PAPER serviettes printed as bank notes are playing a surprising and effective role in empowering people with dementia in one Swansea care home.
Ty Waunarlwydd, a Swansea Council-owned care home and dementia day service, has a growing reputation as a leader in working with people who live with dementia. So much so that many people who come in with what can be seen as expressive or challenging behaviour as a result of their advanced dementia are being rehabilitated to less intensive care within the home.
It’s all down to the home’s approach which focuses not on the condition, but on the person, and recognises that there is still so much people who live with dementia have to offer.
That’s where the serviette bank notes come in. Ty Waunarlwydd residents have the chance to ‘shop’ for their own food and supplies for their own houses within the complex, or they can bank them.
The Ty Waunarlwydd team focus on the positive, and on helping people feel valued. Normal activities residents and day service users also get involved with include making tea, doing the ironing, or spending time with the resident pets.
Cllr Jane Harris, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Services for Older People and Vulnerable Adults, said: “Ty Waunarlwydd offfers a warm, stimulating, homely environment where people can live and the activities for people with dementia are based in normal life. They recognise that having dementia is just a small part of the whole person.
“It’s about getting away from the idea that care should be a series of tasks that need to be completed around the people who are actually living in a place, and seeing things like getting dressed or having meals as an activity in which the person plays an accepted, skilled role and exhibits choice.”
Other Social Services teams shadow staff at Ty Waunarlwydd, where up to 48 people can live or stay at any one time, and where the day service can cater for up to 23 people at once.
The Ty Waunarlwydd team works not just with residents but also with their relatives in such a way that everyone feels included and valued.
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