Winter can be hard, the days feel shorter as the darkness creeps in earlier, the coldness sets in and colds and flu spread like wildfire.
It can be easy to want to cuddle up under a blanket and stay there all day, especially when you are older and your mobility might mean having to face the cold for a little bit longer. But for our residents, this is not good for their health.
At our nursing home in Worthing, we do everything we can to make sure our residents stay fit and healthy over winter.
In this article we want to share how we encourage our residents to stay active, and maintain fitness and health over the cold winter months.
Keep moving
As you get older, you start to lose muscle mass, which is what helps keep you warm and able to move. Sitting down for long periods of time will only enable the deterioration of your muscles.
We try to assist our residents to keep active, and move throughout the day. Whether that be encouraging them to wrap up warm and go for a stroll in the gardens, or participate in our weekly activities that the residents always enjoy so much.
Some of our residents, such as those receiving stroke care or Multiple Sclerosis care, also participate in physiotherapy sessions, as this will help them to keep their mobility and can fight the deterioration of their muscles.
Our aim is always to keep our residents active so that they don’t lose mobility or stamina, and so that they maintain muscle mass to keep them warm.
Eat well
Nutrition is an imperative part to keeping healthy. We make sure that our residents get healthy home cooked meals that provide a balanced diet for them.
Our meals are cooked fresh from scratch in our kitchen using locally sourced products. Our menus are based on what the residents like and request, so that they can look forward to their meals everyday and don’t want to skip a meal.
On the flip side, we also recognise that it is important that the portions eaten match the amount of energy the body requires on a day to day basis. It is not unusual for residents to use less energy during the day as the weather, and sometimes illness, can put them off some activities, therefore it is important that they don’t consume more calories than they need, so that they can stay at a healthy weight.
Keeping the care home warm
Our residents might not be able to keep themselves as warm as they used to due to the changes in their bodies as they get older therefore we make sure that our care home is heated at a consistent temperature throughout the day and night.
Where possible we will try to keep windows closed during the night, as that is when the weather is at its coldest.
Of course we don’t want the residents overheating so we make sure we hit the perfect temperature.
Social interaction
Our focus isn’t solely on the physical health and fitness of our residents. We also want to look after their mental health.
We know that isolation can be a cause of ill mental health in the elderly, and so we encourage our residents to stay socially active throughout the winter months.
It can be hard when it is cold to find the energy and motivation to leave the comfort of bedrooms but we make sure our communal areas are just as cosy as the bedrooms are.
We also put on activities during the week where residents can chat while doing something else; we recently did some bowling and regularly have Tickled Pink Productions turn up for the residents to enjoy.
Of course, winter also brings along several celebrations such as bonfire night, remembrance day and Christmas, and we are no strangers to enjoying the festivities and build up to Christmas. We like to get creative over bonfire night and remembrance day; this year some of the residents made poppies out of tissue paper.
Range of qualifications and experience
Understanding the needs of our elderly residents is crucial to making sure they stay fit and healthy during the winter, especially as we provide specialist care for a range of conditions, such as Motor Neurone Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and the consequences of a stroke.
We recruit people who have a passion for caring for the elderly, and who have experience and qualifications. Our staff are trained to know exactly what is needed in any situation. And as we are a nursing home, we are able to administer medication should it be needed.
The experience and qualifications that our management and nursing team bring to our Worthing care home allows us to provide the best possible care for our residents, so that they stay fit and healthy over winter.
Interested in our Worthing care home?
If you are interested in the care we provide at Country Lodge, why not book a tour to come and see our Worthing care home? We love to show potential residents and their families around our care home, and we strongly believe that the best way to get a feel for a care home is to visit for a tour.
So if you are looking for a care home in Worthing, either for yourself or a loved one, speak to our manager Debbie Spokes. You can call us on 01903 830600, or email us at manager@countrylodgenursing.co.uk.
And to see what we get up to over the festive period, why not follow us on Facebook?