Improving Health And Wellbeing In Care Homes: How Care Homes Are Tackling These Challenges

Deciding to move a loved one into a care home is a difficult choice to make. Without question, it is one that no one takes lightly. However, choosing to move a loved one does come with its reasons. Some individuals will need constant care and a place where there will be a person ready to help -something that their loved ones are unable to provide them at home.

Knowing their loved ones are in the best possible care can provide peace of mind. They can rest assured knowing they will be well cared for and receive the support they need to live comfortably.

On the other hand, care homes face their own set of struggles. Each one of these obstacles can have an impact on the way work is completed. One area in particular that stands out is health and wellness, two factors that play an influential role in a resident’s experience. Understandably, those that manage care homes and work within them want to find and implement as many measures as possible to help continue delivering excellent care to residents.

If you want to learn more about improving health and wellbeing in care homes and the measures being put in place to tackle these challenges, keep reading to find out more.

Common Challenges Care Homes Face

Working within a care home, the team will notice a few concerning issues that can impact their residents’ stay and wellbeing. Although carers will do everything in their power to avoid these issues, some are almost impossible to avoid. These are just some of the most common challenges care homes face today.

• Loneliness In Residents– Whilst it might be difficult to hear, some residents that reside in a care home struggle with loneliness. Residents that are introverted might find it difficult to communicate with other residents, which limits the interactions they have with carers and loved ones that come to visit. Depending on the resident’s health conditions, some may only have limited mobility, which prevents them from accessing other areas of the care home. Limited mobility can mean the only people they say throughout the day are carers that come to check in or any visitors they have. These limited interactions can further contribute to feelings of loneliness.

• Residents Falling – Another common challenge that carers in care homes face is residents falling. Understandably, no carer wants their residents to fall. However, most residents in care homes are elderly individuals who are frail and with limited mobility. Some residents will attempt to move around their room without support from others, which could lead to a fall. Unfortunately, falls can have an impact on a resident’s health, including causing a serious injury that leaves them in pain or, in some cases, loss of life.

Ways To Help Tackle The Challenges 

Both of these challenges can have an impact on a resident’s health and wellbeing. Although these are only two of the many challenges care homes face, there are multiple obstacles that carers have to overcome on a regular basis. Finding ways to tackle these challenges is one of the obstacles that lie in the way for carers to deliver the quality of care they want to provide. Others include limited support and funding to deliver quality care. There are a few ways to help tackle these challenges, as outlined below.

Investing In New Beds

As mentioned earlier, some residents in care homes will have limited mobility. As a result, they will often spend the majority of their time in a care home, staying in their bed. This limited movement can have an impact on their wellness, especially if they are uncomfortable in the bed they rest in. As such, having a bed that can be adjusted to help them sit up, lie down and be raised could help to make a difference. Investing in an adjustable hospital bed for a resident can help to make their stay in the care home a little more comfortable. For carers, it helps them deliver quality care as they can adjust the bed to the ideal setting for the resident.

Training For Specific Conditions

One of the common reasons for individuals being moved to a care home can be because they have dementia. Caring for someone with dementia is a challenge. Sadly, many are unable to provide the level of care a loved one with dementia needs, which is why they make the difficult decision to move their relative to a care home. When working in a care home, carers should receive proper training to help them support and care for those with dementia. Investing in this training means that they can tailor the way they deliver care to help ensure that residents with dementia are as comfortable as possible. It is these small changes that can help to make a difference in a resident’s health and wellbeing.

Implementing New Measures

Improving health and wellness in a care home is a significant task to undertake, but that could have a positive impact on a resident’s experience. One of these changes could be introducing engaging activities for residents to participate in. These activities could be a great way to help get residents to socialise, which might have a positive impact on reducing feelings of loneliness. Additionally, these activities could be a fun way to help keep residents’ minds stimulated and active, which is an additional bonus! Along with engaging residents in fun activities, monitoring their mood could also help to identify any concerning issues that need to be addressed. To help improve wellbeing in care homes, carers should have a diary of a resident’s changing moods, noting when in the day these changes occur. This could allow them to find the right support and implement the best measures to help improve a resident’s mood and find ways to maintain a positive mood.

Attracting More Staff

Without question, one topic that has been heavily discussed in the UK press is the staffing crisis in care homes. Across the country, countless care homes are searching for ways to bring on more staff to their homes. Care homes that are limited in staff will be unable to provide the level of care they want to deliver and know their residents’ needs. This can have a domino effect on their own health and wellbeing, as they will be working tirelessly to ensure that each resident is seen and cared for. It could cause them to feel stressed or burnout, which could impact the way in which they work. To combat this issue, many care homes are looking for ways to attract more staff to help them deliver the care they know their residents deserve to care for their health and wellbeing.

The Bottom Line

These are only a handful of ways that care homes can tackle the challenges they face. Of course, extra funding and support can offer the greatest helping hand. However, altering the way they deliver their service and care for their residents can help to make small and positive changes to a resident’s health and wellness. Ultimately, a carer wants to ensure that each resident receives the best quality care and is comfortable within their space in the care home. It is a challenging task to undertake, but it is a rewarding experience for carers knowing they provided a comfortable space for residents.