A Day at Cloverdale

Care Home

A Day at Cloverdale

Cloverdale

‘7 am – don’t feel like a lie in today. I will ring the call bell and ask for a cup of tea in bed. Simon did not come to see me yesterday evening but the grand-children were here till 8 p.m. That was good and enjoyable.’

“Hello Diane, good morning, could I have a cup of tea in bed today? Not ready to get dressed yet.”

‘Diane was on shift yesterday morning also – she is a good girl, very helpful and always smiling. It is good to see a smiling face in the morning’.

“Aah, my cup of tea is here, could you please switch on the television and give me the remote control? I will ring the bell when I am ready to get dressed.”

‘Diane was on shift yesterday morning also – she is a good girl, very helpful and always smiling. It is good to see a smiling face in the morning’.

“Aah, my cup of tea is here, could you please switch on the television and give me the remote control? I will ring the bell when I am ready to get dressed.”

‘Some times it is nice to have this cup of tea and just lie in the bed. Often wish that I was back at home but then realise that an hours’ help in the morning and an hour in the evening did not really meet my needs. Could have increased some hours, but that would still not have been 24 hour care. Often worried about what would happen if I fell at night time or had a fall during the day. With my walking frame, I would have needed help to get up. Who would be there? It would only be noted when the next helper arrived or Simon or Jane visited. They are good children but they do have their own lives, their own children. It is not right for me to depend on them. I do not have to worry about the heating bill or electricity bill or other bills to be paid. Don’t have to worry about my washing and ironing. Here, I am looked after every minute of the day. Night staff make regular checks, the food is good and staff are very helpful. It was a very hard decision giving up my home where I had spent 40 years with Albert.

Hope he can see me and agrees with me that I made the right decision. It was hard leaving the memories of all those happy days. Those walls could tell a tale or two. Aah, well time to get up and get dressed. They always ask which clothes I would like to wear. Think I will wear the green dress today – nearly 6 years old but still looks pretty. Albert always said that I looked very pretty in that dress. Let me ring the call bell.’

“Hello Mandy, good morning.”

“Good morning Ethel and how are you this morning? I hear the grandchildren were here last night. I bet you enjoyed having them around.”

“It was good. Simon and Jane had gone out, so they did not come but it was lovely to see Tom, Harry and Mary. Tom thinks that he will get married soon but Harry and Mary did not agree. They asked me about it too. I just said that it would be wonderful for me to see the wedding of one of my grand children while I still could”.

“Which dress would you like to wear today? And would you like to wear some tights or socks? What would you prefer?”

“I think I will wear the green dress. I am having a lot of thoughts about Albert today and he always liked that dress. I will wear socks because I think it is going to be a warm and nice day”.

‘Lucky for me, I can still brush my own teeth and wash my own face so the help of one carer who allows me to do what I can do independently and then helps me where I need help is good. I know of many others in the Home – poor things who cannot do much for themselves. Some even have to be hoisted out of bed but then there are always two members of staff helping them. It is good to know that everyone is given the help they need. Who knows? I might need more help in the not too distant future.”

“Now, Ethel you are looking smart. Where would you like your breakfast? In your room or do you want to go to the dining room?”

“Think, I will walk to the dining room. Give me my frame.”

“Great and I will walk with you and escort you to the dining room.”

‘Quite a few in the dining room today. I think I will sit next to Jean. She is good to talk to and pleasant in the morning. Poor Ann – she is suffering from dementia and needs a lot of help. She is often in a bad mood but she is being fed by Rose. Rose is sitting next to her and doing it with patience. Trying to talk to Ann and stopping her playing with her spoon.

“Hello Jean, good morning – how are you?”

“Good morning Ethel, I am OK. Looks like we are going to have a nice warm day today.”

‘Choice of cereals and porridge. I think I will have some orange juice first then I will have cereal today and then toast with some marmalade and jam and some tea. Don’t feel like having an egg today. Morning breakfast is pretty good – choice of cereals,

porridge, toast, marmalade, jams, fresh fruit and even a hot breakfast if I really want it. Only one or two take hot breakfast. I think it spoils the meal and choice of meals is usually good. Particularly look forward to my fish and chips on Friday and the roast on Sunday. This week I think it is going to be pork with apple sauce.’

“I will have bran flakes and some toast with jam and marmalade. And then I will have my usual banana”.

‘The Team Leader brings my medication while I am having my breakfast. Each resident is given their medication individually and the Team Leader makes sure that they take their medication. They are very careful about this. Nearly 9 am, think I will go back to my room and have a little rest and then I will go for a walk around the garden at about 9:30 am. I do not need escort round the garden because once I have warmed up, then I am fairly mobile with my frame. But staff do take some residents in their wheel chairs for a walk around the garden. They are good like that but they will do it a little later once everybody is dressed and had their breakfasts. 10 am I will go into the lounge and have a cup of coffee. This is the time they bring the tea and coffee and biscuits. Some like to have a cold drink and therefore they also have orange and other squashes on the trolley. 10:15 am and some staff start taking their breaks while other engage us in activities for about an hour.

Bingo is my favourite, always liked it, Albert and I often used to play Bingo. Today is going to be some Bingo and then arm chair exercises. Both of these I enjoy. Poor staff, they do try hard to put on different type of activities, there is an activity time table but many residents do not take part. It is nice, staff try and encourage them to take part, help them if needed especially for Bingo and some board games but they do not force them. We always have a choice of what we want to do. Tomorrow 3 pm, we have some singers coming to sing to us. We often have in house entertainment and sometimes the groups are good. They sing old songs and sometimes we even join in the sing songs and dancing. Depending on the group it can be great fun.

