The 6 Support Pillars of Caring for Someone with Dementia
At Heaton House, we understand that a dementia diagnosis can affect the whole family. As Worthing’s only CQC Outstanding-rated dementia specialist care home, our team brings together years of first-hand experience and advanced training to deliver exceptional support for every resident. To help guide you on your own journey, We’ve outlined our six essential pillars designed to help strengthen the care and comfort you provide for your loved ones at home: 1. Creating a Safe, Comforting Environment Safety is the foundation of wellbeing. For those living with dementia, the world can sometimes feel unpredictable. As dementia progresses, the brain may struggle to process visual information, making depth perception and object recognition more challenging. Creating a space that is physically safe, by removing trip hazards, improving lighting, using colour coding or high-contrast designs, can make a meaningful difference. At the same time, safety must also feel comforting. At Heaton House, our smaller, more personalised environment avoids the clinical feel of larger institutions, helping residents feel secure and truly at home. We encourage residents to personalise their rooms with familiar belongings and decor, creating a sense of continuity that can reduce anxiety and cognitive overload. 2. Mastering the Art of Communication As dementia progresses, communication can become more challenging, meaning patience and awareness is essential for carers. Simple sentences, a calm and friendly tone, eye contact, and supportive non‑verbal cues can all help with understanding. Often, a gentle touch or a warm smile can communicate more than words. Trying to pull someone away from their reality can often create distress or anger, especially if they feel dismissed or incompetent. Responding with empathy rather than correction helps preserve trust, reduce conflict, and protect the relationship you share. 3. Prioritising Nutrition and Holistic Wellbeing Physical health plays a crucial role in supporting mental clarity and mood. A balanced, nutrient-rich diet helps maintain brain health, while staying hydrated is essential for preventing confusion and fatigue. At Heaton House, we take a holistic view to wellbeing, ensuring that both the body and the mind are well nourished through healthy meals and a supportive, engaging atmosphere. 4. The Power of Daily Routines Anxiety for people with dementia often stems from the unknown. Establishing a consistent daily routine provides a reassuring ‘map’ for the day, reducing stress and agitation by offering structure and familiarity. Whether it’s a set time for a morning tea or a familiar evening wind-down, these predictable patterns offer a sense of control, peace and purpose while supporting independence. A steady routine also benefits caregivers, helping them to manage their time more effectively and reducing the need for constant, reactive decision making. 5. Personalised, Meaningful Engagement Dementia should never mean the end of joy. Personalised, meaningful engagement plays a vital role in maintaining identity, lifting mood and supporting cognitive and emotional wellbeing. Whether it’s revisiting a favourite hobby, listening to their favourite music or looking through old family photos, these activities can help spark recognition and connection. Purposeful tasks like gardening or helping prepare lunch can foster independence and a sense of achievement, while creative and social activities such as arts and crafts, singing, or dancing support both cognitive and physical health. At Heaton House, we take pride in creating an engaging, stimulating environment with a calendar full of activities that bring genuine enjoyment to our residents. If you’re looking for inspiration, our blog on the activities we offer showcases just how much fun and fulfillment meaningful engagement can bring, https://heaton-house.net/what-weve-been-up-to-recently-2/ 6. Remember to Care for the Carer Caring for someone with dementia is an act of deep love, but it can also be emotionally and physically demanding. Looking after your own wellbeing isn’t selfish, it’s essential. Seeking support, whether this be through local groups, respite services, or exploring specialist dementia care, helps protect your mental health and ensures you can continue to care with patience, strength, and compassion. At Heaton House, we’re here to support both families and their loved ones at every stage of the journey, offering guidance, reassurance, and specialist care whenever it’s needed. For further dementia support, Alzheimer’s Society offer a support phone line: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/dementia-support-line
Choosing The Right Care For You Or Your Loved One
