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Manor House Team

Manor House Team Building Event

By Manor Housein Activities

Our Team building event was a huge success!

This May, the team who work on the Village Unit were invited to a team building event in the Hub.

The event was held at 5pm to allow the day team to attend after their shift and the night team to attend before their evening started.  Brenda, Unit Manager said, “it was really important that both the day and night team could attend, otherwise they are like ships that pass in the night”

Catering was provided by the home, and everyone brought in dishes from home, allowing colleagues to try foods from lots of different cultures.

They played party games like bingo, a back-to-back balloon game, and balloon pass the parcel using their legs.

Bertha, Unit Manager said, “the event was a huge success and so much fun, we all laughed and talked – it was wonderful.  

“It was really important that we gave our team the time and the right environment to really get to know each other and build friendships.  We have a lot of employees here through sponsorships and for some of them, they are new, not only to the home but the country, therefore, to be able to socialise and make friends really adds to their life and wellbeing.  When you work in care it’s important that the team can work well together; to support each other through emotionally challenging times and to share in the great times.  We form very close connections to our residents and each other making the Manor House like one big family”. 

Many other members of the team from across the home including the activities team and housekeeping popped in to share in the fun.

Jayne Wood, Director of Nursing said, “focusing on the wellbeing of our team is of the upmost importance to us at the Manor House, events like this offer a chance for our team to bond, to make friendships and to know we champion their wellbeing – in order to deliver the best possible care for our residents, we have to also care for our amazing staff.”

Kenhinde, who joined the Manor 3 months ago as a care assistant on a sponsorship role said of the event:

“It’s a beautiful feeling when you work, and your employers appreciate you by creating an avenue where you can come and dine together. Such gestures make you feel loved, welcomed and relaxed that you are at home among people who care about you. And it makes you give your best to the job you are supposed to do. Thanks for an amazing outing today my dear Unit manager. I had fun and enjoyed myself. It’s been a while since I had such fun.”

If you would like to discover how rewarding a career in care can be, find our latest vacancies here.

Wear a Hat Day at Manor House

Wear A Hat Day Fundraiser

By Manor Housein Activities

On Saturday, 15th April, we held our first monthly charity coffee afternoon. Our chosen charity for the month was Brain Tumour Research UK, with us donning hats for their Wear A Hat Day theme.

Great fun was had at the coffee afternoon, with residents, relatives and staff enjoying refreshments and yummy home bakes.

We raised £54.20; thanks to all residents, staff and relatives for the kind donations and support.

Wear A Hat Day is an annual fundraising event founded by the Brain Tumour Research Foundation. It encourages people to wear their most stylish (or out-there) headgear and help raise money to fund scientific research. One in three people knows someone affected by this devastating disease, killing more people under the age of 40 than any other. 

No cure currently exists, which is why it’s so important for us to do what we can to support brain tumour research and the brilliant minds working tirelessly to find a cure.

Wear A Hat Day is a family of three fantastic annual fundraising events. Brain Tumour Research’s next event is Wear A Hat Day with Flowers, on Friday, 23rd June, perfect for fancy fundraiser summer fun. Why not don your flower-covered hats or wear your flowery shirts and skirts and support this amazing charity! Find out all you need to know here – Brain Tumour Research | Together we will find a cure

We will be selecting a different charity to support each month. The next charity coffee afternoon is planned for the 27th of May at 2-4 pm in The Hub, and we will be supporting Dementia Awareness UK. We hope to see you there!

Celebration at Manor House

Activities Round Up – April

By Manor Housein Activities

At the Manor House, there is a real focus on activities, both group and one to one, with residents having opportunities seven days a week. We understand the importance of keeping the residents active and engaged in interests and social occasions to promote good mental and physical health. 

April activities started with a baking session, with residents and staff making crispy cakes and butterfly cupcakes. Our residents don’t just like to eat cake; many also enjoy creating their own cakes and bakes!

Easter crafts kept us busy, with some beautiful creations being made to decorate the home. The weather was kind to us over Easter weekend, so we made the most of it by spending as much time out in the garden as possible. A surprise visit from the Easter Bunny made our day, with all residents and staff receiving treats.

National Caramel Day gave us a good reason to treat ourselves to some delicious caramel hot milk and coffee. Let’s just say the date is already marked in the calendar for next year!

We planted sunflowers seeds in the middle of April to add to our beautiful garden. They have already sprouted through, and we can’t wait to see them grow. We will keep you updated on progress via our social media accounts.

National Pet Day saw two special guests visit us at Manor House. Rocky and Dolly were welcomed with open arms, representing our much-loved Pet Therapy team. Pets have the most positive impact on the lives of humans; we are so fortunate to have all the dogs visit us.

