Red Court Care Home in Grantham launches new club to support residents with dementia

A Grantham care home has set up a new club to help residents suffering with advanced dementia.

Red Court Care Community, in St Edmunds Court, has launched a specialist club called ‘Forget Me Not’.

The group is specifically designed to provide adapted and specialist activities such as balloon tennis, soft games, talking workshops and tea parties for those with advanced dementia.

Manager Gabriela Bucek said it meant that there were now a number of additional weekly resources to help dementia residents who struggle to fully interact with mainstream activities.

She explained: “At Red Court Care Home we have always been committed to providing the very best care tailored to every resident’s specific need.

“All of our activities are accessible and available for every resident to enjoy.

“However, we wanted to create a group which went one step further and offered specialist activities for our residents suffering with advanced stages of dementia.

“This meant offering adapted activities for individuals who struggle to relax and interact as well as more time to learn and understand how to engage with these specific activities.

“Forget Me Not has been really well received and it has been amazing to see the residents’ faces light up as they try out some of the new activities.”

Activity coordinator Andrea McCartney has carried out additional training courses to set up the group including industry training from The Health Care Training Company on activities for those with dementia level two, reminiscence and life review and Getting the most out of your care activities.

She said: “We recently held a balloon tennis session and we found residents were struggling to understand what to do to start or even remember to lift their hand to play.

“By the end of the session two residents were able to hit the balloon to one another. It may seem a simple thing, but it was such an achievement, and it was fantastic to see their faces light up as they began to play.”

Other activities have included using tea pots and crockery to eat afternoon tea together. It is all about rebuilding memories and helping to reassociate activities to keep the brain active.

They now hope to be able to further develop and grow the group as residents continue to see the benefits.