At Heaton House, we understand that making the decision to move into a care home can be a difficult one, whether it’s for yourself or for a loved one. For families affected by dementia, we know that this decision can feel especially daunting, with concerns about safety, comfort and wellbeing often at the forefront. That’s why we believe being able to make a choice you feel confident in is so important, knowing that your unique needs, values and circumstances can all be met. Why might you consider a care home? Care homes can provide many positive benefits such as professional, round-the-clock support, ensuring that residents feel safe and cared for at all times.At Heaton House, our team is specially trained in dementia care, meaning we understand the unique challenges of memory loss and cognitive change, and how to respond with care that meets individual needs. Beyond the essential care, there are also many other advantages of carehomes: Making the right decision While there are many benefits to living in a care home, we understand that deciding if, and when, it’s the right time can be difficult. To support you, we’ve created a separate blog that explores how to recognise when a move might be the best option. If you do decide that a care home is the best option, the next challenge is to ensure that you choose the right one. There are currently over 65 different care homes within Worthing, each of which offering a unique specialisation. Therefore it can feel overwhelming finding the best choice for your individual needs and preferences. The right care home will always depend on what matters most to the individual. Some people thrive in a lively, social environment surrounded by others, while others prefer a quieter, more peaceful setting. It’s also important to consider the type of care required. At Heaton House, we specialise in supporting those in the early stages of dementia. For individuals who need more advanced support, a home with expertise in later‑stage dementia care may be more appropriate. We understand that making this decision can feel daunting, and we also recognise that Heaton House may not always be the right fit for everyone. Having been established in Worthing for nearly 50 years, we’ve built strong connections with local care providers. This means our friendly team is always happy to guide you toward the option that best suits your needs, whether that’s with us or another trusted home in the community.
What We’ve Been Up To Recently
Embracing Cosy Days at Heaton House As the crisp air of autumn settles in and we look ahead to the cosy winter months, the focus at Heaton Housenaturally shifts indoors. While we cherish memories of the back garden and look forward to the Spring warmth,we’re now all about comfort, creativity, and community inside our welcoming home.We pride ourselves on the range of activities we offer, and while the current weather makes it more difficultgetting out and about, our activity calendar is still full as we find plenty of engaging ways to keep warmindoors. (Additionally, our heated summer house is still open for residents still wanting to enjoy our beautifulgarden). Getting Creative Indoor time gives us the perfect opportunity to get creative! Our wonderful craft coordinator, Marina, is busycoordinating sessions to create handmade decorations for the exciting celebrations just around the corner:Halloween, Fireworks Night, and Christmas!Residents love these sessions, which involve fun activities like sticking, glueing, and painting. Not only arethese great fun, but they are also incredibly beneficial, helping residents to strengthen their hand-eyecoordination. We’ve also been inviting the children from Little Elms Day Nursery to some of these sessions,which has brought even more joy to residents as they adore spending time with the little ones. Drumming Down Dementia remains a firm favourite A major highlight for the last three years, these sessions are always a firm favourite! They are highly engaging,encouraging residents to use their motor skills when hitting the drums and often sparking spontaneousdancing in their seats, it’s sometimes more exercise than our dedicated armchair exercise sessions! We ensure our calendar offers a wide range of musical enjoyment. For example, we have previously invited aviolinist to perform for our residents, bringing an uplifting atmosphere to the home. Seasonal Poetry and Socialisation Poetry reading is a long-standing and cherished tradition here at Heaton House. We love tailoring the readingsto the season, moving from spooky poems for Halloween right through to winter tales for the Christmasperiod. These group sessions are excellent for socialising, as the themes and topics within the poems oftenspark engaging conversations and help residents to recall and share memories. Once one resident startsreminiscing, it often prompts others to follow, creating a lovely, flowing conversation among the group.The benefits of this tradition, especially for residents living with dementia, are well-supported by research bythe Alzheimer’s Society. They emphasise that art therapies, including the creativity sparked by poetry andliterature, have been shown to engage attention, provide pleasure, and potentially improve symptoms such asanxiety and apathy. You Are Always Welcome to Visit We understand that choosing the right care home for yourself or a loved one is difficult. Withdifferent options to choose from and deciding on whether a home is the right fit, it can beoverwhelming. This is why we always allow visits at any time to take a look around and get a feel forour home. Maybe you’d like to sit in during one of our activities?Even if you’re not looking for care just yet, it’s always best to start gathering information early to helpmake decision-making easier when the time comes. Give us a call on 01903 700251 to speak to ourregistered owner, Sally or our registered manager, Sue. They’ll be happy to arrange a visit with you.If you’re not quite at the stage of needing a care home yet, we’ve got a blog post on our website aboutknowing when the right time might be and the benefits of moving into a care home.
