In this article we look at some facts about care homes as well as celebrating the importance of care homes to the community. At Fire and Safety Centre we supply products that help care homes to function and help to ensure fire safety in care homes. It is this relationship which has led us to want to highlight and celebrate the importance of National Care Home Open Day.
To start off, let us take a look at our five interesting pieces of information about care homes:
- Residential care homes and nursing homes aren’t the same. They cater for very different needs.
- In 2013, almost 250,000 people in England were living in almost 12,900 residential care homes for adults and older people, with a further 220,000 living in just over 4,500 registered nursing homes.
- Up to half of the people living in residential care homes fund their own care and accommodation.
- Local authorities operate less than 1,000 care homes across the country, but still have safeguarding responsibilities for all the residents.
- Self‑determination and a level of independence are associated with health and wellbeing. That means that people who have as much choice as possible about personal routines and activities are likely to be healthier.
Why National Care Home Day is so important to everyone
Just think of Gareth Bale. As the young Welshman, arguably approaching the peak of his career, carries the hopes of the Welsh nation on his broad shoulders in Euro 2016, there are so many of us who want to be out there playing ourselves. However, our bodies are saying ‘whoa, take it easy’ when our minds are saying the opposite. Our minds are certainly willing and are looking out from the summit searching for new horizons; still keen for new experiences.
This analogy leads to our main point; this is why good care homes are so important. As the Baby Boomers get to the sort of age in which they increasingly need the support of a care home, there’s a growing realisation that people with older bodies don’t necessarily have older minds; that bingo and a cup of tea before Coronation Street don’t have to be the only activity option – and never should have been anyway.
National Care Home Open Day, on Friday 17th June this year, recognises this fact. Thousands of care homes take part. Now in its fourth year, the initiative has set out its stall to invite us in to see the wonderful work done by carers not only to fill the days and imaginations of those whose active minds are trapped in frail bodies, but also to show us what those active minds still have to offer.
Gloria Hunniford, National Care Home Open Day Ambassador, says:
“National Care Home Open Day is a great opportunity for people to see for themselves the quality of the care services in their neighbourhoods, to make informed assessments of the range of what is available and the standard of care. Care homes and their residents are a very important but sometimes overlooked part of our society. The National Care Home Open Day will help strengthen the relationships between care home residents, staff and their neighbours. It may even encourage a few people to think about volunteering to do something during the rest of the year to support and befriend residents in local care homes.”
That’s the objective of National Care Home Open Day. Examples of interesting activities abound. Take the resident who doesn’t let being 87 stand in the way of being a DJ at a community radio station over the road from his home. Or, the retired florist who teaches classes in the home in which she lives; and the 100-year-old who still enjoys the occasional game of volleyball.
A gentleman called Gary Carr couldn’t have said it better. He is the activities co-ordinator who sorted out the DJ job for his 87-year-old and he commented as follows:
“Older people tend to get stereotyped. Here, we don’t assume that our residents can’t do something – we find out what they can do.”
The practicalities of a functioning care home
Here at Fire and Safety Centre, we see the requirements and mechanics of operating a care home from our customers in that sector. To give the elderly chance to flourish, the premises need to be set up for ease of access. This is where evacuation equipment such as Evac Chairs can really come in handy. Of course, fire safety in care homes is crucially important, and at Fire and Safety Centre we offer one of the widest ranges of fire extinguishers on the web. We have equipment that would suit every requirement to ensure fire safety in care homes.
We are proud to supply this equipment to care homes and to support the National Care Home Day initiative.