My Home Life
Meet Irene, aged 82. Prior to moving to her care home, Irene lived alone. She experienced a nervous breakdown following the death of her husband, and became very frightened and isolated. Her physical health also deteriorated, and she was reliant on using a wheelchair.
Since moving to residential care, Irene is thriving; “Oh I’m a different person – I feel like I’m back to me”. Both her mental and her physical health have improved – “there’s no anxiety” anymore and, thanks to support from her care team, she no longer uses a wheelchair within the building. Irene has also found renewed purpose. She previously had a long career with a fabric company, which was critical to her identity. Unable to sew anymore “because of my hands”, she is now knitting scarves for staff. The huge transformation in her health and wellbeing has also helped restore Irene’s relationship with her daughter Jane, who visits 4 times a week.
Residential care has not always been regarded as somewhere that older people can flourish. However, research from My Home Life England reveals that, when conditions are right, care homes can be truly transformative – like in Irene’s case.
Join us on 16th April as we share the impact of our ‘Thriving in Residential Care’ research – the UK’s largest qualitative study on older people’s experiences of living in care homes.
We’ll cover:
- Powerful stories of transformed lives
- 6 keys ways that older people are thriving in care homes
- How our research is being taken forward to evidence and assess quality
- What this research means for care homes, and for those that commission care services
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