Friends of Alexander Care

They now specialise in art forms such as dancing, singing, theatre and more, in order to increase participation across generations and cultures, enabling residents, at organisations such as Friends of Care Homes, to feel present and engaged in the world.

Three nursing homes; Alexander, Tower Bridge and Aspen Court, made an appearance at the bi-annual Elizabethan Tea Dance held at the Queens house in Greenwich on Wednesday, 11^th July 2018. Free lunch was provided, along with some ice cream on the terrace which turned out to be the highlight of the day for George, a resident from the Albany Care Home. Residents also had the chance to make new connections with the volunteers and elderly from other communities during this event.

Associate artist Christopher Green was welcomed, dressed up as Queen Elizabeth 1^st. “He is being transformed isn’t he,” one resident said, amused as Chris was turning into the Queen. The Meet Me Choir, who are part of Walking through Walls (an Entelechy Arts programme commissioned by Attend), were invited to perform at the event and were then joined by the residents of the Alexander Care Home and other Meet Me members who had the chance of helping Chris transform into the Queen.

The residents were given the opportunity to appreciate some dancing from the Elizabethan era while a harp was being played in the background. “I think I am dreaming, I haven’t woken up yet; look at that harp, haven’t seen a harp in ages. You do spoil us” said one resident from Alexander Care.

The event allowed the residents to form new memories as well as an opportunity to reminisce about their past. Harry from Alexander Care spoke fondly of his memories, “I was here in the 1950’s! I was in the navy. There was the navy hospital (pointing). We used to walk up and down here all dressed up in our officers uniform.” Another resident, Joan, also had the chance to reconnect with her past on the journey to the event, pointing out places where she lived and used to work. She also added, “The problem with where we live is that nothing much happens, it’s lovely to go out and see something different. I used to do all of this.”

As important as reminiscing is, so is forming new memories. A volunteer stated that the Tea Dance event allowed just that and added, “new memories are important as you get older”. Although some residents had forgotten the whole event by the time they got back on the bus, they said that they had had a wonderful time and their family members had also noticed a significant difference in their mood.

Participating in interactive arts allows people to connect with those from similar marginalised communities, to feel productive and to have an active role in society. Entelechy Arts played a big role in making a positive impact on those who attended, by simply allowing the residents to be productive, which Harry would agree with, “that was great because you really feel like you’ve done something with your day.” It demonstrated the effects that interactive arts can have on those who feel excluded and help them feel a part of active society.

Friends of Alexander are a group of enthusiastic volunteers who aim to improve the well-being of the residents of Alexander Care Home. Friends of Alexander can now support residents in gardening activities to help them stay healthy and socially engaged.

The benefits of gardening are endless but most importantly it is an excellent exercise. Moving around in the garden and looking after the plants means the residents will be able to increase physical strength, mobility and hand grip without putting excessive strain on their bodies.

Thanks to an improved garden, residents will have the ability to harvest their own plants which will be a perfect topic to discuss with others over a cup of tea at the new tables and chairs. A sense of accomplishment in plant growing will give residents a boost of confidence and improve their mental well-being. Additionally, gardening outdoors means spending more time in the sun. Thanks to this residents will notice a positive change in their mood as well as find themselves more stress-relieved.

Gardening in a care home is a way for residents to get together. With this project, specially-trained volunteers will engage with the residents to cultivate and enjoy the gardening hobby together. A responsibility shared between the residents will give more opportunities to socialise, build new friendships, and eventually bond with other residents or volunteers.

Spending more time in the garden is an opportunity for an exciting learning process. Residents will have the ability to gain new skills and spark an interest in something that they might not have had an interest in before. This means that regular garden-tending will keep the residents’ mind active which is a helpful technique in Alzheimer’s and dementia care.

With the combined efforts of Friends of Alexander, the staff and the volunteers at Alexander Care Home, the residents will be given a therapeutic chance to make the most out of their garden and health, and as a result, age gracefully.

Well -being team-Simon, Doreen,

Artists -Charlene and Zoe

Facilitator – Rebecca

Agenda

-A gentle warm up and tai chi to bring us together

-Achievements, Benefits, concerns

-Ideas for Mercers bid

-The three tea dances- logistics and ideas

-Visiting Masie in her room for her evaluation as she wasn’t feeling well

Achievements

Joan 1: “You have done a lot of things that everyone can feel able to do. It makes a huge difference.

Artists: “The communal event in here has grown so that it is no longer a workshop, but an event. We all really shake up the dining area; mixing everyone rather than residents kept to their units, so it’s a good energy.”

Joan 1: “We all mix up in the sessions – Important to listen to everyone, talk to everyone – it’s better for you rather than sitting down doing nothing.

Doreen: “It’s better to bring people out of the unit rather than go to the unit. With these sessions we get to mix residents from all over the nursing home together, normally they never get to meet each other.

Joan 1: “Yes, you work with people who are not well and who should have a lot more people interested in them.”

Charlene: For Meryl she normally never used to come out of her room, but now she comes into the group despite being in a lot of pain.

Joan 2 read us one of her favourite poems – Changing of the guard at Buckingham palace. It was the first time she had done this. We spoke about maybe her being accompanied by the double bass player on the day of the in house tea dance, if she was interested in performing this.

Other poems ready to be performed at the tea dance by Mercia and Joan1:

Pink almond

Little blue Apron

And a request from Simon –Excerpt from Macbeth. Maybe the witch’s piece.

Then for George and Lucille a drumming improvisation with the Sptiz.

The Mercers bid

We thought about key words like spirituality and nature that were in the bid.

Joan recited William words worth poem about nature and daffodils in response.

The group spoke about spirituality and god-ness as:

– is something in all of us – sense of something beyond us.

-Being interconnected beyond our differences

-thread going through each of us and how the artists are already doing that with actual fabric in the sessions.

– helping each other out.

– Something in us and the bigger picture – silence can bring us closer to it.

– God is in the details and small moments we don’t notice.

-Wellbeing team saw it as body, mind, soul, spirit interconnected.

Building links with other organisations and spaces in the neighbourhood

In terms of nature there are many lovely green spaces near the nursing home where they could go to explore ideas further.

There are the gardens at St Margaret’s church who are very keen for the residents to experience their therapeutic garden. And they are keen to make a link with the Lady well centre round the corner from the home, and their garden spaces.

Everyone in the group wondered why they couldn’t form a link with the nursery school next door. Doreen had tried and the nursing school were concerned about children being scared. Maybe an arts event will open doors?

Joan 2 felt that the generations need to be mixing “I always feel I need to be doing something with them. Grandchildren need this.”

Rebecca visited Meryl in her room so she could contribute to the evaluation:

Achievements

“By what I noticed, when I am with the group it’s certainly everyone is enjoying themselves. They want you for the dancing and music.

Even if you are that incapacitated and you can’t do the exercises, it’s nice to be in the group and watching and being part of something. I can still use my body, kick my arms….”

Benefits

“It gets you out of your room, gets you with other people, even if you don’t talk, you see them, feel them. If you are just in your room – it’s just the nurses.

Great advantage is to get out of this room. I enjoy my own company up to a point, but I enjoy other company as well.

I do love the dancing. My husband and I use to do ballroom competitions and we won many of them. Love watching it. I am working through myself watching others do it – I do it. I think about the different steps they could take when watching the dancers.

The artists are so genuine and warm, not airy fairy where you feel like there is no substance behind it – there is no warmth when that happens, it’s just outward show.

Actions

Rebecca to send fliers of both the Albany and QEH tea dance to Doreen and Simon

Rebecca arranged a separate meeting with Simon and Doreen to go through their in house tea dance.