Supporting people’s wellbeing through meaningful engagement and physical activity
How well do we support people’s wellbeing?
If you are a care professional interested in supporting adults’ and older people’s wellbeing, we hope that you find this page useful. For example, you might choose to play one of the webinars at a staff meeting, then discuss what you heard (perhaps about personal/care plans or tracking improvement), or to print one of the resources to see if someone you support might be interested in using it.
All resources take an improvement and person-centred approach. They focus on supporting people to stay active, connected, and doing things that matter to them, regardless of their health or age.
Much of the work displayed here was completed as part of the Care about Physical Activity programme, which has now concluded. The resources complement the scrutiny & improvement work of care inspectors. Inspectors support services to provide high quality care and support that is right for each person.
The videos and workshops/webinars give examples of evidencing key items from the Care Inspectorate’s quality frameworks, quality indicators, quality illustrations and also the health and social care standards and My Life, My Care, My Home.
The below diagram shows some of the areas that the resources link to.
Workshops and webinars
These workshops and webinars can be shared at staff meetings or used for professional development.
Workshop about meaningful engagement - why promoting movement, connection and doing things that matter is vital to us all
These can be watched individually or with colleagues. It includes practical ideas to use at work. Use pen and paper to jot down your ideas and thoughts during the workshop.
A webinar on connecting the personal plan with what’s meaningful to people
You can watch the webinar recording here.
Below are links to resources that were mentioned during the webinar:
- Person-centred thinking tools from Helen Sanderson Associates
- Care Inspectorate's guides for providers on personal planning
Promoting equality in meaningful and purposeful engagement webinar
You can watch the webinar here.
Tracking improvement: How do we know we are making a difference?
You can watch the webinar here.
Growing a Good Life : Care Homes and Rehabilitation
You can watch the webinar here.
Supporting someone with dementia - meaningful activity and engagement
You can watch the webinar here.
Creative approaches to supporting people with advancing dementia
You can watch the webinar here.
Below are links to the videos played during the webinar:
- Piano playing
- Playlist for Life (Harry and Margaret)
- PainChek
- Reviewing Rachel's communication chart.
Self-evaluation and improvement planning
You can watch the webinar here.
Good news stories
These stories inspire ideas for helping people with improving their own physical and psychological wellbeing. They show what happens when people are supported to be more active, engaged and connected with things that matter to them.
Kenny
We visited Kenny who lives in his own home and receives care at home support. Kenny told us how important it is to get out and about and different ways to stay confident. Kenny advises us: "Don’t be afraid to be out". Listen to Kenny’s full video below.
Alan
Alan tells us why it is so important to keep moving and suggests that people try volunteering.
Margaret's story (care at home)
Jacqui, a home carer, talks about how promoting movement and meaningful activity is not as time consuming as they originally thought and how they are helping people receiving care at home to incorporate moving more into their daily lives.
Jean's story (day care)
See how day care centre staff supported Jean to get out of her wheelchair. Jean started to walk, became more active, enjoyed increased energy levels and took up hobbies and passions.
Beth's story (care home)
Show this short film to spark discussion at team meetings. Listen to how Beth's quality of life improved when care home staff started something small.
Daphne's story (care home)
Care home staff help Daphne incorporate more movement into her day which improves her health and wellbeing. Daphne’s son talks about the differences he has seen.
Teatime at Fullerton
Continuous small changes to tea time over six weeks left residents feeling more independent, more confident and eating and drinking more.
Robin's story
Watch how Robin's life changed when staff took simple steps to introduce small movements which led to improved overall health and wellbeing.
Kate
Discuss this video of Kate with your team. Notice how movement is important to Kate's life including her mood.
Stella moves to improve
Watch this video to see how a short conversation with Stella helped her make a change that had a big impact when she decided to increase her physical activity.
Christine's story
Christine's story shows the power of trying, not only does it promote physical ability but also psychological wellbeing.
How Cordia are helping clients to move more often
Watch the video and then discuss with your team the difference between enabling actions and disabling actions. Listen to Beth as she describes her job satisfaction that she gets from enabling people to live more active lives.
Glynis
Glynis talks about the connection between what the physio tells her to do – and starting to move more often during the day via support from care staff. Glynis talks about how moving more has made a difference to her. Staff found out that Glynnis used to knit – so they supported her to do more each day and get back to knitting.
June
June talks about how tracking her own improvements was so motivating to her.
Activity packs - supporting people to live independently in their own homes
by Catriona Binns, reablement facilitator, Bon Accord Care
“I like being active - so myself and my friend did this together."
Here is a story of what can happen when different people in Aberdeen City worked together to develop activity packs. There are many things you can try for people still living in their own homes to support their independence.
