felt-tips, crayons – is just an activity designed for children. But colouring books for adults are the latest ‘wellbeing trend’ designed to help you feel calmer and happier. Millions of adults are finding it satisfying and relaxing to spend time colouring.

If you think back to those days as a child when you were sat down with a colouring book and a pack of crayons or felt-tips, very often you would be engrossed for hours.

In reality, these beneficial effects don’t go away once you’re an adult. It’s simply that many adults are too busy doing other things to make time to sit down and do an activity that seems so child-like and indulgent. But now people are returning to colouring as a means of relaxation and in a bid to find some inner calm and peace.

Colouring can be very beneficial for people with dementia, as it is an engrossing activity that anyone can do. You don’t have to be good at drawing – you just have to be able to colour in shapes. It can be a useful activity to help ease agitation or aggression in someone with dementia, as it is very distracting and calming. Some experts have likened the effect of colouring to be the same as meditation. Like meditation, colouring lets you switch off your brain from other thoughts – which for someone with dementia can be very satisfying – and focus on the moment.

What’s more, it seems colouring isn’t just a great de-stressing tool. It can also help you remember things. A study in 2009 looked at the benefits of doodling (which is quite similar in its actions to colouring) to see if it could help information retention.

Colouring is also a very inclusive activity, and is ideal for all ages, including grandchildren, but we are sensitive to the types of colouring books and sheets that we give your loved one with dementia. It’s inappropriate and demeaning to give them a colouring book that is quite clearly designed for young children.

However, we are also aware that you should also not go too far in the other direction either. If your loved one with dementia has lost some of their manual dexterity and struggles to hold pens and pencils, a very delicate and intricate picture could cause more stress if they struggle to colour within the lines. It is for this reason we have a wide variety of pictures available.

To celebrate a resident's incredible feat of reaching 79 years of age, staff at Beeston View threw a tea party for her.

The young lady was taking a trip out with her family in the afternoon, so we celebrated in the morning instead with lots of tea & cake and plenty of singing of dancing. She had a great morning and enjoyed receiving all of the attention.

For Easter this year, we celebrated with an "Easter Bonnet" show from the Memory Lane Theatre Company. Joe and Susan put on a great show with lots of singing and dancing and plenty of audience participation. They even had Lynne (our Senior Activities Coordinator) dress up as an Easter bunny and dance around, much to everyone's amusement.

As always, they put on a great show and residents from both Beeston View and Iddenshall Hall had a thoroughly entertaining afternoon.

Beeston View enjoyed a birthday bash on Saturday 9th April, as one of the residents turned 86.

We held a small celebratory tea party for her with banners, balloons and a lovely cake made by Bronym from the kitchen. She had a couple of visitors in the afternoon who helped us celebrate and we all sang "Happy Birthday." Margaret was slightly overwhelmed but overjoyed with her celebrations.