Jean

After Ginger we did 'exploring oats' going from the big pot mother had on the stove when they were going out in the cold to school, through to them making their own snacks with different oatcake toppings. I demonstrated instant flavoured oats that you make in 2 minutes in the microwave, 1 lady enjoyed it so much that she ate the whole serving, they tasted and enjoyed oat milk. I try to share these stories hoping that it gives someone inspiration.

I use this template to give out certificates to the residents once every 9 months to a year. It is really appreciated and causes a buzz with residents and families. We acknowledge the residents contribution to the home eg always making an effort to chat to new residents, watering the plants in the lounge. We laminate the certificates and the residents proudly display them.

Many years later, I'm going to slip this in to my program. Thank you

Next week the residents will have a chance to 'explore ginger' in an activity. We will serve ginger loaf, a ginger biscuit, a piece of crystallised ginger and a glass of ginger beer. I also do a fortnightly program called 'food from the British Isles' When we do armchair travel we also snack on some food from the country we are travelling too. I used food as a draw card and residents who don't normally engage in activities will often attend a 'food' activities giving me a great opportunity to reach everyone. Any food ideas (excluding baking and cooking) will be gratefully recieved.

So nice to see South Africans joining the 'Golden Carers family ' I use a lot of the ideas from this site and love it. I immigrated to the UK 12 years ago, from Durban SA. On Monday I am doing armchair travel to SA, I will serve Rooibos tea and banana bread and have lots of 'artifacts' to show them along with the information that is on this site.

Thank you

Last week we remininced 'Easter when you were young' . This week I'll bring in this information. Thank you

I would also put some soft toys, fiddle mitts etc on the table. Any other ideas?

Thank you for the feedback Linda. I was considering 8pm to 12 but would have to monitor residents and be flexible here. I thought about making a cozy circle of chairs, relaxing music playing, an aroma therapy dispenser with some essential oils in the background. On the table I would have a few items that are related to sleep such as hot water bottles, ????. there would be a table nearby with fluffy coloured blankets and pillows on. I would be dressed in PJ's. We would chat, hold hands (if they found it acceptable) etc. A tray of drinks, warm milk Ovaltine Milo etc. We have 'orthopeadic type' chairs that recline and if I was fortunate enough to get someone to a point where they might sleep if they were in one of the chairs they could be left there for a few hours. Am I on the correct track, please give me feedback or ideas, the more prepared I am the greater my chances of succeeding.

Linda I would be very interested in any updates that you are happy to give us when implementing this project. My stumbling block would be staffing, in would need 1 or 2 more adequately trained staff members. At present we only have 4 staff members on duty each night and from approx 40 residents that they have to care for they probably have 8 'night owls'