Catriona Binns, reablement facilitator at Bon Accord Care picks up the story. ‘’It was during a very difficult and extremely challenging time with Covid and all the restrictions we did this. Yet this been a great opportunity for staff to re-engage and encourage people to keep active and independent. ‘’
Everyone involved (people over 65 living in sheltered housing) got a bag of tricks which included:
- A stretchy band to help build strength (theraband)
- wipeable cards with a variety of activities including sit to stand, leg extension, seated row
- checklist to reduce risks
The feedback from those who took part was very encouraging and positive.
"I didn’t think I would be able to do this but having the pack made me try and I really enjoyed it after keeping going."
"I like doing this and really enjoyed it when one of the carers did it with me too."
"I have been in hospital lately and found this helpful to get me back doing night exercises."
"This was very good and funny at times; I did this with my friend."
"I enjoyed doing something different - because of Covid we are not doing many activities, so I enjoyed this."
Some very simple interventions and ideas can have a remarkable impact on people’s lives.
Find the safety checklist and information cards that were distributed below:
You might like to try these out where you work or live. They were developed with input from staff from sheltered housing, occupational health, speech & language therapy, university students, volunteers, and Sports Aberdeen.
Improving the management of medicines, improving care
Staff at Wallace Court Care Home in Johnstone, run by Capability Scotland, have changed their approach to managing medicines to allow for safer, more person-centred care.
Care home manager Gillian Connelly was proud of the existing person-centred approach to medication administration they had in place but felt the rate of medication errors was still too high:
“My quality manager passed on the Care Inspectorate’s Medicine Improvement Project report. After reading it, I felt inspired that we too could improve the system at Wallace Court. It was good to see that other homes were having similar issues and were able to improve. I was encouraged by it but was not really sure how to proceed”.
Gillian contacted David Marshall, the Senior Improvement Adviser for Pharmacy, who helped them identify some potential improvements. He discovered that team leaders were checking and counting all medications after each administration. This was very time consuming (taking around 2 hours per shift), reducing the time staff had for more personal interactions with residents.
“As our success rate for reconciling stock was consistently high, we were able to reduce the frequency of stock checks for non-controlled medicines to twice weekly - and move to a sampling approach. We continue to monitor, but we have created some time in our system with no drop off in quality”.
Gillian now uses this time to focus on reducing medicine administration errors and has done this by setting up a project group of team leaders and a support worker.
“We agreed on our definition of a medicine error and set about collecting our baseline data. I asked them for their improvement ideas, and they suggested having two staff administering medication on each shift. We began to test this with one team leader and one staff member responsible for administering all medication on shift”.
Workload expectations and tasks had to be tweaked to ensure equity amongst staff but the initial data for the reduction of medication errors looks promising and this has in turn motivated staff.
Overall the benefits of this project are that:
- Customers are in a safer environment as the risk of medication errors is reduced
- Staff are freed up to provide more 1-1 support and activities and ensure quality in other areas.
- Team leaders are able to offer support to staff when paired on medication
- Staff feel their ideas are taken seriously and put into practice
Gillian concludes:
“We next aim to test two support workers on each shift. We are developing our learning journey and will continue to improve. I feel confident in this because we are doing it together as a team”.
Sporting memories
The sporting memories kitbag, developed by Sporting Memories Network, provides a gentle, practical way to encourage and aid activity at home.
Sporting Memories Chris Davies:
‘’We created our new KITbag at the start of the year and this lockdown to encourage our frailer members to get active at home. Subsequently the Scottish Government ordered a further 500.
"We are gathering in-depth feedback from people members who received the pack and will have soon have initial findings. We use some of the items from the KITbag in group activities and they have already been well. We see this through our weekly online zoom sessions and weekly phone circle groups. A good number of our members have certainly been getting active at home.
"Uniquely, our KITbag included reminiscence materials, as well as, physical activity equipment and exercise guides, to tap into an interest in sport to help nudge members into becoming active. This all really developed out of some of the activities we began to scope through our Care Inspe3ctorate CAPA project’’
Find out more about Sporting Memories kit bag and how to get hold of one here: https://www.sportingmemoriesnetwork.com/sporting-memories-kitbag
Dementia together
Connecting People, connecting support is a website where people with dementia, families and supporters can come together to explore ways of living well with dementia.
New resources are shared here every week. The Tuesday resources focus on practical information such as how to maintain a routine and the benefits of using a memory book, with Friday resources focusing on hobbies and interests including music and photos. The resources have all been tried, tested and recommended by people with dementia.
Betty uses technology
Betty, who is 103, started using more technology during the Covid-19 lockdown. Betty is keen to encourage others to learn something new that can open up new worlds, whatever their age. Here is Betty talking to BBC North East about how she uses technology in a way that makes a difference.