Keeping safe in the Sun
As it is now the summer, the weather is starting to become that bit warmer for us and the sun is out. This can be fantastic for older people as the warmth of the sun has lots of benefits like helping with musculoskeletal pain and increasing joint mobility. That said, the sun can be dangerous for all of us if we over expose ourselves to it so it’s important to understand what we can do to make sure that our elderly loved ones stay safe in the sun. At Heaton House, we have a wonderful garden that many of our residents like to spend time in when the weather is nice. While the sun is lovely, we always make sure we take the right precautions to make sure everyone stays safe. Overexposure to the sun can cause all sorts of problems; from sunburn and skin damage to heat stroke. While everyone can suffer from sun overexposure, the elderly can be more prone to these issues and find it hard to take the right precautions for themselves. So how can we help them stay safe in the sun? Read on to find out what our top tips are for keeping elderly people (and, of course ourselves!) safe. Skin care Many older people have very delicate skin, so it’s important to keep it covered or at least make sure the high factor sun cream is regularly kept topped up making sure you don’t miss any spots. The NHS recommends that sun cream is applied every two hours, something that many forget to do. It’s also important to make sure that the SPF is at least 30 or higher to ensure proper protection. At Heaton House, our carers always have sun cream close at hand and are more than happy to help our residents apply it if needed. Shade Sitting in the shade is a great way to still enjoy the warmth of the sun, without being directly exposed to it. We have brightly coloured parasols at Heaton House, providing much needed shade and ultimately keeping the direct sunlight out. That being said, it’s a misconception that being in the shade means that your skin isn’t exposed to the sun’s rays. This isn’t the case and so it’s always best to make sure that sun cream is applied even if your loved one is going to be sitting in the shade. In the photo above, you can see some of our colourful parasols up on a beautiful sunny day. They provide helpful spots of shade around the garden and, as they’re rainbow coloured, add a bright splash of colour too! Sun hats and sunglasses Sun hats can not only look great, they can protect the head, face , neck and ears of the wearer. Making them a great accessory to wear on a sunny day. What’s more, all hats are different and we like making sure that the residents that do wear them have found one that they like. Different styles of sun hat give different protection so it’s worth considering which areas your loved one is most sensitive and choose a hat that protects those areas. For example; some hats offer full neck and shoulder protection while others offer more face and ear protection. For those that wear glasses on the regular talk to your optician about prescription sunglasses. For those who don’t regularly make sure any sunglasses you wear have a CE mark and UV40 label. Plenty of water and salty snacks Being protected by sun rays is important, but it’s just as important to make sure your loved one stays hydrated. Spending time in the sun means that you’ll be warmer than usual, causing fluids to be lost through sweat. Not only do you lose water through sweat, you lose salt too and so encouraging your loved ones to have a few crisps or nuts while outside can help to keep their salt levels in the right place too. After a day in the sun, we sometimes have fish and chips which are not only delicious but also a little salty too so help to replenish any salt lost during the day. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to enjoy lots of sun this summer to make use of our wonderful garden and have fun days out. Our home is in a great location so there’s plenty of things to do within a short distance. From garden centres and beach visits to shopping and coffee shop trips. Whatever we’re up to, we make sure to have fun and keep safe. If you’d like to visit Heaton House and our garden in the sunshine please contact 01903 700251 or email care@heaton-house.net
Help others stay warm this Winter
In this winter season, our residents at Heaton House have access to toasty central heating, a large sunny picture window in our largest lounge, lots of help from our fantastic staff to help them choose the right clothing and even electric heated blankets if they want to sit outside in the fresh air. However, this is not the case for many vulnerable older people so we wanted to share our top tips to help others stay warm this winter. Wear multiple layers Although one thick jumper can be warm, having multiple thinner layers (think, ‘vest – long-sleeved top – cardigan’) traps air between them and can be more effective at keeping bodies warmer. In addition, layers can also be taken off as and when needed. Another advantage of layering clothing is that it is completely adaptable to how cold the person is. Some of our residents love to wear long sleeve tops underneath their jumpers, while others