Dementia Care

The most important aspect of dementia care is that it should first and foremost be personal. Our Homes have a dedicated dementia offering to support those with dementia to live well.

To ensure our home feels right, we offer respite care to give residents a chance to enjoy a short stay with us. We want residents and their loved ones to feel comfortable and at home. As such, we invite residents to stay for 4 weeks but only pay for 3; providing a chance for residents to settle and get to know friendly faces.

We get to know each resident’s past and their present to create a Care Plan as individual as they are. We consider your loved one’s care needs whilst respecting preferences, lifestyle, interests, and routines. We have specific floors that cater for different dementia needs – from the early signs of dementia through to behaviour that challenges and end of life care.

Encore has a dementia dedicated Clinical Leadership Team, headed up by Director of Health and Care, Lindsay Rees, and supported by skilled care experts, from Home Managers to Clinical Leads and Senior Nurses.

The vital training that we provide enables our teams to support person-centred care and positive communication; so that families can feel reassured that their loved ones will be understood, treated with respect and dignity, and that they will feel comfortable and happy in their surroundings.

Our compulsory dementia training teaches staff how to communicate with individuals with dementia and support them to live well. It teaches them how to use person-centred approaches to care for those with behaviour that challenges. All Encore staff members also undertake training to become a Dementia Friend; learning more about dementia, how to support and communicate effectively with residents, and the ways that staff can help.

A crucial element of dementia care is providing a familiar, safe environment that eradicates frustrations and makes you feel comfortable. Encore homes are purpose-built to consider residents’ changing needs – from the layout of the building to sensitive décor and interior design.

We continually evaluate and strive to improve our environments based on the individuals that reside with us – one size does not fit all. We encourage all residents to bring their own possessions, mementos and photos to help trigger happy memories. At the entrance of each bedroom there are purpose-built memory boxes for residents to display some of these items.

Our professional chefs provide freshly prepared 3-course meals, which are nutritional, balanced, delicious, and appetising. The meals are all capable of being adapted to suit all palates, including soft food diets. For those that require soft foods or are on a puree diet, our chefs use a variety of techniques, including piping and moulds to reconstruct the individual foods and textures, and recreate the dish on the plate. We believe that the food experience should remain appetising and enjoyed by all residents, and we endeavour to make mealtimes something to look forward to for everyone.

Light meals and snacks are always available throughout the day so that residents, especially those with dementia, can eat when they feel like it, not just at set mealtimes. Residents are free to eat in their rooms or enjoy the company of others in the dining rooms.

Our landscaped gardens promote reminiscence and activity. We have designed them with all the seasons in mind. The flora and fauna have been carefully selected to provide tactile textures as well as colour to engage the senses and encourage residents to touch, smell and enjoy the array of hues.

The gardens have been specifically designed with a walking ‘flow’ to enable residents a continual walk around the garden if they wish and avoiding abrupt ends to paths. All Encore gardens have raised flower beds, which are more accessible for residents to tend to and appreciate.

Dementia affects the entire person – mind, body, emotions and spirit. So, all activities are designed to have a therapeutic and mentally stimulating influence, and we encourage those living with dementia to actively get involved.

Activities on our dementia floors vary from group activities to more personalised one-to-one activities. The team finds out about each person’s interests and hobbies. Depending on the resident’s care needs, the Wellbeing team find creative ways to adapt activities and promote an inclusive environment that engages residents in subjects they take pleasure in to encourage participation. These personalised activities form part of the daily activities offered.

As a dementia resource for the community, and in our continued efforts to become a centre of excellence, we work closely with Bournemouth University and are members of the clinical working group.

It is our ambition to align our dementia strategy and processes with best practice and cutting-edge research from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre at Bournemouth University; ensuring we remain at the forefront of clinical excellence.

As a dementia resource for the community, we are renown in the area for offering innovative training to residents’ relatives and local healthcare professionals.

Virtual Dementia Suits Training uses specially adapted body suits to simulate the effects and symptoms of ageing and dementia. Dementia affects the senses and this innovative training allows the participant to experience what it might be like for someone living with the disease. Understanding the affects in practice greatly improves our ability to communicate more effectively, and thus puts residents at ease.

Take a sneak peek into some of the fantastic dementia training we offer in this video.