such as, having a bath
You want me to do or do you want to do it?
Hair care
I can't do it. Me do it? Yeah.
Cleaning teeth
Shaving
Nail care
How we look and feel is important.
Wren Hall's a 53 bed nursing home specialising in care of people with dementia.
Staff don't wear uniforms here. It's a fun place to be, our emphasis is on promoting
wellbeing, quality of life and enjoyment of life. It's just home so we act as and dress accordingly.
I think personal care and hygiene's so important because it's the essential elements of care
that all of us have, and it makes us feel good about ourselves.
You all right?
It's those things that we just tried to go that little extra mile so that people feel they matter
and that they're content with how things happen.
For some people it helps them to wind down perhaps before they go to bed. For the people, it's
more of a stimulation activity, so in George's case, it helps him to get ready for the day ahead it
helps him to wake up and it gives him a little bit of a stimulation before he comes down for
his breakfast. George, he likes his bath to be as full as possible. He likes to smother himself
with the soap bubbles. He'll sometimes pop them onto his head, onto the rest of his body or sometimes
create like a beard or other things like that. He finds it quite a humorous activity to partake in.
A lot of it's about staff being self-aware.
A lot's about staff understanding what's important to them
so then I can respond to people when they're saying 'oh just make sure that my tights
aren't pressing on my toes' or 'my skirt's the right length'. Then you start to understand how important
it is and then to meet that level of importance. Do you want to put this shirt on today, this one?
Do you want to put it on and wear it?
Then you can have this one as well, if you like. Yeah, 'cause it matches, doesn't it?
So, should we have that one on? Right what we need to do then, sir, we'll just need to pop that
one off I think that'll be first. This one. Yeah have you changed your mind now?
Yeah. Oh, we can have that one tomorrow then, if you want. Keep it nice.
We spend quite a lot of time making sure
that we support residents to look as good as they can do. Nail care, making sure that fingernails
are cleaned well and it's using the creative ways of getting people to accept that care.
And, often, the best way is a manicure. We might get people washing up pots just so that their
hands are soaking in some hot soapy water. Foot care, getting rid of hard skin, dry skin
nails that are curling round toes that can be quite painful and then hinder people's
mobility. It's really important that we maintain good foot care. Equally, making sure that people
are shaved and that's men and women. Men usually like to have a shave every day, and
some people prefer wet shaves rather than an electric shave and it's meeting that preference.
I used to have a drive shave, but you don't feel the same. Well, I don't anyway. It's not – for a
reason there, but it's not the same, I don't think. You feel a lot fresher with a wet shave.
That's better. And it's paying that attention to detail so that people really feel that somebody's
taken a pride in their appearance, in the way that the person used to. Are we having it that way?
My mum's always been a very, very smart lady. Has always gone to the hairdresser and put the makeup
and perfume and likes to be very well dressed, well presented. So actually having her hair done
makes her feel good about herself and probably helps maintain good feelings about herself and
where she's at. Right, we'll put you under the hair dryer now shall we? And it's who she is and
we don't want to lose that. Older people tend to have very fragile, inelastic dry skin and
it's about spending time moisturising the skin because, otherwise, skin becomes very fragile, you
get skin tears, and that can be very painful and quite unsightly and it's not uncommon for older
people to say 'oh look at my skin it's terrible' and to be quite worried about it. So the more we can
maintain the skin in a healthy state, then the more we're promoting a sense of wellbeing for people.
Tom lives at home and uses a personal budget to live independently. Tom is an amazingly outgoing
young man who loves people and loves making friends. He's very, very active. He loves to be
on the go and he does a whole range of things from swimming and yoga – he's got an allotment – to working
or volunteering in a cafe. He's just an amazingly busy person. So, it's incredibly important that tom
looks as good as he possibly can when he goes out of his front door.
For Tom, who hates looking in a mirror, and isn't very aware of the image that he's sending out to
people, it's really important that he has some guidance and support to actually look his best.
