Inspiring Ideas and Success Stories

Some homes are hugely creative in their approach to quality of life for their residents. In an ideal world each and every resident would receive the same level of care. SimplyUnite wants to be a part of making this happen.

Now you've got things started, you might like to hear about some fantastic ideas used by other SimplyUnite customers.

Find a volunteer to be a 'Digital Champion' to look after Gem

Experience suggests that a family member of a resident can be an excellent Digital Champion. The role keeps them involved with their loved one and gives a special purpose that can be important when they are no longer needed as the main carer.

One of our homes has a volunteer who no longer has a family member in the home but enjoys being able to visit and still feel connected to the home.

Local companies and organisations with a social responsibility are a perfect example of this. One of our homes, St Quentin's, has weekly volunteers from their company solicitors.

Make a Skype call with one of your residents

A resident in one of our homes has family in Manhattan and Hong Kong who she can now speak to regularly over long distances.

In another home, Nazareth Lodge, a male resident used Gem to see family and grandchildren in Australia for the first time and found it to be a very emotional experience.

Send a daily email to your residents

Set up an email account for your home for communal use, enabling you to send daily updates and for everyone to share group photographs. For example, a day trip to Blackpool can become an interesting project involving researching places of interest prior to the trip and reminiscing upon your return.

Get feet tapping with YouTube

Music is immensely evocative of times of our lives, stimulating a different part of the brain from the spoken word.

For example, listening to the music of Mario Lanza evoked poignant memories and emotions for a female resident at one of our homes. Staff members were astonished at her openness as they had never heard her speak so emotionally before.

Another home reports that its residents couldn't get over the choices that were available through Gem and are successfully using music to encourage reminiscence.

Picture a smile with Google images

Here is a perfect example from one care home: knowing that George had played a lot of cricket in his youth, they searched online for cricket images. A simple cricket ball image led to a lengthy debate around how he felt when it was his turn to bowl. The feel, the texture, the stitching, the 'rub for luck' against his leg - all crystal clear!

Go down memory lane with Google maps

Another home reported that one of its residents lived in various locations as a child, including Kenya and India, as her father was in the army. Zooming in on these locations was a complete source of fascination for her. She was thrilled.

Visit poetry corner

Marilyn, the activities coordinator at Mount Ephraim told us how two of her residents were trying to recall the poem 'If' by Rudyard Kipling, and that it made their afternoon when they were able to read, print off and then chat about the poem having found it using Gem.

Use photo albums to aid reminiscence

We heard about how a stroke sufferer, who had not spoken very much for 12 months, started using short sentences after viewing photographs from her past. Her daughter was delighted.

Take your residents on a virtual walk

Honister Care Home in Hertfordshire are taking one of their residents who has mobility problems on a virtual walk.