Mary Tait & Robert Edenholme
By Carolyn Shaw, Assistant Care Home Manager, Edenholme Care Home:
‘’Mary says that watching old films of your hometown can be very interesting. You can see Mary catching up with some Glasgow memories as she is supported by Robert to use an iPad in Edenholme Care Home, Aberdeenshire. It is amazing what you remember when something catches your eye”.
“Apps that have meaning and make a difference to people have been put onto the iPads to allow the residents to enjoy their interests. This is having such a positive effect. We also set up digital surveys, and with the help from staff, all residents share their views in the knowledge that they will be listened to. For example, the residents individually voted from around the care home to decide what to do with some extra money. The majority choose to build a summer house. It was good to see democracy in action.’’
Reminiscence means sharing life experiences, memories and stories from the past. Where a person with dementia is more able to recall things from many years ago than recent memories, reminiscence draws on this strength. Objects, video clips, photos as well as sounds and smells can be helpful in reminiscence, invoking memories and stories that give both comfort and stimulation (Alzheimer Scotland).
Here is a short film which shows how reminiscence is used by Alzheimer Scotland to support older people on an experience outdoors.
Movement sticks
The idea of movement sticks, from Kirkburn Court Care Home in Aberdeenshire, is a good and simple way to inspire people to keep themselves moving in later life.
Free online learning programme
Supporting Older People to Live Active Healthy Lives free online course.
Brief 45 min modules helping care staff, older people and families understand the value of moving more. This FREE interesting and engaging resource helps older people to remain as independent as possible by supporting people to move more often. Learn more about the topic and find new ideas to try. The course is hosted on TURAS Learn. It is particularly helpful for people who live with or work with frailer older people.
This learning programme makes use of resources developed as part of our Care about Physical Activity (CAPA) programme. This online learning programme was developed by Professor Dawn Skelton at Glasgow Caledonian University for CAPA. If you complete all 6 modules, you can print a certificate which is useful for CPD.
Other resources
Here are some resources and ideas, many of them developed with care professionals and people experiencing care.
Movement Sticks
Use 5-10 lolly sticks with a different movement or fun based ideas written on each one. Obviously adapt the ideas to suit the person’s ability and Interests. Why not involve carers and family too – moving together is more fun. Download ideas for your sticks here.
Top Tips
Integrating moving more conversations about moving more into every part of what you do can have a significant impact. These handy printable top tips are a wonderful way to get started and cover topics such as:
- Recruitment and training
- Day to day movement
- Personal (care) plans
- Good conversations
- Celebrating success
- Being connected
- Staff wellbeing environment
Download the CAPA Top tips guide here.
Super Six
The Super Six are some of the key exercises that help improve balance – a major part in keeping steady and reducing the risk of falling. They can be done safely at home and don’t need any equipment, other than something secure to hold on to, like a chair pushed against a wall. Watch the great video of the Super 6 exercises from The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists.
Make Every Move Count
This pocket guide helps staff understand that movement is about the small, simple things we can add into daily life that make a big difference.
Moving More Often
People living in their own homes have found this pocket guide useful. It helps someone to identify what is important to them, nudges folk to move more often every day, promotes control and independence and complements people’s desire to keep living at home.
My moving more improvement record
People experiencing care use this to track their improvement over time. People have found this personal record motivating to use themselves, and a useful way to involve family and friends.
Make Every Moment Count
The resource highlights how making the most of every moment can make a real difference to a person’s quality of life in simple but very meaningful ways.
Information for relatives
This document encourages relatives and friends to support their older relative to move more often for positive health and wellbeing. Some services have found it useful to include this information in care plans, introductory packs or newsletters.
'Care...about physical activity'
This booklet outlines the original CAPA resource developed for care homes.
A report on three years of the programme
Independent research commissioned by the Care Inspectorate investigated psychological and physiological impacts of moving more often. The evaluation found that older people involved in the programme significantly improved their mobility, flexibility and ability to move independently. They people felt healthier and demonstrated improved health-related quality of life, doing more of what mattered to them.
Care professionals’ confidence to enable older people to move more increased. Greater numbers of older people felt that they belonged to their communities, fewer felt lonely.
Older people had a reduced likelihood of falls, rate of falls per person was reduced and there were fewer contacts with medical services as a result of falls. Read this report to find out more about the evaluation, along with stories and ideas.
Resources to add to newsletters
Useful contacts
Vitamin D in care homes
New guidance on offering vitamin D nutritional supplements to eligible residents in adult care homes has been published.
Visiting, meaningful connection, Anne’s Law
Every adult and older person living in a care home has the right to connect with family, friends and community.
Film in care
The Film in Care resource provides a practical guide on how to present film to people living in care homes in a way that will be most beneficial to them. It has been written in partnership with two Dundee University researchers who carried out their own original research on this topic.