Acorn Court celebrates National Dementia Awareness Week 2103 with Gardening Afternoon

Residents at Acorn Court arrange an afternoon of gardening to mark the special week designed to raise awareness for the cause

Acorn Court care home in Redhill, part of Carebase, a group of private care homes specialising in nursing, residential and dementia care in the South East and East Anglia, celebrated National Dementia Awareness Week recently with an afternoon of fun.

To mark this special week, which is organized by the Alzheimer’s Society with the aim of raising awareness of dementia and remember there is more to a person than the dementia, Acorn Court arranged a coffee and gardening afternoon on 22 May. The home has supported this campaign for the last four years to help raise awareness for this worthy cause.

The gardening afternoon was organised for relatives’ families to come and spend some time with the residents planting flowers and various new plants. A local garden centre generously donated all the plants and some of the relatives went to collect them and bring them to Acorn Court for the afternoon.

The relatives love tending their garden and spent over three hours making the outside areas look wonderful. It was a very enjoyable and satisfying activity for everyone. Acorn Court’s PET Therapy dog also came along to visit the residents and enjoyed playing with the Care Home Manager’s little dog, Missi, who is about to start training to become a PET Therapy dog.

It was also a great opportunity for the residents’ relatives to speak to each other to understand dementia and to gain a better understanding of the various stages of the condition and  helpful coping mechanisms. The home’s team of staff was on hand to offer support and advice and had information and leaflets to hand out for the relatives.

Acorn Court also organised some entertainment for the residents, which was centered on reminiscence to mark National Dementia Awareness Week.

With more and more people living with dementia every year, it is important to continue to raise awareness and contribute as much as possible to events that can make a difference.