To celebrate World Mental Health Day this month, residents and staff at Five Oaks Care Home in Hadley Wood, Barnet, took part in a range of activities focused on stress relief and emotional wellbeing.
The theme was managing stress and Care Home Manager, Rahima Mulindwa, made sure that everyone could be involved.
Being a care worker can be emotionally demanding, and Rahima wanted to provide a platform for discussion on how her team and others in the care sector can protect their mental wellbeing.
“I decided to host a podcast, along with our quality assurance lead, aimed at professionals working in the care sector. We invited several team members to discuss mental health and our approaches to wellbeing and stress relief,” she said.
“Everyone shared their personal strategies and our residents were able to listen in, making for an uplifting conversation. Details of the podcast will be published on our social media channels.”
It’s also important for mental wellbeing to be able to lift each other up, and the team at Five Oaks created a ‘positivity tree’ in their lounge, so residents and staff could write positive messages to one another and hang them on the tree for all to see.
Good food certainly helps with emotional wellbeing and there were sumptuous refreshments including cupcakes decorated with the green ribbon symbol of mental health awareness. The day ended on a joyous note with drumming and dance lessons for everyone.
“We had a great time,” said Rahima. “It was so nice to see all the staff and residents really getting involved.”
Opened in 1995, AgeCare Care Homes’ Five Oaks is a purpose-built residential care home for elderly people with 44 ensuite bedrooms. The home has a large south-west facing garden with breathtaking views over the historical town of Barnet.
