Why are we the best care home in Derbyshire? : Ivonbrook Care Homes, Claire Wright.
If you’re looking for the best care home in Derbyshire, it helps to have a checklist of a few key points to look for when selecting a place for your elderly relatives to live. All the tips listed in this article are part of the best practice used at Ivonbrook and Darley Hall.
Wellness For The Elderly
Wellness in the elderly can be promoted in a number of ways, such as regular exercise, activities, diet, and personal care. Wellness in the elderly is of paramount importance because when your mind, body, and spirit remain strong and you maintain healthy habits, you are less likely to develop chronic diseases and lower the risk of reduced mobility.
The following explains what we offer at Ivonbrook Properties to promote the different aspects of wellbeing.
Exercise Classes
When looking for the best care home, you’ll want to be sure that your loved ones are not being left to sit, but instead are being encouraged to “keep moving”. We have regular exercise classes especially developed for the elderly every Monday, we then also have specially developed yoga classes that not only promote mobility but through meditation can help calm residents and promote healthy emotional habits.
Regular exercise can help residents remain independent for longer and studies have shown that it can help reduce the risk of heart diseases, high blood pressure and some forms of dementia.
When we age our bodies can decline in function and physical exercise can help slow that decline and help residents maintain a better quality of life.
Exercise can also improve mental health as it helps us produce endorphins, which acts as natural stress relief and leaves residents feeling happy within themselves.
A Balanced Diet
Nutrition is important no matter your age, but in the elderly, it can be vital. As the elderly’s bodily functions begin to slow, it is important to ensure that they get everything they need to remain healthy.
This includes diets that are rich in fibre, vitamins, and nutrients. Good nutrition can help prevent (or slow) diseases such as osteoporosis, high blood pressure, heart disease and many more. Our wonderful care coordinator checks and updates our menu’s regularly to create one that is varied but contains everything our residents’ needs.
At mealtimes, residents are still offered a choice of what they would like to eat, but all options are balanced and specially designed to promote their wellbeing.
We also have a close care centre where residents can grab a snack in a more casual setting.
Social needs
We as humans are social creatures by nature, this does not go away with age and in fact, our social needs become higher. In our care homes, residents have many communal areas where social interaction can be promoted.
These rooms are designed to feel homely and warm while being set up in a way that encourages residents to speak with each other and develop friendships.
Unfortunately, not all of our residents are able to get out of bed and therefore can not venture to these areas, our wonderful activities lead set aside time to go into the bedrooms of these residents and speak with them to ensure their social needs are met.
Studies have shown that regular social interaction can lead to happier and more fulfilled lives, promoting better long-term mental health in the elderly.
Creative activities
Creative activities can help boost cognitive function within the elderly through stimulation, it helps keep them sharp and alert.
Examples of creative activities on offer at Ivonbrook are Art for wellbeing classes, making Bath bombs, Knit and Natter club, painting, card making and many, many more. It is a wonderful way for residents to socialise and can boost their self-esteem.
We proudly display our resident’s artwork on the walls and have turned the corridors between bedrooms into an ever-changing artwork gallery.
Cognitive Activities
Cognitive activities such as maths games or Bingo are a fun way of stimulating our residents. They allow residents to practice critical thinking, decision making improves memory and can help prevent cognitive decline. At Ivonbrook we try to ensure a healthy mix of activities to keep the residents interested and stimulated. Leading to improved long term mental health, higher self-esteem, and improved memory.
Self-Esteem/Self-image
Studies have shown that a person’s self-esteem begins to decline around 60 years old, it is important for a resident’s mental health that they maintain or gain a good self-image.
This is promoted within the care homes by having a hairdresser in each home, having a beautician coming in to do nails and helping the residents choose their clothes in the morning.
Once a resident has come into a communal area our friendly and polite staff will comment on an aspect of a resident’s appearance, whether this is “I love that shirt on you” or “have you just had your hair done, it looks lovely” or “I love that nail polish colour, it looks beautiful on you”.
This can really boost a resident’s self-image leading to better mental health in the long run, which can slow cognitive decline.
Learn More About Our Derbyshire Care Homes
We have two beautiful care homes in the Derbyshire countryside. Darley Hall and Ivonbrook. We accept residents from all over the county, but many of the residents are local from towns and villages such as Matlock, Darley Dale, Matlock Bath, Rowsley, Winster and Bakewell.
Get in touch to learn more about all our wonderful facilities.