are warm enough with just a t-shirt underneath. Have a hot drink Not only are hot drinks great for hydration, they also help to keep people warm. Due to them being hot, people often choose to sip them rather than drink them quickly. Which also helps aid hydration. To save having to repeatedly boil a kettle, you could keep a flask on the go, which will facilitate even greater hydration as well as save a bit of money on the electricity bill. We’ve nearly always got a hot pot of tea on the go here, although there are so many other options. Including hot chocolate, coffees and other teas; maybe something fruity or a classic Earl Grey. Fill a hot water bottle While you’ve got the kettle on, why not fill up a hot water bottle too? A trick that dates back to the early 1900’s that is still widely used today. A safer alternative is a microwaveable grain bag, commonly in the shape of a cute animal. These are fantastic at keeping people warm and can even help with other things like digestion and blood circulation. You just pop them in the microwave for a couple of minutes and then away you go. Paired with a hot drink, it is sure to keep you warm! Do some light exercise Doing some light exercise is a great way to help maintain strength and mobility, but it can also be a great way to stay warm. Something small like walking to and from different rooms can be a good and easy way to get the body moving. Age UK recommends not staying sitting for more than an hour at a time and even small movements while sitting down can be really effective at keeping things moving and keeping people warm. There are plenty of freely accessible seated exercise routines online and just getting your elderly loved one to rotate their ankles at regular intervals can help improve circulation around the lower legs. Of course, keeping warm and active during these cold winter months also has the major benefit of helping maintain good overall health too. Even 10 minutes of gentle exercise will release positive and mood enhancing endorphins which could last for hours. So why not visit your loved one, or that older person you know who lives alone and check on them to make sure they are warm enough and keeping mobile? We are sure it will be well worth your while. (This blog is an updated version of one published in 2023)
Celebrating Special Occasions At Heaton House
In our last blog post, we spoke about reflecting the seasons at Heaton House through the different activities we do and the food we eat. Being able to keep a good routine throughout the year brings comfort to residents. The seasons aren’t the only things that can help us to establish a good routine for the year. Celebrating special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and other special days helps too. How routines help people with Dementia Keeping a daily routine helps the person with Dementia know what to expect each day. This can reduce any stress or confusion they may have. No one likes not knowing what’s going on and this can be especially stressful for those with dementia. Keeping a routine can help to avoid that. Remaining healthy is also made easier with a routine, as people can sit down at the same time each day to eat and know when it’s time to get some exercise. At Heaton House, we have set mealtimes to encourage residents to eat at certain times. Although these are of course not set in stone and may be changed to suit each person. We also make sure that our activities for the week are displayed clearly on the wall in the ground-floor hallway so that residents can see what’s planned for each day. While we have things planned week-to-week, we also have special dates to celebrate throughout the year. Doing this means that residents have things to look forward to. How we celebrate at Heaton House Whenever we have someone new come to stay with us, we get to know what things they celebrate every year so that we can make sure to join them in their celebrations. Some of the most common things we celebrate are birthdays and special days like St Patrick’s Day and Pancake Day. For birthdays, our chefs will bake a cake of the birthday resident’s choice and we light the candles and all sing Happy Birthday. Gifts and cards are received through the post and of course, friends and family are more than welcome to join the celebrations. We also love to recognise personal occasions like anniversaries. It’s always lovely to hear the memories that celebrating any occasion brings up. From their wedding day to going to a party, there are always things to chat about. Most recently, we celebrated Pancake Day by making our own and having a go at flipping them. Some of our favourite action shots are below! Everyone had great fun, although it was agreed that the best part was of course eating them! Recognising days like that helps our residents to spot patterns and reassures residents as they know what to expect. Join our family There’s currently a rare opportunity to join the Heaton House family as we currently have a vacancy. Call 01903 700251 and ask to speak to Sally or Sue to find out more. You can also email us at care@heaton-house.net.
The First Signs Of Spring!
