Dementia pilot paves the way for widespread improvements
York Council-run care home to be transformed
A pilot project will see major improvements to dementia care environments at a nursing home in York.
The City of York Council-run Windsor House will be transformed to create ‘a home from home’, with bedroom doors painted to resemble front doors, staff uniforms axed, and the introduction of life history and memory boxes outside rooms.
There are also plans to provide a number of self-contained homes complete with open-plan, country-style kitchens.
The pilot, which will run until the end of the year, will be used to help shape the design of the new ‘super care homes’, specialist dementia and high-dependency facilities due to open at Lowfield and Burnholme in York in 2016.
Graham Terry, of adult commissioning, modernisation and provision at the council, said: “We want to encourage and support the people living within our homes to be independent and active, for example, by helping out with every day domestic tasks within the home and to have the opportunity to talk about and engage in their past life hobbies and interests.
“We hope that making some relatively minor changes to the look of the home will significantly change the way it feels for people working and living together, including their friends and relatives.”
Other plans include introducing items found in family bathrooms, such as sensory items, towels and tile motifs; creating a café within the home to provide an area for people to go with their family and friends; and painting hallways in bright colours to help with orientation around the home.
Dr David Sheard, chief executive of Dementia Care Matters, which is working with the council on the pilot, said: “Steering culture change in dementia care homes really matters. Good dementia care is all about providing good emotional care.”