Well, I guess, it's a team approach first of all. So the most important thing is about
agreeing between family members, personal assistants and, most importantly, Tom himself.
How he likes to look good and what support he likes in order to look good. Then it's about having
routines like a morning routine for getting ready for the day, having a bath, washing hair
shaving. Stuff we all do, but Tom needs particular kinds of support to do that. Perhaps it's about
people reflecting back and saying 'Tom you look great. Is that a new jumper you've got on today ?'
and sort of, you know, him feeling good about himself in that way .
Can you help me? Yeah I'll help you, Tom. I think it's about
kind of agreeing what jobs need to be done in the house in order to keep the place looking
as Tom wants it and as Tom wants it may not be our idea of
you know how we would choose to have our home. It's about making sure that Tom is safe in
the home that in terms of cleanliness and food hygiene and all those sorts of things that are
really bottom lines. It's about Tom being supported in ways that have been negotiated.
Tom will always do the washing up – he loves washing up and sweeping. Not quite so keen on hoovering
so a promise of a game on a computer game on the Wii might encourage Tom to do a bit of
hoovering. Well done. Yeah? So again it's about negotiating and agreeing who's going to do what.
It's vitally important in an environment like this
that we maintain good hygiene standards. Not only staff and people living here, but also with the
environment. None of us would like to be in an environment that's malodorous and our ladies and
gents living here are no different. They like fresh-smelling environments, a nice clean bed
and it's all vitally important. So even people that are in their rooms because they're not well
it's important that they know that their room is being cleaned. I'm just going to
clean your bathroom and bedroom, is that okay? I thought you said you was going to clean me.
You just stay there and I'll just clean around here. Not being able to see, I'm afraid to talk
can't do much conversing with people unless I'm introduced to them. I can't just go to anyone
and start talking to them. But I find it is very friendly and you know the workers here are very
kind. You're going to. I'm working around you. Yes. I'm just cleaning your surfaces
See when you can't see, you can't keep up with things, you can't
gather what's going on. Is it raining? Rain today, rain tomorrow. I'm not used to being a film star.
Will they probably ask me how old I am?
Well how old are you? How old?
19 going on 20. I was born in 1917. Oh my gosh, were you? Are you 97? Yes, I must be
I can't believe it was so long. I'm just going to switch the hoover on so there's going to be a
bit of noise. Okay. Yeah.
Cleanliness, order. I say it's one of the most important things.
They you are Kathleen. All nice and tidy and clean.
We have lots of animals at Wren Hall. Animals, like humans, carry bugs and it's about making sure
that the animals are well cared for. So Rowley, the guinea pigs and the chickens all have care plans
that says this is how we're going to care for you so that they're treated appropriately.
How many, Mike? Three. Three?
You'd like to get up, wouldn't you? Yeah. To have a dance, and you nearly did last time.
Involve family.
You nearly got up for a dance last time.
And the family and the most important people around. They know the individual
really well, so they can turn us into the best support possible for their loved one
by actually sharing what they know.
Involving them in any aspect of their loved ones day-to-day living is vitally important. It gives
them a self sense of worth and a sense of purpose and makes them feel that they are doing their bit.
My mum, she was always very conscious the way she looked
so she she spent a lot of money on clothes and she brought a lot of it with her here now.
Every week, I go into her room, I make sure she's okay, give her chocolate so she knows
I'm here and then I go up to her room and then I just make sure there's thousands of the skirts
and the jumpers and I think it just helps the carers in the morning that they're not they've
got more choice as opposed to things being tucked underneath in the bottom of the wardrobe.
It's a pleasure to actually come in and see her. My mum looks really good, but if I say 'you look
nice', she says 'do I?' And I suppose for those few seconds it just boosts her that little bit.
But I know she's 92, she's got to look right and she always does. She's always clean, she's fresh
and she just looks content and that's – to me – when I leave here this afternoon, I won't be crying
I'll be okay mum, you're fine. I'll see you tomorrow That's all I can say, really.
See you tomorrow. Yeah. Okie dokie.