The last month or so has been particularly cold here on the South Coast with temperatures dropping very low and Worthing even had a flurry of snow. During these particularly cold spells, we of course spend our time indoors. We always find lots of things to do inside to keep us busy and, most importantly, warm! You can find out about the type of activities we’ve been doing in our last blog post. We have, however, seen signs that the weather is starting to take a turn for the better, as we’re starting to notice signs of life beginning in the garden. Most notably our bulbs have begun to sprout. These were planted in the Autumn by some of our green-fingered residents and it’s a joy to see them make an appearance. It’s a sign that warmer weather is on the way and soon the icy mornings will make way for sunny ones. We always try to make sure that our residents are able to continue to do the things that they enjoy while staying with us. For some, that means being able to get outside into the garden and tend to our flower beds. Once Spring is in full swing, we’re sure that our resident gardeners will be back outside to start planting bedding plants. These create beautiful floral displays for everyone to enjoy. Reflecting the seasons at Heaton House While our garden naturally changes throughout the year to reflect the seasons, it’s not the only thing that changes. We love to have seasonal activities planned and different menus at different times of the year. These are influenced by what’s growing in our herb garden at that time of year. We’ve written a blog post about the home-cooked food we enjoy at Heaton House and you can read it here. Seeing the seasonal changes through the activities we do, the food we eat and what the garden looks like reassures residents. It also triggers long-term memories of seasonal things that have happened in the past. For example; planting bulbs in the Autumn might make someone remember doing it with their mum as a child. Our carers always love chatting with residents about memories and encourage them to talk about the good experiences they’ve had. Looking forward to Spring and Summer The bulbs sprouting are a sure sign that Spring is well on its way and we can’t wait for the warmer weather so we can enjoy our garden. During the Winter months, a lot of residents enjoy watching the wildlife from our picture windows in the lounge. So it’ll be lovely to be able to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air. We also have lots of outdoor activities planned in the warmer months like adventure golf and garden parties with the children from Little Elms Nursery. There’s currently a rare opportunity to join our family as we have flexible accommodation available in the form of two rooms. This could suit either two separate people or possibly a couple. If you’re interested, please call us on 01903 700251 and ask to speak to Sally or Sue or email care@heaton-house.net.
Gingerbread House Making and Supporting Safe In Sussex
We took part in Safe In Sussex’s Gingerbread House competition again this year As we head into the festive season, we’ve of course got lots of festive activities planned to keep us busy. From card making and putting up the decorations to singing Christmas songs and enjoying a Christmas film. One of the first Christmas events on our calendar this year was the Safe In Sussex Gingerbread House competition. A competition run by Safe in Sussex, a local charity that offers support to people affected by domestic abuse. The price of a gingerbread house kit goes towards funding the amazing work that Safe in Sussex do. Including providing refuge accommodation for victims of abuse. It’s a really important charity and Heaton House is proud to support it again this year. Our Gingerbread House As we’re a Dementia care home, we wanted to spread awareness of Dementia and Alzheimer’s, but also to send a positive message. This year, we submitted our house with the quote, ‘They may be forgetful, but we won’t let them be forgotten’. We’re passionate about making sure all of our residents feel at home, cared for and part of our family. So we thought this quote fitted into what we do. We took ideas from our residents and brought people’s attention to Alzheimer’s with a positive spin that reflected the wonderful work our care team does. The house itself had the Alzheimer’s Society blue as well as the iconic flower that represents them. From the blue icing at each corner to the blue flowers along the top of the roof, we wanted to make sure that our theme was clear and that the house stood out. We had great fun taking part in the competition and, as always, it’s good to support an important local cause while doing so.
