We were pleased to have created a series of packs with DMU students full of ideas that we delivered to care settings to help boost learning and activity.
As well as a range of lovely activities for older people from stone painting to animal magic cards, we were also really delighted with the feedback we received from some of the students involved as volunteers too.
We had over 10 students positively engaging with the work and some of the comments are included below:
“Thank you so much for looking through this, it has been really helpful as I have done this on my own. I can’t wait to see pictures of them enjoying it. Thank you for the help throughout. I am thoroughly enjoying this opportunity!”
“I wish to once again thank you for your robust instructions and clear guidance: they have really helped a lot!”
We were also delighted that the activities our student volunteers so clearly enjoyed creating were in turn really beneficial to older people receiving care locally. Feedback from staff working in care settings using the ideas and packs created included the below, which gives an idea of the wide range of different activities being shared, and the way in which these could be utilised to engage a broad range of visitors to the care home:
“The family members very much enjoyed the animal cards; I enlarged the pictures and we handed them round asking if they could name the animal and then I read out the interesting fact on the back of the small original. I enlarged the crossword and we completed it collectively. With the word search, I enlarged the original and made several copies so everyone could see a grid and the family members shouted out when they had found the words and I completed a large copy we had stuck up where everyone could see it. It made a really fun afternoon which we teamed with the celebration of a family member’s birthday (who really likes animals) so it was a bit like a party afternoon for her!
On Friday we are going to paint the stones. As we are a Christian home, we are going to decorate them with scripture and put the Christian fish symbol on the other side. When they are dry, I hope to varnish them and place them around the garden for family members, staff and visitors to find, share and give an uplifting message to those who find them.
Thank you so much. This has been one of the most successful packs for our family members.”
We distributed 12 packs to care homes in Leicester and Leicestershire and up to 40 different older people took part in the activities in the different homes.