27 May 2009
Kathys Club aimed to provide a service to elderly residents in a Dementia only care home; the service was a set of 6 interactive and fun sessions, each with a different theme. We felt the sessions would act as an initial bridge bewteen volunteers and residents, and provide a starting point for future befriending relationships. We feel we achieved our aims entirely! This was possible through our strong volunteer set and a lot of time and effort in organisation; but it was all worth it in the end.
Our client group had particular needs & issues to be
considered, however we tried to tailor our project to reflect this and managed to do so in an innovative way. For training, we managed to persuade a leading Camden Council Manager to train our volunteers for free; through this contact we also managed to set up a relationship with Branch Hill House, which was the home our sessions were delivered in.
A little more about our sessions.... The activities covered a range
of communication methods e.g. using the senses (hand-exercises, music, art,
drama, conversing, aromatherapy, reminiscing). Our volunteers loved our sessions so much that some of our
volunteers are continuing to visit residents at Branch Hill House.
However, we were careful in our choice of volunteers, because working with vulnerable Dementia patients is very demanding. We insisted that all volunteers attend the training and induction sessions but we also made ourselves available for queries and concerns both via email and in pre-project meetings. We also feel that in becoming friends with our volunteers they learnt to appreciate the work we put in and value their commitment to the project.
We have had much positive feedback from the Care Home we volunteered in. We were told by the manager that the "well-being" of the residents definitely increased when Kathy's Club visited, and the residents themselves had a visibly good time; they actively participated in the sessions and enjoyed the activities we ran! Approximately 50 residents participated each session.
However, the residents were not the only people who benefited from our sessions; the care staff were able to have a little break in their busy day and, in observing our sessions, felt they leant much in terms of engaging with their clients. Many of the staff would ask us questions about what we were doing and why it was important, and volunteers were only to happy to involve them too in some sessions e.g. aromatherapy.
We both really enjoyed organizing this project, we feel we improved our inter-personal skills and also our organization and time management. Our fondest memory was when Jazz society came to play for the residents for the music session; it turned into an ab initio sing song!
Thank you J49 for helping us fulfill our aim!
Our client group had particular needs & issues to be
considered, however we tried to tailor our project to reflect this and managed to do so in an innovative way. For training, we managed to persuade a leading Camden Council Manager to train our volunteers for free; through this contact we also managed to set up a relationship with Branch Hill House, which was the home our sessions were delivered in.
A little more about our sessions.... The activities covered a range
of communication methods e.g. using the senses (hand-exercises, music, art,
drama, conversing, aromatherapy, reminiscing). Our volunteers loved our sessions so much that some of our
volunteers are continuing to visit residents at Branch Hill House.
However, we were careful in our choice of volunteers, because working with vulnerable Dementia patients is very demanding. We insisted that all volunteers attend the training and induction sessions but we also made ourselves available for queries and concerns both via email and in pre-project meetings. We also feel that in becoming friends with our volunteers they learnt to appreciate the work we put in and value their commitment to the project.
We have had much positive feedback from the Care Home we volunteered in. We were told by the manager that the "well-being" of the residents definitely increased when Kathy's Club visited, and the residents themselves had a visibly good time; they actively participated in the sessions and enjoyed the activities we ran! Approximately 50 residents participated each session.
However, the residents were not the only people who benefited from our sessions; the care staff were able to have a little break in their busy day and, in observing our sessions, felt they leant much in terms of engaging with their clients. Many of the staff would ask us questions about what we were doing and why it was important, and volunteers were only to happy to involve them too in some sessions e.g. aromatherapy.
We both really enjoyed organizing this project, we feel we improved our inter-personal skills and also our organization and time management. Our fondest memory was when Jazz society came to play for the residents for the music session; it turned into an ab initio sing song!
Thank you J49 for helping us fulfill our aim!
18 January 2009
Kathy's club will run this term for 6 weeks. We offer induction to our fabulous care home, Branch Hill House, and will be working with 50 Dementia patients. It's going to be a lot of fun!
30 November 2008
We had a fantastic Dementia Awareness training session given to us by the head of Camden Counil Care Homes Paula Peake for FREE. We hope the volunteers benefited from this session.
Watch out for information coming to you over the Christmas period,
Sanj + Soph
Watch out for information coming to you over the Christmas period,
Sanj + Soph
27 October 2008
Sanjay and I had a meeting today with our supervisor Nadia Cole and Paula (our trainer) who has put together a fabulous training course specifically aimed at our project (for which we've extremely grateful!) We've both very excited about the course our project is taking!
21 October 2008
Hey everyone,
Kathy's Club is on the radar! Watch out for our publication in the UCL HALO magazine, and don't hesitate to get in touch if you're interested!
Sophie + Sanjay xx
Kathy's Club is on the radar! Watch out for our publication in the UCL HALO magazine, and don't hesitate to get in touch if you're interested!
Sophie + Sanjay xx