Staying Connected with Loved Ones at LuxuryCare Homes During Special Occasions
Moving a loved one into a care home comes with a big transition period and many emotions. Often, we see families feeling guilty about the move while their loved one feels a worry over being forgotten about. This is why staying connected and marking special occasions is vital through the transition and beyond.
Maintaining a connection and celebrating anniversaries, birthdays, Valentine’s Day, and seasonal and religious days has many emotional and psychological benefits for your loved one living in a care home.
Whether they are done with a visit, phone call, FaceTime or even a card in the post, the acknowledgement will do more for their well-being than first meets the eye.
At LuxuryCare, we are firm believers in finding joy in everyday life through connection and believe even more in the importance of celebrating the special occasions in our lives together. Our team will do everything they can to make your loved ones special occasions just that – a special occasion. A large part of this is encouraging and facilitating you to be part of those celebrations.
In this blog, we share how you can stay connected and continue to celebrate the milestones with your loved one in one of our care homes in Bournemouth or Poole.
How We Make Family Connections a Priority
Maintaining family connections and marking special occasions only happen if you feel like you are able to do it within our care homes, meaning that doing it stems from our policies and attitudes.
This is why we make encouraging celebrations and visits a priority.
But how do we do this?
There are several things that we implement across our care homes to help you stay connected with your loved one on a day-to-day basis, as well as mark milestones.
Open Door Visiting Policies
We don’t have set visiting hours, so you can see your loved one whenever it is convenient for you.
We also encourage you to join in activities and meal times for some quality time together.
Comfortable Communal Spaces
In each of our care homes, we have several comfortable and accessible communal spaces, such as lounges and dining areas where you can sit and relax with your loved one for a catch-up or use for a small party to celebrate something.
Plus, in the summer, our gardens are always filled with colourful flowers and the delightful floral smell that comes with them, making them the perfect place for a chat and some tea.
Personalised Care Plans That You Have A Say In
Part of staying connected is feeling involved, so we ensure you are part of your loved ones’ care plan from the beginning. You will be involved with each review and updated should anything change between meetings. A bonus to this is that you can also help us find ways to celebrate your loved ones and their milestones.
We hope these policies make it easier for you to remain a big part of your loved ones’ lives so you can be there for the small and big moments.
Ways Families Can Stay Connected at LuxuryCare Homes
Of course, family members staying connected to their loved one in a care home goes beyond visiting them and care plans. So, our policies aren’t enough to help you keep a relationship.
This is why we go the extra mile.
Celebrating Special Occasions
We love a good celebration at our care homes.
Our staff are always on hand to help you organise birthday parties, anniversaries or seasonal festivities and traditions. So, your loved one’s milestones or favourite traditions get commemorated with us.
Each of our homes also has private spaces where you can easily host a private celebration with your loved one and their nearest and dearest, bringing the party to them, no matter the occasion.
On top of this, we love to make the most of the special days that are part of our yearly calendar, such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas, firework night or Halloween. Often, these take the form of a customised dining experience themed on the day itself.
Virtual & Digital Communication
We know that life takes you and your family around the world, and that can make regular visits difficult. But we also know that distance doesn’t mean abandonment. This is why all of our staff are trained on how to use various pieces of technology to make phone and video calls.
If your loved one needs a little bit of assistance making or answering a call to you and other members of your family, we are always here to help; whether we teach them to do it for future calls when they first start living with us, or we take all responsibility for using the technology and handing you over to chat with your loved one.
Alongside this, we are also able to help your loved one with texting or messaging, using various apps to send and receive photos and share daily updates with you.
Digital communication is a great way to stay in touch with your loved one, especially on a day-to-day basis. It makes them feel involved in your life and reminds them they have not been abandoned. These positive emotions go far in combating any notions of isolation and loneliness that your loved one might be feeling.
Engaging Family-Friendly Activities
Activities are a large part of the lifestyle at our care homes because we know how our residents benefit from a varied list of activities. We also know how easy they make socialising and connected moments.
This is why, as well as our daily activities, we host several family activities and events.
Summer garden parties, firework nights and Christmas get-togethers are particular highlights as we invite all our residents and their families to join us and make new memories.
Stay Connected With Your Loved One At LuxuryCare
Connection with your loved ones provides feelings of security, comfort and contentment, and this is no different when you’re living in a care home. If anything, these feelings are heightened, which is why staying connected with your loved one living with us is so important.
Every day, we see the true value of communication, visits and bonding and immediately see how these impact your loved one’s mood, mental resilience and attitude.
At LuxuryCare, we prioritise family connections in our work, ensuring our policies make visiting and connecting easy and hassle-free for everyone, whether through regular visits or a video call.
Plus, we are always looking for a reason to celebrate, so we are always on hand to organise a special occasion to celebrate a milestone.
Life at our care homes across Poole and Bournemouth is more than just care. It is about enjoying life to the fullest with loved ones through fun activities, days out, arts and music, topped off with a hearty homemade meal. And you don’t just have to watch from the sidelines – we love it when you join us for these, too.
If you would like to know more about how we encourage staying connected and celebrating special occasions, book a visit to your local care home. On your visit, you can discuss everything with our staff, from involvement with care plans to how we help your loved one reach out to you, as well as answer your calls about how and where we might plan a celebration with you.
Call 01202 037373 or complete our online contact form to arrange a visit.
