On the 26th of August 2020, Hamilton Nursing Home was proud to launch their redesigned garden. They considered how to maximise on the existing layout for our dementia residents and provide areas that will allow thoughtful, vibrant, fun and person-centred experiences for their residents.
With that in the back of their mind, they changed their tool shed into a sea-side ice-cream kiosk. They utilised vintage Wall’s ice-cream advertisements & signage, colourful deck chairs and paint to transform this. This has made for a fantastic conversational piece and to act as reminiscence therapy. Sea-side trips and holidays evoke wonderful memories for many of their residents.
Next, their maintenance and activities shed was made into Hamilton’s own post office. In this age of Coronavirus, it is heart-warming to see their residents use this to write to their loved one and keep a sense of continuity regarding communication. Hamilton Nursing Home’s activities team has implemented this as part of their program to correspond with their community pen-pals too.
Following a relatives meeting, it was suggested to them that perhaps they could use a double-decker bus for either meetings or activities in our garden. Considering the size, they decided that a traditional London black taxi would be an exciting and appropriate alternative. The taxi is an exciting reminiscent tool that ties into the garden setting.
They managed to organise a loader to transport the taxi into their garden and have since named her Nancy. In memory of the resident whose family initially proposed this idea to them. The taxi is a major feature of Hamilton now and is used for resident activities, appropriate visits for residents from family members or even as a quirky meeting setting for other necessary visits to their home.
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