Creating a dementia friendly environment
Albert Edward Prince of Wales Court lies in the seaside town of Porthcawl along the south coast of Wales. The Home provides residential care, nursing, and residential dementia support. With its strong ties to the community, the Albert Edward Prince of Wales Court was a perfect choice for a pilot home for a new dementia accreditation introduced within the group.
Looking at ways to enhance independence, introduce appropriate levels of stimulation and create more opportunities for social interaction Alison Aberdeen, contacted Find Memory Care.
After talking to Alison and conducting one of our free dementia environmental visits, it was decided, there were four areas to cover:
- The windows
- The exit doors
- The walls
- Interactive furniture and activities
The improvements to the environment
The home had already introduced coloured Door Cals to help residents with dementia to locate their bedrooms but wanted to go further, so the following additions have been added:
Windows
Alison had already seen window vinyl applications we had introduced in other settings and decided these would be perfect for full-length windows in the three long corridors in Ireland House. With different visuals to help identify the corridors, our light enabling dementia window vinyl gives an immediate impact and looks like borders or flower beds.
Dementia Friendly Wall Murals
The murals were designed to create three very different corridors and a central area. The main corridor includes the Dining Room, Newsagents, Gift Shop and Flower Shop. Something for everyone from magazines and newspapers, seaside items readily found at shops near the beach to flowers that can be used to brighten any room.
The central area has access to the newly created Cocco’s Tea Room which has proven to be very popular with both residents, visitors, and staff. The tearoom has created a relaxing and appealing setting where residents can go, sit chat, and get a drink and snack which in turn helps aid hydration and nutrition. There is also a Fruit and Veg Market Stall, a Post Office, and a Hardware Store – particularly important for activities aimed at the gentlemen.
One corridor has garden access, and this is the seaside corridor, with local pictures of Porthcawl. We have created a hat shop near the doors to enable residents to wrap up in a scarf or sun hat before going outdoors. The final corridor has been created with Welsh history of castles – great talking points for local people.
The Outcome
The residents have defined areas to use. The Dining Room is open with the Newsagents just outside so a resident can take a magazine and sit with a drink and read quietly.
There is a wonderful Tea Room where drinks and snacks will be made available throughout the day to help encourage high levels of hydration and nutrition.
Alison and the team at the home are thrilled with the outcome, as are the team at Find Memory Care. Thanks also to Mark and Scott at Jaydec Ltd from Huddersfield, who did a fantastic job installing everything.