12 December 2014

What are Care Homes Like to live in?

What do you imagine life to be like in a care home? We suspect life in a Hallmark Care Home is not at all as you’d expect it to be, thanks to our wide range of activities, excellent food , and our unique relationship centred care. Read on to discover exactly what makes living in a Hallmark care home so unique!

Take Part in a Wide Range of Activities

Each of our care homes offer a wide range of activities tailored to ability, goals and aspirations, giving our residents a wide variety of lifestyle choices. Every home has a programme of social events and entertainment both inside the home as well as in the local community.

One of our most famous is Hallmark in Bloom, our annual gardening contest. Each year, residents at Hallmark Care Homes compete to have their gardens crowned the best in a range of categories. The competition’s judging criteria is based on getting residents involved all year round, ensuring Hallmark gardens enrich the lives of residents not just during the summer when the competition is held.

But social life in our care homes isn’t limited to the garden – there are a wide range of other activities to take part in. Our homes feature their own cinemas, allowing residents to watch their favourite classics, support their local sports teams on the big screen, and even catch the latest episode of Countdown. Meanwhile, for residents who prefer to have a chat and get to know one another, our dining rooms and lounges are perfect.

Our care homes have been designed to support our residents to carry on enjoying the routines they cherish. One of these activities is going to the hairdressers, which is why our care homes have at least one salon, allowing residents to experience continuity with their lives after joining us.

Even though our care homes run a lot of activities and events, we regularly arrange trips and outings, always ensuring that our residents have input in terms of where they would like to go.

Each home also has a dedicated lifestyles team, who are available to support residents to continue their hobbies and past times, as well as finding new activities to take part in. The lifestyles team work with in conjunction with the care team to encourage and assist the residents to participate in all that is on offer.

Get Involved at Meal Times

Mealtimes are an important part of life at Hallmark Care Homes. We know that great food and dining experiences can promote individual wellbeing, which is why our award winning chefs prepare freshly cooked, nutritiously balanced meals with different seasonal choices each day. Breakfast typically comprises of a choice of cereal, toast, continental or ‘full English’. Snacks and hot drinks are available throughout the day in our cafes and for main meals, a menu is presented to our residents so that they can order restaurant style at the point of service, perhaps with a glass of wine! Our catering team is in regular contact with our residents to ensure food preferences and nutritional requirements are always taken into account.

Understandably, some people choose to stay at home until they have no choice, but evidence shows that factors that are linked to declining health and depression include loneliness and isolation. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are always among the most sociable times at our care homes, with residents being able to get together and chat as they enjoy their food.

But food at Hallmark Care Homes isn’t just about providing nutritious meals for our residents – we also want to allow residents to get involved in the cooking process as they may have done prior to joining us. As a result, we encourage residents to get involved whenever they like, whether it’s helping to prepare food, chopping vegetables, or taking part in British Food Fortnight alongside our chefs.

One of our most successful projects is the Farmhouse Kitchen, started at Ty Enfys, which allows residents to get together and bake cakes, biscuits and other food with the support from our team members. This has been a great success with residents, allowing them to pass the time with fun cooking activities.

Find Out More

Do you want to know more about what Hallmark Care Homes offer to their residents? Find out more about our care here.