November 2018 - Altogether Care

Employee of the Month – October & November

Posted on 30 November 2018 by dukadmin

We are delighted to reveal our Employees of the Month for October and November for Steepleton Manor and Sherborne House. Each month, care home managers hand pick team members who demonstrate a passion for their role and go above and beyond to provide an excellent standard of care and support to residents.

Our Employees of the Month for October are:

Sherborne House

Amy Trowbridge-Smith

Amy was invaluable in the coordination of eight new residents arriving at Sherborne House. Amy chose to come in on her days off and worked closely with alongside the Operations Manager. The transfer of the new residents went smoothly and meant that everyone settled into their new environment with ease after what was already a distressing experience for them due to their home closing.

Steepleton Manor

Salka Moylaye Mohammed

Salka is reliable, selfless and always willing to help the rest of the team. She is flexible and works both day and nights shifts. Her positive attitude and outgoing personality always brighten up the day for both residents and staff.

Our Employees of the Month for November are:

Sherborne House

Chantelle Gale

Chantelle is always willing to help everyone by agreeing to different shifts, covering other staff shifts in various departments and has won great admiration and respect from her colleagues.

Steepleton Manor

Angela Gait

Angela joined the team in June this year and shows great passion for her work. She always treats her colleagues, clients and supervisors with respect. She organises many activities and consults with residents about what they’d like to do. In addition to booking external suppliers to provide entertainment, Angela organises day trips.

Congratulations to all employees of the month!

Remembrance Sunday

Posted on 29 November 2018 by dukadmin

Earlier this month, Sherborne House received a visit from The Yeovilton Naval Servicemen on Remembrance Day. RNAS Yeovilton is one of the Navy’s two principal air bases, and one of the busiest military airfields in the UK.

It is home to more than 100 aircraft operated on both front-line squadrons and training units, including the Fleet Air Arm Wildcat Force and the Commando Helicopter Force, plus vintage aircraft of the RN Historic Flight.

Residents had taken the time to make poppies for the homes remembrance wall. Personnel took the time to spend a few hours meeting residents and joined in with staff to sing Happy Birthday to Olive who is celebrating her 100^th Birthday this month.

Everyone observed the 2-minute silence as Big Ben struck 11 am followed by a prayer by one of our staff Paul, who is also a pastor. And of course, no celebration would be complete without a slice of chocolate cake!

Altogether Care and Wiltshire Farm Foods Spread Some Seasonal Cheer

Posted on 29 November 2018 by dukadmin

As a family-run care business for over 30 years, you really get to know the communities you serve. Which means, when it comes to Christmas, we are only too aware that many older people could be faced with a very lonely prospect. For many, Christmas is a time when they see no one and feel very much alone.

According to Age UK, over 870,000 people over 65 won’t see or hear from anybody for days over the festive period. Many will feel lonelier than at any other time of the year. Not exactly the Christmas spirit.

Determined to make sure that old people in our community who live on their own see at least one smiling face on Christmas Day, Altogether Care has, once again, partnered with Wiltshire Farm Foods. Working together, we will provide free Christmas dinners to elderly people across Dorset and South Somerset.

This year our team will be distributing meals on Christmas Day, kindly donated by Wiltshire Farm Foods. Just as important as the meals, our care staff will spend time with each person to enjoy a mince pie, pull a cracker and spread a little Christmas cheer.

Some of the people who will benefit are our Care at Home clients who have no friends or family to visit on the day. We are also teaming up with Age UK to identify other people in the Dorset and South Somerset area who would appreciate a bit of company and a tasty festive meal.

We are, as ever, incredibly grateful to Wiltshire Farm Foods for their generosity. And to our dedicated team who give up their time because they know that, at Christmas, older people on their own probably need us more than ever.

Care is much more than a business for us. We see our role as supporting vulnerable people in a community that we are part of, at Christmas and all year round. For more information, please call 01305 766 099 and ask for Dawn or Rachel.

Coffee Morning is Success

Posted on 23 November 2018 by dukadmin

Residents and staff at Steepleton Manor raised £65.55 by hosting a Macmillan coffee morning back in September.

The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is a yearly fundraising event hosted by Macmillan Cancer Support and provides vital donations for Macmillan to provide ongoing support for those with cancer and their families.

