SPELLING IT OUT. Team members at The Aldbury dementia care home in Poole prepare to post thoughts on their ‘Digni-tree’. L-r: Bianca Turner, Activities Organiser, and Healthcare Assistants Jodie Sherwood and Megan Austin
Residents, relatives and team members at family-owned Colten Care have been doing their bit to support Dignity Action Day.
Care homes in Dorset and Hampshire have held activities including themed tea parties, message boards and discussion groups to highlight the importance of respecting vulnerable people’s dignity.
At The Aldbury, a dedicated dementia care home in Poole, residents and visitors were invited to pin paper leaves on an indoor ‘tree’ with messages describing what dignity means to them.
Activities Organiser Bianca Turner said: “We had a wide range of thoughts including respect, privacy, having pride in yourself and being able to exercise choice. It was very much about everyone treating each other as the wonderful individuals we all are. Often it was about the small things rather than grand gestures. One message highlighted six ‘Cs’: care, compassion, courage, communication, competence and commitment.”
As well as constructing their ‘digni-tree’, the team at The Aldbury held an afternoon tea party dubbed ‘digni-tea’ where they discussed the idea of dignity with residents and families.
At Woodpeckers, Colten Care’s home in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, team members constructed a similar dignity tree with paper leaves that residents and visitors wrote messages on. The home also held its own ‘digni-tea’ afternoon.
Dignity Action Day is a national initiative designed to involve health and social care workers and members of the public in upholding people’s rights to dignity. It is led by the National Dignity Council.