We held our first charity coffee morning in April, supporting Brain Tumour Research UK. Great fun was had, with everyone enjoying refreshments and yummy home bakes. We raised £54.20. Thanks to all residents, staff and relatives for the kind donations and support.

Preparations for Coronation Day started early, with us making crowns and decorations to ensure we were all ready for such a special occasion. Residents thoroughly enjoyed the crafting sessions, with everyone looking forward to celebrating!

National Banana Day was the perfect excuse for making banana bread muffins and sampling Shmoo banana milkshakes. These made for a tasty, healthy afternoon snack, full of potassium and good for hydration levels.

The staff got kitted out with fancy dress to help celebrate St George’s Day. There was a special dinner to mark the occasion, along with a quiz and crosswords.

We played Royal Prize Bingo in the lead-up to the Coronation and also had a quiz afternoon. Both were very popular with our residents, so we will be making sure to schedule plenty more in the coming months.

As always, our danceSing sessions went down a storm. We celebrated International Day of Dance with a special session where residents and staff enjoyed getting involved. Dance has excellent benefits, including improved posture and a better overall sense of well-being.

The activities schedule is already well underway for May, with many activities to look forward to. As always, we welcome visitors to come along and join in the fun!

 

Hydration Talk

By Manor Housein Activities

 

As part of Nutrition & Hydration Week, we held an afternoon information session focusing on foods with a high water content to help keep us healthy. Whilst listening to the talk, residents sampled a variety of foods that help contribute to reaching the recommended water intake each day to ensure their bodies have enough fluids to function properly. As you can imagine, the food tasting was most popular, and the residents commented on how interesting they found the presentation. Did you know that 60% of our body is made of water?! A lot of our water consumption comes from various fruits and vegetables, with water-rich foods helping to keep hydration at steady levels.

Water is essential to almost all bodily functions, from lubricating our joints to pumping blood to our hearts. Older adults are more prone to becoming dehydrated for a number of reasons, including a diminished sense of thirst, so it was an excellent topic to discuss to help educate residents to make good choices when selecting food. Minor changes to a resident’s diet can go a long way to improving health and avoiding dehydration. Hydration is not only essential for a healthy body but is also vital for a healthy mind. 

Sophie, Facilities Manager, said, “The residents showed much interest in the talk and asked many relevant questions. A better understanding of the importance of being well-hydrated allows our residents to make good choices and be involved in their care. These information sessions are well received at the Manor House to educate and raise awareness of important topics that impact everyone. Having extended our service offering to provide specialist care for dementia patients and people with complex mental health conditions, we ensure information sessions, and all activities are tailored to suit the requirements of all residents.”

Seniors are more vulnerable to dehydration for several reasons, with appetite and thirst diminishing with age. At the Manor House, we ensure there are many opportunities for residents to hydrate throughout the day. Well-planned meals and snacks ensure residents reach the recommended levels of hydration. 

Cucumbers, watermelon, lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes and celery are water-rich foods. Soups, broths and stews are excellent ways to boost fluid intake and are popular with residents over the colder months. Milk is more hydrating than water, so breakfast is an ideal opportunity to start the day by adding milk to cereal and tea. Mid-afternoon snacks such as milkshakes also help boost hydration. A glass of water at residents’ bedsides ensures they can top up their hydration levels if needed through the night.

The Activities Team has lots more informative sessions planned over the coming months. As always, we welcome family and friends to come along.

hydration nutrition

 

Manor House – Activities All Year Round

By Manor Housein Activities

The Manor House Activities Team has recently increased in size to ensure the residents can participate in activities 7 days a week, 365 days a year, providing them with a jam-packed calendar of social activities to enjoy.

The team now includes Sonia, Emma, Mandy and Becci, managed by Sophie. Collectively they ensure the residents have plenty of life satisfaction through brilliant activities every day of the week, with their shared goal to “make residents happy”. The Activities Coordinator’s role is vital to the residents, supporting their well-being and movement, improving their quality of life, and providing some much-needed structure.

The activities programme caters to all residents’ needs and preferences, providing our residents with a happy, enriching environment. Both structured and spontaneous activities are held, individually or in groups, involving family and friends. Activities Coordinator Emma says, “our job is about bringing some sunshine on a rainy day. I go home happy every day because I love my job.”

The Activities Team move around the home, and everybody receives a one-to-one activity once a week. Those who cannot get to the Hub enjoy the activity in their room, tailored where necessary based on the individual needs of the residents. Sonia says, “Just being able to get one person to join in one activity is a benefit, but we get so many people involved, and to see people smile is wonderful.” Tailoring activities to residents’ personal identity has helped stir some lovely conversations between them, other residents and staff members.

