Looking forward to living in a care home

I’ve been interviewing care home residents to find out their views on how volunteers can be involved in their lives. It’s been lovely to hear their diverse life stories. One thing that stood out for me was the response of a lady in her eighties when I asked her what she thought volunteers could do. In her words: “I think it’s a good thing if volunteers come in and see what happens in care homes because I think it’s a good thing if they carry the message: “Don’t worry if you have to go into a care home – it’s a good place to be.”  I’m glad I came.”

Going into a care home doesn’t have to be a move that older people dread, it can be a positive experience. Recently at a forum hosted by The Henry Smith Charity we talked about how to make the move into a care home an experience that older people look forward to in later life, rather than face with trepidation. There were lots of ideas suggested. Mine was that we ask care home residents to write a bucket list and see how many of those wishes we can help them achieve: seeing life in a care home as a time for new opportunities.

Any other ideas?