Local residents from the village attended and enjoyed chatting to the residents whilst enjoying a slice of cake – or two!

Ninesprings Country Park

Posted on 6 November 2018 by dukadmin

With the amazing Ninesprings Country park on our doorstep, residents and staff at Sherborne House took advantage of the glorious autumn weather recently and went for an afternoon out at the former Country estate and gardens. Its 9 Springs surface and trickle down to form a lake and enter a brook, then the River Yeo.

A former railway line runs along the bottom of the hill and it is now used for walks and rides right along beside the river to Pen Mill/Sherborne Road.

We had to complete the afternoon with a belly-warming drink at the Ninesprings Café ….a day well spent and enjoyed by all.

Lack of Dementia Friendly Housing is a Major Issue in the UK

Posted on 5 November 2018 by dukadmin

One feature of the UK’s housing crisis that rarely gets attention is the severe lack of dementia friendly housing. Compared with countries like Australia, France and the Netherlands we have a major lack of options for people with dementia once their condition makes their existing home unsuitable.

There are modifications that can be made to most homes that would make them more suitable for a person with dementia. Age UK has published a range of helpful ideas on their website. Modifications will be easier and cheaper to carry out in some properties than others.

Sometimes, modifying a home sufficiently may not be feasible. And sometimes the particular impairments experienced by a person with dementia may make living in their home (even with modifications) unsuitable.

And here’s where life can get difficult. Even many retirement properties have not been designed, decorated or equipped with dementia in mind. Residential care may become the best, or in some cases, the only viable option. But even here there can be problems if the home is not set up to cater for dementia residents.

The Dementia Friendly Care Home

The environment within the care home is critical. Without careful thought and adaptation, a care home could become a bewildering and unsettling place to live, particularly for a new resident who has to get used to new surroundings, people and routines.

The interior decor makes a huge difference in making the living space calming and manageable. Avoiding busy patterns will make the environment easier to deal with and colour contrasts can be used to help residents easily find their way to the toilet or their bedroom. Additionally, memory triggers and familiar images from a relevant era help residents feel more at home and relaxed and can help with navigation.

Sherborne House specialises in care for people with dementia. We’ve specifically designed and decorated the interior to ensure that our residents with dementia feel at ease and supported, and able to live as independently as possible. To find out more, contact us today on 01305 206 140.

A Retirement Home is Your Home

Posted on 5 November 2018 by dukadmin

Retirement living is often presented as a choice between continuing to live in your own home or in some form of residential care home. That’s not quite the way we see it. Our philosophy is that the accommodation should be very much your home – which is why our luxury care home Steepleton Manor provides assisted living, rather than just residential care. The accommodation and support should be set up to help you live life the way you want to.

The picture you have of care home accommodation might not include an apartment with French windows opening onto a patio area which leads to quiet landscaped gardens. Some bedrooms on the ground floor are centered around a glass-roofed Mediterranean Style courtyard and indoor garden. Planted with subtropical shrubs and trees, the courtyard is a relaxing and is a great place to enjoy a morning coffee or afternoon tea and to socialise with friends.

We have recently carried out a major refurbishment of the assisted living accommodation at Steepleton Manor. The original staff quarters on the top floor has been completely remodelled to create self-contained suites, some complete with its own separate lounge area, kitchenette and en-suite bathroom overlooking the gardens. These suites are ideal for those who want to live independently with the comfort that help is available if required. With its original beams, eave windows and high ceilings, you will truly feel a sense of airiness and space, which is further enhanced with specialist lighting that replicates daylight to provide a comfortable, calming environment.

Familiar Surroundings

Fitting in with the theme of ‘it’s your home’, residents are encouraged to personalise their accommodation and decorate with items from home according to their taste. We want everyone to feel they are at home and in familiar surroundings.

All rooms and apartments are designed to offer a luxurious sense of manor living, but in your own style and reflecting the way you want to live. They are equipped, furnished and decorated to a high standard and include television, telephone, and Wi-Fi.

The best way to discover whether this is a style of retirement living that would suit you is to come and see for yourself. We’d be happy to show you around. Contact us today on 01305 206 140.