Why keeping in touch is so important

Why keeping in touch is so important

Moving into care can be a difficult time and so ensuring you keep in touch with your friend or loved one is vital to helping them adjust to their new home and way of life. Here we look at various ways you can do this and why it is so important to keep in touch.

Often family and friends are not local to the care setting where a person moves into or may be working full time so making more regular visiting difficult. Keeping in touch helps the person in care feel remembered, ensures they remain a part of your lives, that they still feel very much part of the family and so helps with good overall wellbeing.

The rise of the video call

Something which had been around for some time but became more widely discovered during the Covid-19 pandemic was video calls. These are a great way of catching up with others when you are unable to visit in person and an especially helpful form of communication for those who also need to lip read as well as hear what is being said. If you’re working on a big project at home, or have a new member of the family some distance away a video call can really help someone feel as though they are there with you and enables them to know more about the various things you may chat with them about. If you’re having a big family gathering, making a video call enables someone to say hello to all the family and still feel included.

Snail mail in the modern day

There are many ways to keep in touch and although younger generations may need a little more encouragement at times, letters, cards, and pictures are a lovely way to brighten someone’s day. Consider the age of the person in care. They may be more used to keeping in touch via handwritten letters and may not be so comfortable using email or phone messaging.

Although often referred to as ‘snail mail’ there are many modern ways of sending physical post which take a few minutes and tend to arrive in a couple of days. One such way is by snapping a photo on your smart phone, loading it to an app with a few words and the delivery address and hitting send! A great way to encourage the younger members of the family to keep in touch.

Opening personal post can really brighten someone’s day. If they struggle with some tasks and their eyesight is not so good, a member of staff will sit with them and read their post to them. This can open some great topics of conversation and helps staff get a bigger picture of the person they are working with.

Specialist gifts made just for delivery

Over the years many companies have discovered niche markets for different mail order gift options. Since the pandemic, these companies have flourished and this means there are now many great options for letting someone know you are thinking of them, whether for a birthday, anniversary or just to say hello. You can now send all sorts of things, such as flowers, living cards with smaller flower arrangements, chocolates, pamper gifts, reading gifts, seeds. . . . . the list is almost endless! Sending a small something by a delivery company means that the person in care knows you are thinking of them and helps them to discover different things they may have never known about before which can be a great topic of conversation, as well as adding personal things to their surroundings.

Telephones for those who just love to chat

Gone are the days where there were limited options of telephones. For those who love a good old, traditional chin wag there are big button telephones in all the bedrooms here at The Dower House Nursing Home as standard, making it easier for everyone to use them. These telephones also have a handsfree option, so once someone has been assisted to make or answer a call, they can be left to chat away in private using the speaker option.

As you can see, there are many options to ensure you keep in touch with friends and loved ones once they move into a care or nursing home and the bonus of living in this environment is that there is always someone on hand to assist. Whether it is to set up an ipad for a video call, open and read letters and cards or get a telephone call started off staff can always ensure that people can keep in touch with those important to them.

Keeping in touch enables people to feel that they are still cared about and a part of the lives of friends and family, even though life has changed a little. This has a huge impact on their wellbeing, giving them things to look forward to and meaning they feel very much still included in their family and friendship circles.

Here at The Dower House Nursing Home, we have a high staff to resident ratio, along with a Wellbeing Co-ordinator, ensuring there is always someone on hand to help all of our residents stay connected to those important to them.

To find out more about life here with us, contact 01962 882848 to arrange your visit.