A Day In The Life of Glencairn House Care Home, Dorchester
By Abby White, Senior Carer
I hope you enjoy this little window into our world – No two days are the same at Glencairn House, but each day has it’s routines and everything we do is directed by the individual needs of our lovely residents. This is their home, we’re just here to make sure they are happy and comfortable and supported in every way they need.
Our Mornings
Our day starts early Glencairn House, with a full handover at 7.45 from the Night Staff. This is a really important part of our morning routine, since it gives us all the information we need to be ready to help our residents during the day and helps us to prepare so we can make sure each of our residents will have the full comfort, support and stimulation they need for the day ahead.
Every day is different, so we need to be prepared!
Our morning routine starts with helping our residents to get dressed and ready. For some we’re on hand with plenty of support, but for others we’re just there with a smile, to make their beds, pop some toothpaste on a toothbrush and make sure they have fresh, clean towels
Our main purpose is to support and encourage independence while always being aware that some of our residents may need more assistance than others. Each of our residents has their own individual needs, with some being with us for respite care, while others have come to join us for residential care for mobility or health reasons or for early stage dementia. This is what makes our care a job so varied!
Whatever they need we are there to support them so they can continue to have a fulfilling life, no matter what illness or personal struggle they are facing.
Once our residents feel ready, if they would like to, we help them make their way to the dining room. Tea and coffee are waiting for them, along with a lovely freshly cooked breakfast, cereal and toast. Breakfast is the perfect opportunity for our residents to read the papers and talk about the latest headlines.
During Breakfast our Senior Carers will make sure our residents have any medication they need – which they continue to do throughout the day, so that medication is always at hand.
10:30 and it’s time for the Tea Trolley round – which seems to be everyone’s favourite time of the morning! Freshly brewed tea, coffee and biscuits even brightens cold, grey mornings.
This is also the time that our Activities staff get stuck in – getting our residents moving with an armchair exercise class or morning quiz to get everyone’s minds working.
Our activities usually spark plenty of conversations and reminiscing from our residents about everything from childhood stories to tales about the jobs they used to do.
We love these sessions, it’s one of the best parts of the day, and we get to hear everyone’s tales.
Lunchtime at Glencairn House
Our cooks in the kitchen have been working from 7 am to create fresh home-cooked meals for everyone to enjoy. Our residents are welcome to eat in their own rooms or join the chatter in the dining room where we all come together and help serve the food.
Some of our residents have special dietary requirements which we are always careful to cater for and we are also there to assist anyone who needs help with eating.
Our Afternoons
At Glencairn House our main aim is to make sure our residents are relaxed, happy and comfortable.
Some of our residents prefer to sit in the lounge and watch TV after lunch and others might want to go to their own rooms, for some quiet time to themselves or an afternoon nap.
For those who are feeling sociable, active or creative we always have afternoon activities on offer, which can be anything from a Knit & Natter session, to arts and crafts, pottery making to being accompanied or walks to the nearby parks. We also have visits from outside entertainers and members of the local community, like school choirs – we’ve even had the Mayor of Dorset to visit! We also arrange bus trips to local attractions and the occasional boat trip when the weather is fine.
Afternoon activities aren’t just for our more mobile residents who want to be with a group, we also give foot spas or do activities like jigsaw building with our residents in their rooms.
We also welcome relatives who come to visit their loved ones throughout the day, but most often in the afternoon. Our open-door policy keeps our home lively and allows everyone to stay in close contact.
At 2.30 the tea trolley makes it’s rounds again, with tea, coffee and delicious cakes to choose from. Another precious time of day where we can take time to sit with our residents and talk about their lives. As a smaller home, Glencairn House has a real family atmosphere and we often feel this most at these moments of the day when we get to really listen to our residents and enjoy their company.
We start to deliver our suppers at 5pm, making our round of the bedrooms before going to the dining room with our residents who prefer to dine there
The average day starts to draw to a close after dinner, and we’re on hand to help any of our residents who would like to make their way to bed. This can be a strange time of day for some of our residents, who may feel lonely. We always try our best to make this time of day more personal – for example, we might find a resident’s favourite song or a song they have not heard in a long time to play to them as they get ready for bed.
Music always seems to put a smile on our residents’ faces, and they’re often amazed that we can find their songs so fast on YouTube! We also know how important it is to say a warm goodnight and let them know we’re looking forward to seeing them again in the morning.
During the night, our wonderful Night Carers are always on hand – we like to call them the fairies of the night, since they always get everything so perfectly ready for the start of a new day.
That brings us full circle to a new day, with new activities and events, new challenges, laughs and conversations
The best bit about our work here? Every single one of our residents has a story to tell. It is our job and our pleasure to pull up a chair and listen to the older generation!