The manager here has these resident and relative meetings where we can tell her the type of activities that we like, input to the menu, type of entertainment that we would like in the home and also suggest outings. There are only a few of us who attend the meeting. We do have some relatives but many residents cannot join these meetings. They are a little confused suffering from dementia. The manager tries to get their inputs also but it is very difficult. Bingo was good fun, won two bags of sweets, but the exercises were hard work. Feel thirsty now, will ask the carer to pour me a glass or orange squash. Water and jugs of squash are kept in the lounges. If I want it, I could have a jug of squash in my room but I prefer to sit in the lounge, join in the activities, see visitors coming in, joining us in a cup of tea and generally engaging in conversation.

Life is not that boring then and the day passes fairly quickly. 11:30 am, staff come and ask us individually if we need to go the toilet, lunch usually starts at about 12 noon. Staff make sure that no one is wet or incontinent before taking them to lunch. They make sure that lunch is an enjoyable and social occasion. Those who need help feeding are put together on separate tables so that others fairly active like me can engage in conversations and enjoy our meals.’

‘Lamb casserole main dish today, had noted it in the morning written on the menu board, alternative is steak and kidney pie – think I will have the steak and kidney pie. Always served with mash or chips, roast is usually with roast or boiled potatoes, and always two vegetables. Cooks know the likes and dislikes of all the residents, even the size of portions that they would like.

Always have choice of two desserts also, I love my ice cream and will have it will the apple pie today, rather than custard. There are always two types of custard with sugar and without sugar. Home tries to cater well for diabetic residents. We have a Muslim and a Chinese resident here also and I have seen them get Indian and Chinese meals not every day but quite often. 1:15 pm, time for a snooze after a full meal. My afternoon medication is given to me during the lunch time. Think I will go to my room and have the snooze on my chair in my room. Will be quiet. Sometimes I join the others to have a snooze in the lounge especially if it not too warm, then the conservatory is a good place to have a snooze. We have air conditioning and heating in the conservatory so it is pretty good to sit in throughout the year. 2:45 pm – the tea round has started. Sometimes we get cakes with our afternoon tea. Around 3 pm, I will take my shower.

When I came here, they asked me about my preferences around bath or shower and the frequency and days when I would I like the bath or shower. I opted for shower twice a week and a bath once a week all in the afternoon. I can make a change if I wish but I usually stick to the preferences that I gave to the Team Leader when I came. I am good like that. Staff make sure that everything is ready before taking me to the shower. I am able to wash my top but staff help me with my back, legs and bottom. Nearly 4 pm, had a nice warm shower, staff washed my hair. Hairdresser comes once a week. I have my hair done every week. Even many of the residents who suffer from dementia have their hair done every week by the hairdresser. I really love seeing that – they may be confused about some things but not when it comes to their hair dressing. Isn’t memory wonderful? 4:30 pm time for evening tea. Here we get hot soup sometimes for our tea. But we can always ask for soup if we want it.

There is a choice of sandwiches, sometimes salad and a hot snack like beans on toast, egg on toast, chilli-con-carne, fish fingers and chips, fishcakes and chips, savoury rice and chicken nuggets. One thing for sure, we are not starved; food and drinks are on the go most of the day. I am lucky here; there are about 8 of us who like to play dominoes and scrabble. So, after tea we will start our own games in the dining room. We have some residents who like knitting and they will go into the lounge to do some knitting. In fact, one of the residents has started a cross word club and sometimes after breakfast we will join in doing the crossword puzzles.

Tea usually finishes at about 5:15 pm. Afternoon staff then take the residents who want to go to their rooms to their rooms. Those who want to get changed to evening clothes or want a shower at this time are given their showers. Those who want to lie in their beds are helped to change and then put to bed.

Afternoon staff take their breaks at about 6 pm and then start getting the supper

ready at about 7:00 pm. Supper is usually around 7:30 pm. They usually bring us a cup of tea, Ovaltine, Horlicks, or chocolate drink and some biscuits and we can also get some sandwiches at this time. I usually finish our games at about 6:45 pm and like to have my supper in my room. Simon and Jane usually come at about 7 pm. It is up to me to decide where I want to sit with them. Sometimes we sit in my room, sometimes if it is quiet we sit them in the conservatory. There is a quiet lounge for our use but I rarely make use of it. I tell them how I spent my day, the highlights, the prizes I won, the conversations I had and other happenings in the home.

Sometimes they join me in having a cup of tea. The staff always ask them. It is nice to have tea together in the evening.

Nearly 8 pm, time to get changed to night clothes, watch a bit of television and then be ready to go to bed at about 10 pm. We all have a choice of when we want to go to sleep or get up. I know Kath next door gets up fairly early sometimes at 5 am and then after a cup of tea, night staff help to dress her. She needs total help and requires the help of two carers. She even has breakfast at 7 am. The night staff come at 9:30 pm and they bring in my night medication. The Team Leader always makes sure that I take my medication, does not leave it for me to take later. Because I like to sleep late, it is often the night staff who help me to change to my night clothes. Sometimes I ask for a drink before going to bed. But this is never a problem. Sometimes I like to listen to the news and go to bed after the news. Tomorrow will be another fresh day. Look forward to it.’