What Can You Do to Better the Health of Your Residents?

Working in a care home can be very tough, but rewarding. You need to make sure that you are doing the best that you can every day, to give the best care to your residents, to ensure they can live out their twilight years with dignity and have the best quality of life possible. 

You will find that this is a lot easier said than done, but some areas can provide you with easy wins, as long as you go about it the right way. 

Start with Catering 

You should make sure that your catering is to a good standard, as your residents will see mealtimes (and what they are having) as a major focus of the day. It is recommended that you outsource your catering to a company to get specialists on the job and get a team that already works well together. This ensures that food is cooked by professionals that are passionate about what they do, and are bound to cook dishes that your care home residents will love. 

Ensure You Partner with the Right Medical Supplies Provider

Whether you need hygiene products or medical supplies, you should make sure that you are going to a reliable medical supplier. A single source, like medical-supermarket.com, should tick most if not all boxes here, as you can find the right quality and you are paying a reasonable amount for the items that you need, according to your budget. You might be nervous about sticking all of your eggs in one basket like this, but large suppliers typically have greater resources, and it also cuts down on admin.

Think About Activities for Residents

Being a resident in a care home is far from interesting, so you will need to do what you can to keep them occupied. There is, of course, the option for movie afternoons (or even mornings), where you can dust off an old favorite for them to watch and reminisce about. There are also games you can play, such as Bingo, although you might want to avoid things like quizzes, which can sometimes cause more friction than enjoyment.

You could also hire local entertainers and tribute acts to come in and perform. Not only are they likely to be budget-friendly, an outsider often becomes the focus of attention for the residents, and they are far more likely to be interested in a guest, rather than just listening to CDs of the same music.

Remember Staff Morale Is Important Too

Morale is a fragile thing, especially if you have a string of incidences where you are dealing with a difficult resident. However, you must persevere and make sure that you are getting through difficult times as a group. This helps build stronger connections with your teammates, and can be a great way to make sure that you are communicating well as a group. 

Needless to say, you should be leaning on each other for support, and you should make sure that you are all coping well, especially if big changes are happening or you are grieving the loss of a resident. 

In Summary

Every care home should focus on making the lives of the residents as good as they can be. This can be done by focusing on things they care about, like catering and activities. It can also be done by making sure that you have all of the right supplies to take care of their medical needs, and that your staff are emotionally equipped to provide that care.