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Bupa Care Homes ‘Grow Their Own’ For Community Initiative

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Bupa care homes’ residents have their watering cans at the ready as they prepare to ‘grow their own’ for ‘Community Crops’.

‘Community Crops’ is a Bupa care homes initiative which promotes the health benefits associated with gardening and growing your own fruit and veg.

The project is being supported by young people involved with The Prince’s Trust, who are linking up with Bupa homes, including nursing care homes, across the UK to help sow and grow the crops.

Residents have also been inviting local schools and community groups to lend a hand with planting and start their own vegetable plots.

Caroline Davy, Bupa’s community affairs assistant, said: “This is a great way for our residents to appreciate the fresh air, stay active and get a real sense of achievement by tending to the crops and watching them grow.

“For our residents who were keen gardeners before they joined us, ‘Community Crops’ offers a great opportunity to get back involved, but it also helps minds as well as bodies. Particularly for our residents receiving dementia care, sharing stories about ‘dig for victory’ and the tradition of growing your own are excellent memory triggers to aid connections with the past.”

Helen Thurston, from The Prince’s Trust added: “‘The Community Crops’ campaign is a fantastic project which provides our Prince’s Trust XL club members with the opportunity to get involved with their local community. It enables young people to engage in a positive way with a different generation and learn about the importance of healthy eating.”

Altogether, the Community Crops campaign has taken root in gardens and greenhouses in over 300 care homes across the UK.

Via EPR Network
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Bupa Care Home Residents Set To ‘Get Into Reading’ With Special Reading Aloud Groups

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Bupa has joined forces with charity The Reader Organisation to encourage its care home residents to ‘get into reading’ with special reading aloud groups.

The ‘Get into Reading’ groups will be piloted in eight Bupa care homes for six months from April 2011. Get into Reading aims to bring the benefits of reading aloud and of social interaction to people in health and care environments, such as residential homes or homes offering nursing care.

Each group will enjoy shared reading led by a project worker from The Reader Organisation for an hour each week. Members will discuss what’s being read as they go along, and relatives, staff and members of the local community will be welcome to join in as well. Studies show that literature can have a healing or therapeutic effect on readers, helping them to identify with characters and situations in books or to be ‘taken out of themselves’ by the story.

The Reader Organisation’s experience has shown that short stories and poetry have proved most beneficial for people with dementia. The project will ensure that Bupa care home staff members will be trained to deliver read-aloud groups themselves. Following assessment of the pilot, Bupa plans to offer groups to its 305 homes nationally as part of its industry-leading Activities programme.

Siobhan Drane, Bupa Care Services community manager said: “We are really pleased to be working with The Reader Organisation to deliver ‘Get into Reading’. We hope that these reading aloud groups will reignite a passion for literature in our residents, spark a new interest or offer an opportunity for reminiscence. We believe our residents will benefit from the positive effect literature can have on wellbeing.”

Via EPR Network
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Bupa Care Homes Hold Communi-tea Week Celebrations

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Bupa has held Communi-tea Week events in its care homes to help tackle loneliness in older people.

Residents of Bupa care homes throughout the UK have brewed up some community spirit by inviting older people to join them for a friendly cup of tea.

Altogether, over 300 care homes, including residential care and nursing care homes, hosted special afternoon tea parties to mark Communi-tea Week, a nationwide campaign which aimed to use tea-related social activities to help tackle the problems of isolation and loneliness in older people.

Worrying statistics demonstrate the size of the isolation problem in the UK, with over 1 million (11%) of people aged 65 or over saying they are always or often feel lonely. Nearly half of all older people believe that the television is their main form of company and 17% of older people have less than weekly contact with family, friends and neighbours*.

Siobhan Drane, Bupa’s community affairs manager, deemed the week a great success:
“Communi-tea Week is a great way of highlighting the support networks that are available in local communities, as well as raising awareness of the serious issues facing older people today. Everyone put on the kettle and contacted someone they thought may need their spirits lifting – a cup of tea is the perfect way to reach out and make a difference.”

As well as organising tea-related social events, from tea-tasting sessions to tea dances, Bupa care homes urged others to help by inviting older people living on their own to join them for a cuppa, whether it be a neighbour or friend.

Via EPR Network
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Bupa Announces Results of Customer Satisfaction Survey

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Bupa has announced the results of this year’s Bupa Care Services Customer Satisfaction Survey.

74% of Bupa care home residents rate the overall standard of care at their Bupa care homes ‘excellent’ and/or ‘very good’. The results came from the annual independent survey of residents and relatives which has been running for 12 years.

This is the eighth consecutive year the overall customer satisfaction score has risen.

In addition to this 94% of residents rated Bupa’s quality of nursing care and other care as excellent or very good, 91% of residents rated Bupa’s staff as excellent or very good for being treated as individuals and 91% of residents rated Bupa’s staff as understanding the residents needs as excellent or very good.

Oliver Thomas, director of Bupa’s UK Care Homes, said: “Residents and their families are in the best position to judge our care and I am delighted to see such a positive response from them.

“Our overall customer satisfaction score has risen for eight consecutive years since the introduction of our Personal Best development programme, which encourages staff to recognise the individuals we care for and to go that extra mile.

“This is a tribute to all our committed care home staff and the excellent care that they provide. Their efforts are clearly being acknowledged by residents.”

The Bupa Care Services Customer Satisfaction Survey is commissioned annually and carried out independently by Deighton Consultants.

All residents at Bupa care homes are offered the opportunity to fill in a questionnaire each year, which allows them to feedback and comment on their overall care, staff, the buildings and grounds, their room, being treated as an individual, communal rooms, the food and their activities. Relatives of residents with dementia are also offered the opportunity to feedback on these aspects including dementia care.

Via EPR Network
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