Last week, news came on media stating why a certain care home was being shut down for safety and care concerns.
This, while not being a scarce hearing git us thinking; do families really know what it entails and what to Che k when depositing their loved ones in the hands of total strangers?
While many go into care homes and check out if the buildings are clean, rooms, bathrooms, if the care home has activities for adults in care, access to health, quality of food, staff to adult ratio………. they forget the all important thing; how does the home ensure the adults are genuinely happy?
The ideas of a care home is for these vulnerable people to have a place they call home, a family away from family, a secure, safe and trusted environment where everyone looks out for everyone, a family where the sorrow of one is a sorrow for all and vice versa.
How do we identify if these characteristics are being met?
One piece of advice I always give is for prospective family members to visit the facility and experience how communication(especially body language)is between staff and adult. Another is to visit the care home and take the adult out without the presence of a carer once in a while; see if their countenance change, study their mood, spend the whole day loving them; while doing this, some are able to communicate their dissatisfaction; while not always 100%, these statements are worthy to be investigated so both adult and family member can be at rest knowing they are safe.
Lastly, it is worthy to find out if staff are doing the job because they are passionate about the wellbeing of others or if they are doing it to get paid! There is a huge difference in both cases and the results derived from them are world apart!
I hope this helps!
Happy staff, Happy environment.
Hauwa SODEINDE
Care Manager
Simeon residential care