Activities Department

Ascot Nursing Home recognises the value of activities, stimulation and entertainment from which our residents can derive pleasure. This is an important factor in the care of people with mental health problems and we attribute some of our very successful care to this busy department who meet individual needs under the supervision of senior trained staff.

Apart from the obvious benefits of maintaining skills of a varying nature, there are many seen and unseen advantages. 

For example, a resident who may fall asleep in the armchair through boredom, has some stimulation, be it visual or active, becomes more alert and interested during the periods of activity stays awake during the day and hence sleeps better at night.

In the same light, a resident who  participates in physical activity is likely to have an improved appetite. This leads to better enjoyment of meals providing an important part of social interaction during the day. 

Elderly residents who have poor mobility can only gather strength by exercise designed for this purpose, which in turn makes walking safer.

Pleasure and increased self esteem can be gained from using existing skills and learning new ones, which will go to help our residents lead their life to the optimum level within the constraints of their illness. However, although we offer a range of activities throughout the Home, we very much remember that each resident has the choice to participate. Nobody is made to do anything and individual preferences and choice are respected. Residents may be encouraged to join in as part of their care plan but as this may be their home for several years, they are also encouraged to make decisions for
themselves.

It is extremely difficult to provide different types of activity that will be suitable for all our residents but by looking at different groups and their needs and also individual needs, we hope that we are able to provide a range of activities in order that each resident may benefit.

The activities team consists of five staff, four assistant and a manager, it is the general rule that in the week three are on duty so that each unit will benefit from some activity. At weekends there are less people and activities are more ad-hoc bearing in mind that we have numerous visitors to the Home.

We have planned activities at least one evening a week which may be a bingo session, a video evening, a special theme evening, a visit to the pub or a special meal with staff.