Sensory stimulation activities also feature on our activities calendar, assisting non-verbal residents in recalling positive memories, reinforcing relationships, and helping create a calm environment.

Our fully equipped minibus will allow us to take residents on more trips out and about, helping make links with the wider community. We look forward to introducing even more activities to the Manor House over the Spring and Summer months, including a trip to the seaside and Amerton Farm.

Jayne, Director of Nursing, says, “our Activities Team have such an important role in our care provision. Their happiness and enthusiasm radiate through the home. We see residents who you wouldn’t expect to, up on their feet, dancing and having a lot of fun, smiles and laughter. They, of course, balance this with personal and sensitive one-to-one activities for those residents who need it.”

Image from left to right: Sonia, Emma, Sophie, Mandy, Becci

Happy Residents at Manor House

DanceSing has launched at The Manor House

By Manor Housein Activities

We’ve partnered with DanceSing to introduce a new programme to improve the wellbeing of our residents.

DanceSing is an online health and well-being platform our activities team and carers will use throughout the nursing home to help to improve the overall wellbeing of our residents by focusing on their movement through music and dance.

DanceSing will give our team access to a wealth of very carefully designed videos created with the needs of people such as those who live at The Manor at heart.  Every single video has been designed in collaboration with experts in their field including the NHS to ensure the choice of movement, the music, the words and actions are all safe and beneficial.

Natalie Garry, Founder and Managing Director said, “every single movement has a purpose.  When we encourage reaching for the stars, we’re working on the pincher movement which can help someone to do up their own buttons or put their toothpaste on their toothbrush, when we encourage our groups to pinch their bottoms, we’re using the muscles needed to stand up.  The movements are vital for improving circulation and posture, we use repetition to build confidence, which builds strengths and over time you start to see the benefits.

Increasing physical movements are linked to improvements in someone’s sleep, appetite, and overall well-being.  We’re delighted that the team at Manor House share in our vision.  Moving each day and listening to music will bring significant physical and mental health benefits for both residents and staff. Even those who are unable to fully engage, just being in the room, part of a group, watching and listening will feel the benefits. Our goal is to help people boost their general mood and wellbeing, unlock memories through song, dance, and music; improve speech, memory, circulation, movement, flexibility, and strength and enjoy being part of a group and experience the feeling of togetherness.”

Angela Sands, Director of Operations said, “The values of DanceSing align with our own.  It offers a dignified approach to activities that use techniques backed by research and created with health professions to offer a programme that acknowledges people’s intelligence and their interests using music they are familiar with.

The programme will be used by both the activities team and our carers throughout the home.  We’ve set it up on every television and following a successful launch of the trial which included training for our team we’re hoping this will become part of our daily routine at The Manor House. We’ll be reviewing the impact of the programme in 6 weeks’ time, and if we see the positive impact, we are optimistic for after the 3-month trial, DanceSing will become a permanent part of everything offered at the Manor House.  We’re especially impressed with the research that backs this programme and the proven improvements it can offer people with mental health needs such as dementia.

This comes at an incredible time for The Manor House as our plans for improvement and our vision for the home are coming to fruition as demonstrated by the recent CQC report, read the report here.

Keep your eye on our Facebook page for photos and videos of DanceSing at The Manor House.

 

Dementia Care Home

An afternoon of animal delights  

By Manor Housein Activities

On Wednesday 18th October we were visited by a number of special guests – cute ones, eight legged ones, scaley ones and fluffy ones as alpacas, spiders, snakes and guinea pigs, to name just a few came to spend an afternoon with us.

Knightly Alpaca Trekking and The Animal Club came to The Manor House with a wonderful menagerie of animals.  Our residents took it in turns to pet and hold the animals both in The Hub and throughout the nursing home.

Angela Sands, Operations Director commented, “it was a super day for both our staff and residents.  The smiles on the faces of our residents were lovely to see.  What made the day even more special was being able to take the Alpacas into different parts of the home, so no-one missed out.  I think Betty was most delighted to see an Alpaca in her bedroom!

It’s important that we make sure all of our residents get to take part in our activities, and if for any reason they can’t go to The Hub, we take the activity to them.”

According to a study of animal assisted activity among older adults in the journal Geriatric Nursing, animal interaction can reduce anxiety and loneliness in older adults. As little as 12 minutes of animal interaction may also improve lung and heart health by lowering blood pressure and reducing the release of epinephrine, which increases heart rate and can cause anxiety.

