Care UK takes innovative approach to Dignity Action Day

Yesterday was Dignity Action Day. Many people are limiting it to just one day though and have stretched it into a Dignity Action week. Keep reading to hear more about the great ways Care UK are celebrating and promoting dignity this week.

Dignity in care is taking centre stage at Care UK this week as teams across the country run a series of events to celebrate Dignity Action Day (1St February).

Teams working in Care UK homes and health services have come up with creative and innovative ideas to show that dignity is vitally important and much more than just about privacy.

Here’s a selection of Care UK Dignity Action Day events:

At Station House care home in Crewe, there will be an exhibition of some of the residents’ New Beginnings books which individually chronicle the experiences of the people living at Station House. These books capture how each resident sees themselves, their world, their interests and favourite activities which in turns helps carers to provide an even better, more personalised service.

At Paisley Court care home in Liverpool, staff and residents have created a tree in the foyer of the home and made paper leaves. Residents, their relatives and visitors to the home will be asked to write what they think dignity means on the leaves and these will be attached to the tree as a reminder and discussion point for everyone associated with the home.

At Jubilee House in Surrey, the manager has enlisted to the help of friends and relatives of residents to run a training session for her team so that they can experience what undignified and bad care might feel like. Staff will be wheeled around the building and not told where they are going and be blindfolded and fed without being told what they are going to eat. The aim of the session in this highly rated home is to remind everyone of how important it is to create and maintain dignity and respect as well as helping develop greater empathy and understanding for those who may have experienced poor care before they came to live at Jubilee House.

This is a training session that we are seeing performed more and more in care homes.  It is an excellent way to put your staff in the residents shoes.  It helps them to understand firsthand the experience of the residents and therefore the things they can do to improve the experience for the resident.

At Riverside care home in Cheshire, the team has encouraged every resident to say what treat or wish they would like on Wednesday then the staff have worked hard to make these wishes come true. Visits to much-loved local places, playing special pieces of music and choosing favourite menus have already been put in place. The Hinton Grange home team in Cambridgeshire have done something similar but with the added twist of creating a wish tree where the residents’ wishes will be displayed once they have been granted.

Patients attending two of Care UK’s health services will be offered a relaxing hand or head massage.

Other homes such as Mill Lodge in Yorkshire will be signing up a group of new dignity champions and residents at Whitby Dene in Middlesex have chosen to put cake making and at the centre of their dignity day celebrations.

Allison Kennie, Manager at Paisley Court home said: “At Care UK, we always strive to ensure that our residents’ wishes are fulfilled, that they lead the life they choose and that they have the privacy and care they want. So for Dignity Action Week we thought it would be good for all of us to take a step back and look at what other people see as being the important elements of dignity so that we can improve our care even more.”

Care UK should be commended for their fantastic efforts to promote dignity in their homes this week and throughout the year.

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