My way every day, - a summary of 25 care home surveys
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A summary of a series of Enter & View visits to 25 care homes in Surrey, interviewing staff, residents and in some cases family and visitors. The reports investigate the extent to which activity-based care has been tailored to the individual needs of Surrey care home residents.
Managers and staff showed that they understood their responsibilities and could define what it meant to deliver meaningful activities in the context of person-centred care. However it was noted that some residents had not been asked what they would like to do, offered alternatives or provided with an explanation if their needs could not be met.
Across the care homes, there was evidence of a rich mix of experiences and examples of the type of activities which were valued by residents and, when asked, family.
There was less evidence of residents’ involvement in tasks around the home and there were also examples of restricted access for wheelchair users..
Less than half the homes visited reported that they organised day trips for residents to go out for part or all of the day.
Family, friends, volunteers and community organisations, such as churches and schools, and entertainers were providing residents with important connections to the outside world
in all the homes visited. More creative ways of enabling residents to enjoy outside space,
maintain regular contact with family, and friends, for example through social media, Skype and access to the internet, was evident in some of the homes but not consistently made available across all the homes visited.
Overall, the visits demonstrated that both managers and their staff had a sound understanding of what it means to deliver both one to one and group activities within person-centred care. However, whilst there is a range of meaningful activities in care homes which support a high level of understanding, it is not yet standard practice and available for all residents, and particularly those living in smaller care homes or in homes with a recent inadequate inspection rating.