Jayne Wood, Director of Nursing commented ‘petting animals brings many clinical benefits for our residents, as well as happiness and comfort which all help create a feeling of contentment.

Pet or animal therapy (also known as animal assisted therapy) uses animals as a form of companionship and treatment for people of all ages.  The aim of therapy can be to improve emotional, social, or cognitive abilities.

We often bring animals into the nursing home as research has proved that they can increase levels of oxytocin in our bodies which is the stress reducing hormone, whilst also decreasing the production of cortisol which is a producer of stress, we also find that residents are more likely to join in with group activities when a therapy pet is around which helps to build friendships and companionship”.

Keep your eye on our Facebook page to see the regular activities we hold for our residents.

Nursing Home Services

Our Jubilee Garden Party

By Manor Housein Activities

On Saturday 4th June we opened our doors for a Jubilee Garden Party to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with our residents, friends, family and the team.

After so long of being unable to host parties, it was just wonderful to welcome so many people to The Manor House.  We dressed the gardens with marquees and bunting, had lots of fun with themed props and activities, and enjoyed lovely food.

At The Manor House we make the most of occasions like this.  Some of our residents remember the Queen’s coronation therefore to celebrate the Jubilee has been really important.  We make these occasions as fun as possible; not only are they great fun for our residents but to be able to welcome friends and family too gives everyone a great chance to spend time together and get to know one another.  We want relatives to know the team here – and we enjoy getting to know you too!

We’d like to thank everyone who came and for all of the generous donations. All funds raised will go towards our activities team so we can buy more equipment and arrange even more activities for our residents – whether it’s seeds and pots for our keen gardeners, or baking utensils for cake making, paint, pens, jigsaws – we like to ensure there’s always lots to choose from to suit all of our residents’ needs and tastes.

We’ve always enjoyed welcoming people into the home and look forward to many more events soon!

Happy Birthday Ian

By Manor Housein Activities

This Sunday marked a very special occasion here at the Manor House as the family of one of our residents, Ian, were able to join him for a Birthday Party here in The Hub.

It’s no secret that the last 17 months have been tough on everyone due to limitations on visiting due to Covid-19.  To be able to see families together like this at The Manor House made this an extra special day – I think it’s safe to say there was a lot of emotion from both the family and the staff.

Thank you to Ian’s family for reaching out to us to allow us to make the necessary arrangements for you to be able to hold this party in The Hub.  We understand families want to be together and to see Ian, surrounded by family, back with his wife Joyce who was a former resident at the Manor House but has recently been able to move home was truly joyous.

Ian’s daughters said

“We just wanted to thank everyone involved in organising our birthday party for Dad yesterday. We all had a really lovely time, and the high tea was amazing!

Dad really enjoyed his party and clapped along when we all sang Happy Birthday to him.  We also made a playlist of a lot of his favourite songs, and he loved that.  Mum also got emotional when she saw so many of us there.

It was a great afternoon, thank you all so much”

Feedback like this means everything to us.  We will always do everything we can to accommodate your requests and if we can support a family reunion like this, we most certainly will!

Birthday celebrations at the manor house nursing home
Ian shares his birthday with his family

manor house birthday party

Congratulations Martin!

By Manor Housein Activities

Senior Care Assistant Martin Pedley’s hard work and determination has been recognised with an award from Stafford College.

Martin, who joined the Manor House in August 2015 has completed his NVQ2 in HSC and is now working towards level 3 including Medication Management, will attend a prestigious ceremony at Stafford County Showground in September to receive the award.

Glenys Green, Health & Social Care Assessor/IQA from Newcastle and Stafford college Group said, “The senior management team have organised a Celebration Awards night to celebrate those that have gone above and beyond during their course, particularly with the year and half we have had with regards to Covid, because as I am sure you know it has not been easy for anyone.

As staff we were asked to nominate someone who we felt was a worthy candidate for these awards and although I have a lot of worthy candidates, I just felt that Martin had the edge due to what he has experienced, the challenges he has come across with his own learning barriers and how much he has developed during the course. I am delighted that he has won an award!”

Jayne Wood, Registered Manager at the Manor House said, “he is a worthy winner, and he should be proud of what he has achieved. Martin puts the same dedication and commitment to is studies as he does here at the Nursing Home.   He doesn’t let having dyslexia hold him back and he has grown from strength to strength.  Well done Martin!  We are very much looking forward to joining you at the award ceremony in September.”

Jodie McVay, Managing Director added, “supporting our staff through their studies is something we are very passionate about at the Manor House, and to see one of our staff receive such very well-deserved recognition is wonderful.  We thank Stafford College for acknowledging Martin’s hard work”