Ways To Help Older People In winter
As the seasons change, the nights get longer and the weather gets colder. This can affect the elderly more than others. Darker evenings could mean that they feel less safe at home and with the temperature dropping, they can find it difficult to keep warm. Thankfully, there are things that we can all do to help them, using both old methods and incorporating technology into solutions too. Here are our top tips on keeping your elderly loved ones safe, secure and warm this winter. Safety and security As we said at the beginning, with it staying darker for longer over winter, older people may feel more vulnerable in their homes. Regular visits from family and friends can help ward off these feelings. As can conventional solutions such as installing a chain on the front door, but technology can also be helpful. Use a smart speaker to feel safe Many of us now have these handy devices in our homes to help with daily tasks like turning lights on and off and playing our favourite playlist. For the elderly, they can help them feel safer at home. The smart speaker itself can be used to play music to provide background music. This can help people feel less alone and safer, especially when the nights draw in. If the lights are also controlled through the speaker, did you know you can set up schedules for the lights to turn on and off automatically? This is usually done through the WiFi lights’ app and can help to keep living areas well lit when the sun goes down. Softening the transition between daytime and nighttime, helping the elderly feel more secure. Smart speakers can also be used to set reminders, which can be very helpful for deliveries and regular visitors. Keeping warm One of the biggest challenges with winter is making sure that elderly loved ones are warm enough. The elderly can find it difficult to regulate their body temperature and it can be more difficult in Winter. Here’s a few things you can do to help. Make sure they’re wearing thin layers You may be tempted to make sure your loved one has lots of thick jumpers and thermals, but multiple thin layers will be warmer. This is because the thin layers trap the air in-between them better, which keeps the heat in as the layers act as an insulator. It’s also easier to remove a layer or two should they become too hot, rather than having to get completely changed again. This works in the opposite way too – if they become too cold, they can simply add more layers. Add thermal insoles to shoes Having cold feet often makes the rest of your body cold because when your feet are warm, the blood vessels open up. This allows for better blood flow throughout the rest of your body. Making sure your loved ones feet are warm will help them stay warm over all. Thermal insoles, such as those made from lambswool are a great way to do this – along with multiple pairs of socks of course. Drinking hot drinks The great thing about hot drinks is they help keep people hydrated as well as warm. Due to them being hot, people often choose to sip them rather than drink them quickly. Which also aids hydration. To save having to repeatedly boil a kettle, you could keep a flask on the go, which will facilitate even greater hydration as well as save a bit of money on the electricity bill. We’ve nearly always got a hot pot of tea on the go here, although there are so many other options. Including hot chocolate and other teas; maybe something fruity or a classic Earl Grey. Making sure your elderly loved ones keep safe and warm over winter is important and there’s lots of support available should you find yourself struggling. Age UK has a great guide on its website which gives top tips and ideas. We also have a Dementia Hub in Worthing which can offer advice and support. It also runs drop in sessions for a warm place to go and a cup of tea.
Making The Most Of A Very British Summer
Most of us in Worthing were a bit disappointed with how our Summer started this year and we were no different. It seemed like we had more rainy days than sun at the beginning! As we’ve mentioned before though, having wet weather doesn’t mean that we don’t have fun. We always make sure that the activity calendar is full of fun things to do and we try to make sure there are things for everyone to enjoy. Every week there are visitors coming in to run different sessions like Drumdown Dementia. So when the rainy days come, we’ve already got lots to do in the warm and dry. Keeping busy at home We’re very lucky that as a small home we all get along like one big happy family and often spend time together in the lounge. Just recently we all sat down to make our own pizzas for tea. This was so fun to do and it was great to see lots of the residents getting creative with their toppings! Adding red pepper for a pop of colour, mushrooms for flavour and of course plenty of cheese. Doing activities like this also allows for conversation among residents and carers. Asking what their favourite pizza toppings are and all having a laugh when we make a mess! We’ve also enjoyed the Drumdown Dementia sessions we’ve been having from Worthing Dementia Hub and of course seeing the children from Little Elms Nursery. It’s great when they stop by to show the nannies and grandads what they’ve been up to. Getting out when we can As we mentioned, the Summer weather was a little disappointing at the beginning of the season so when we did get a few days of sun, we made sure to make the most of it. On one such day, we made an impromptu visit to Marine Gardens which is only a 15 minute walk away from us. Kate, Jan and Gemma, three of our wonderful carers, were more than happy to take our ladies out. It was lovely to enjoy the sea air after the rain that we’d had. Everyone liked watching the green bowling and of course enjoying a lovely cup of tea and a slice of cake from the cafe. While we do have things planned and do have a routine, sometimes it’s nice to enjoy something that hasn’t been planned. Everyone had a great time. Enjoying the garden Towards the end of Summer and into September, the weather cleared up so we were able to go on trips out more often and enjoy our garden. As we mentioned in August, the more green-fingered residents had been doing some gardening to get the space ready for Summer. So it was lovely to be able to spend time out there once the flowers were fully in bloom. There are lots of activities we like to do outside, one of our favourites is mini golf which is great to practise hand eye coordination and get everyone moving around. Although having said that, there are also plenty of places to sit and watch the world go by with a cuppa too! Whatever the weather, we always make sure that there’s plenty of things to keep us busy. Our activity calendar is always filled with fun things for everyone that encourage socialising and getting active.