Activities at Rivermead Care Home

This month we have been encouraging creativity through painting and crafts! The residents have been exploring different pattern styles using bright colours and homemade painting tools.

These small individual activities can provide mental stimulation, social interaction and gentle hand movements to support their fine motor skills. The residents who took part thoroughly enjoyed the experience of using alternative painting tools that they handmade themselves.

The residents had a fantastic go at our target practice exercises this month.  

These small exercises aim to deliver some gentle, yet fun chair exercise whilst trying to hit the jackpot in the middle of the target. This activity also provides some sensory exploration for those who like to engage with tactile objects.

Smiles and laughter could be seen on the residents faces and eager to continue with the activity.

This November we are taking part in a one month trial to explore the wonders of technology.  The company www.recreovr.co.uk are in partnership with the Alzheimer's Society and we are thrilled to be joining this experience.

We have been encouraging the residents to explore some of the wonderful places that they can visit virtually and the feedback we have had has been amazing with comments such as;

"that's something different" , “that tree looks like the back of my house” , “ I can see the animals walking around” , all of this feedback was met with laughs and smiles from the residents who were brave enough to try this new experience.

Barchester’s Rivermead care home, in Norton, was a den of ghoulish activity as the home’s spooky Halloween afternoon party got in to full swing.

Residents and staff got in to the spirit of things by decorating the home, holding a pumpkin carving morning, having a disco with Halloween-themed songs from our musical entertainer Martin then followed by some of the residents favourite songs that we had a lovely sing and dance to.

Rivermead was filled with the sound of wonderful music this October by the talented Martin and his guitar. Martin has fantastic engagement with the residents, using his comedic personality to grab their attention and even take requests of songs. Music really has an amazing effect on our memory lane community, bringing some of their favourite songs to life, seeing them sing and dance. Our music enthusiast, Beryl, was overjoyed to have a special spontaneous serenade as martin sang beautifully to her. Not only was this a fantastic group experience, Martin also took the time to play for those who could not join us in the lounge as they received a special one to one performance in their rooms.

Our Garden was full of smiles and fury feathers this October as we were visited by a birds of prey rescue centre. This experience was such a wonderful way for the residents to enjoy some animal interaction, especially for those who have a love for animals, but also for those who may not have experienced it before. Our big animal lover, Vivian, was full of questions for the handler such as their natural habitats and food sources, how he came to own them, how old they were, and commenting on their general beauty. The handler was so patient and kind with each of our residents, giving them time to pet the birds, but also reassuring some of the residents that were slightly wary in the beginning.