Older people living in care homes often have complex health and care needs. To meet those needs, there are many factors that care homes need to consider. Some of them include offering a range of services centred towards the well-being of the residents and better coordination between the caregiving staff, GP, pharmacy, and other resources. Here we discuss a few of the useful tips that will help care homes actively promote and promote residents’ health and emotional well-being.
1) Encouraging positive transition into the care home for residents:
Quality care starts right from supporting the residents as well as their relatives to help them manage the upheaval associated with moving into the care home. For residents, the thought of staying in a new care home can be filled with different emotions – they can be hopeful, anxious, and even be angry. But there are several ways how care home staff can help new residents settle in their surroundings. For example, on the first day, don’t try to overwhelm the resident with too much information. The staff has to do its best to keep the environment casual and relaxed. Ensure that the resident knows where the daily schedules and the care home guidelines are posted. To make the transition easy, the staff can make small but uplifting improvements to the residents room each day for the first few days. For instance, on the first day, the staff can help the residents unpack. The next day, they can help the residents unpack and display their favourite photos in the room. Here is a useful read on helping residents cope with moving into a care home.
2) Keeping them busy:
One simple way to do this is to encourage them to take an active part in doing simple chores. Activities that aren’t physically and mentally taxing, such as baking, knitting, painting and organising clothes/folding laundry can keep the residents occupied and active. Another good way to improve a resident’s quality of life is to encourage their relatives to regularly visit their loved ones with their favourite treats.
3) Improving medication administration:
Medication errors can be life-threatening. Here is a useful read on medication errors and how they can be prevented. Administering medication using conventional MAR (Medication Administration Record) charts increases the risk of medication errors. Also, care staff members are required to invest plenty of time documenting medication administration when working with MAR charts.
However, by switching to digital medical records such as eMAR (electronic medication administration record), care staff can significantly lower the risk of medication errors as well as save medication documentation time. Unlike conventional MAR charts, eMAR is easy to use. Care staff members can easily record data such as medication documentation as well as view them without any hassle. Learn more about the eMAR medication system and how it can work for your care home.
4) Sharing decision-making
One of the key components of person-centred healthcare is shared decision-making. Shared decision-making in care homes involves care staff working together with residents and their relatives in decision-making on all aspects of care and nursing, such as choosing tests, treatments and care plans, based on clinical reports and residents’ preferences and values.
Shared decision-making can foster positive and transparent communication and engagement. The liberty to choose treatments and care plans can be fulfilling to the residents. Also, by involving residents in decision-making, care staff can effectively maintain their dignity and identity.