Moving to a care home can be daunting for many people, especially during periods of lockdown and visiting restrictions. They may worry that it will mean a change in their routines and way of life. Families may be concerned about the impact of being apart from loved ones. New residents may also be concerned that they’ll no longer be able to please themselves and do what they want to do when they want to do it.
At Country Court Care Homes, residents are encouraged to live as independently as possible, making choices about how to spend their time. Staff are there to support people to continue to enjoy their hobbies and interests. Our homes have a comfortable, home-from-home feel and have continued to provide interesting and engaging activities throughout the lockdown. Until people go into a home, it can be hard to understand how time will be spent, so we asked some of our residents to talk about life in a Country Court Care Home.
Janet moved to Lostock Lodge Care Home in Lostock Gralam near Northwich in 2017. Janet is 79 and enjoys reading, knitting and joining in with the craft activities. We asked Janet about a typical week during the lockdown at Lostock Lodge, so together with Activity Coordinator Abi, she kept a diary of her daily life.
I wake up at around 7.00 am every day. Should I need any help, the carers are there for me. I then head to the lounge for breakfast whenever I am ready. Today I had breakfast at 8.30 am, I had fruit juice, black coffee and ‘just one’ rasher of bacon.
I like to watch Morning TV, today I joined in with the group exercises in the lounge. We do gentle chair exercises. Sometimes we have music on too, we usually end up having a good laugh.
At lunchtime I sat with Bill, we ‘have a natter about all sorts’, it’s good to have a catch up with your friends here and there is plenty of time to do so.
I spent the afternoon knitting and at 4.30 pm I had afternoon tea. I thoroughly enjoyed the toasted teacake and butter.
I had breakfast at 8am this morning. Afterwards, we played some games in the lounge to help keep fit, it was good to spend some time being sociable.
In the afternoon, I joined the other residents in the lounge again, we did some jigsaws and had a good chat over a cup of tea. We listened to music from the 1950s which is my favourite era.
At 6pm I watched the news in my room, I enjoy catching up on the day’s events. After that I relax in front of the TV and then went to bed at about 10pm.
I woke up at 7am as usual and had my coffee and bacon for breakfast. I was a little tired this morning so decided to have breakfast in bed, which the carers were happy to help with and then help me get up afterwards.
In the morning, I sat in my room and enjoyed watching the wildlife. Sometimes we get hedgehogs coming to the garden from the woods, there was a squirrel and a magpie out today.
We had Thai green curry for lunch, it’s a great feeling to look down at your lunch and know you haven’t had to cook, you can just enjoy it! Our Chef, Simon, is fantastic. He sometimes comes round after a meal to see if you liked it. You can ask for something different if there’s nothing on the menu that you fancy too, they are very good like that.
In the afternoon, I watched a film in the cinema room, we sometimes have a real cinema experience with popcorn and drinks. Most of the time I’m happy to keep myself entertained with knitting or playing games on the iPad, but it’s good to have company there when you need it.
I had breakfast around 9 am today, we had steak and kidney pie for lunch today which I love.
In the afternoon, I did some card making with some of the other ladies. I like painting and colouring too, we display the paintings in the lounge which brightens it up and everyone can see what we’ve been doing. We have different activities each day, I don’t always join in, but it’s nice to have as an option, especially when there is a group of us.
I stayed in my room in the evening, one of the carers popped in for a chat. I enjoy talking to them, you can just let them know you want to talk, they come to chat with you to see how you are.
After breakfast, I read my book, we have a library here, so I choose one from there, I usually enjoy mystery and crime novels. I had my hair washed, dried, and set this morning too. We have our own hair salon here which feels like such a luxury. We all like chatting to the hairdresser, she’s so lovely and is in once a week.
We had fish and chips and tartar sauce for lunch – Fish Fridays! In the afternoon I joined in with a sing-along at the piano upstairs with ‘Joyce the voice’! My room is on the ground floor, but we can use all the other areas of the home too. There’s a café with a piano upstairs, it’s nice to go up there for a change of scene.
In the evening I watched Emmerdale. It’s one of my favourite TV shows as I think it shows ‘our way of life’ here in the North.
When we’re allowed to have visitors, my daughter comes to see me from North Wales. Over the past few months, I’ve been ringing her for a catch up instead. We like to meet in the garden room or sit outside in the summer, it gives you some independence to be able to go outside.
I usually spend the afternoon watching TV, knitting, or reading at the weekends. In the summertime spend I like to time outside chatting with other residents. They get us to do a bit of gardening too, which I quite like.
Today I had mushroom soup and a bread roll at teatime and lemon drizzle cake and custard for pudding, which was delicious.
On a Sunday, we have the drinks trolley or food for special occasions, this is always a nice treat. There is usually football on the TV, but I prefer to watch in my room.
I had the fish pie for lunch with pear and chocolate sauce for pudding, another lovely meal. There is always a roast on a Sunday, which I usually enjoy, but fancied something different this week.
At 3 pm we have tea and cake or biscuits. I usually have black coffee with bourbons, custard creams or hobnobs. Sunday afternoons are usually a time to relax for me. There are activities going on, but I usually just spend the day relaxing and watching the world go by from my chair in the lounge.
Thank you to Janet for sharing her week with us! If you’d like to learn more about life at Lostock Lodge or any of our other care homes, click here.
