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If you are looking for additional care for your relative or loved one who has dementia, it’s first important to weigh up the options you have, this will generally include one of the following;

  • Home enablement – a care professional who comes to visit your home, relieving some of the pressure of being a full-time carer.
  • Dementia day care Devon – regular visits to a dedicated dementia day centre can provide your loved one with the additional care needs that you can’t always offer due to time restraints or professional knowledge.
  • Dementia care homes Devon– if you believe your loved one needs to be in full-time care, there are many options for dementia care homes in Devon.

Once you’ve established the level of care you need, it’s then vital to find the right day centre or care home, here is our checklist and some questions you may need answers to when doing your research.

1. Who will be caring for your loved one and do they have the right level of training?

Having the right care professionals with appropriate experience and training is one of the first things you should ask. Dementia care is very specialist, staff need to be able to talk to individuals with a clear understanding of the disease and what they are going through. They need to be able to stay calm, have plenty of patience and recognise that caring for someone with dementia is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

At The Ness Dementia Centre, all our staff are qualified to a high level, we also have a very high staff:member ratio, so you can be sure that they are receiving the care and attention they need.

2. What facilities are available?

Facilities are another key consideration to keep in mind when looking for appropriate care for someone with dementia, as a care home that isn’t dedicated to caring for individuals with dementia can sometimes not have everything they’ll need. These may include:

  • A quiet space to allow individuals to relax in
  • Communal area to endorse social stimulation
  • Specific activities geared to the individual

When setting up the Ness Centre in 2017, we considered all of this, so have the best possible facilities at hand for every member to take advantage of.

3. Has the care home or day centre been designed in a specific way to suit individuals living with the disease?

There is a lot of research around the effect that colour has on people living with dementia. In many cases, it’s around picking contrasting colours which will influence an individual’s thought process and mood.

For example, blue is a very calming colour, and should be used in restful spaces, in contrast to red which stimulates brain wave activity. Considering patterns and shapes has huge importance too, people with dementia don’t react to well to stripes and spots, so block colours are preferable.

Design and decor was hugely important to us, and we spent a lot of time with interior designers and researchers to ensure that the space we were creating had considered all of the above points. We now have colourful yet calm rooms, which encourage stimulation of the brain at every given opportunity.

4. Is it dedicated to caring for residents or members with dementia?

The care needs of someone with dementia will be much greater than an individual who is just requiring further elderly care. The needs will be completely different and shouldn’t be comparable.

We specialise in dementia day care, and understand that members can be dealing with many different levels of the disease. We are continuously adapting our spaces and learning about the latest technology, with the aim of slowing down the disease.

5. Have they been approved with certain accreditations?

You should check that any care home or day centre has at least one of these care accreditations:

  • An up-to-date CQC inspection report

6. What activities are provided?

To make a real impact on anyone living with dementia, activities need to be available that will stimulate brain activity and work on improving their memory.

At the Ness Centre, we create weekly activity plans which incorporate a range of different approaches, some of our members’ favourite activities include:

  • Tai-chi
  • Singing and dancing
  • Arts and crafts

7. Are there additional charges for certain activities or care?

In some cases, you may find that when researching dementia care homes Devon, their basic fees don’t include many of the activities or facilities that are required for the residents to have the optimum level of care.

Our day rate includes everything, so there are no hidden charges, regardless of if we are taking our members out of the centre on a day trip.

8. Is there routine in the care that’s provided?

In most instances, routine is key for someone living with dementia, this may be something as simple as when they are served lunch to when they have visitors.

We always recommend that members’ attend our dementia day centre on set days so this can become part of their normal routine. Some of our members’ attend daily, others feel they only require 1 or 2 days a week. We have no set rules on the minimum amount of attendance days per week, but from our experience, members’ get the most out of their time when the centre is visited at least twice a week.

9. Are families involved in establishing a care plan?

If an individual with dementia has previously had a full time carer before coming to a care home or day care centre in Devon, then it’s important that the care professionals know about the previous care plan.

We think that involvement in the initial stages is key to ensuring the individual gets the care they will require. It will also help to establish a routine that they may be used to already, making the whole process much easier for everyone.

10. Is there a high level of security?

When looking for your dementia care home Devon or dementia day care, you will need to be sure that security is paramount.

We have many security measures in place to ensure that all our members are accounted for at all times, we have door locks in place and due to our staff ratio, members will always be with one of our staff when we go on day trips.

Get in contact with The Ness Dementia Centre…

Whether you are looking for day care to support what you are doing, or would like more specialist support during your loved one’s time at a local care home, we can establish the right level of care that they need.

Our home enablement service also allows individuals to be visited by one of our professionals in the comfort of their own home.

Book a free trial at The Ness Dementia Centre to get a better understanding of our unique setup. Call our team by emailing us on [email protected] or phone us on 01626 774 799.

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