Hastings care home residents enjoy a virtual trip around the world

People living at Hastings Court Care Home on The Ridge have been experiencing the food, sights and entertainment from holiday destinations such as Greece, Italy, France, Australia and the United States.

Each resident has their own passport with stamps put in for every country they ‘visit’.

The home’s lifestyles team came up with the idea and Lifestyle Manager, Kimberley Mann, said: “The residents are absolutely loving travelling “We reveal our destination on a Monday morning with a set of clues in a suitcase and they have to work out where we’re going.

“For the rest of the week, we then explore that country – the traditional food, music, crafts, the key sites, its wildlife – anything we think they will enjoy.

“We’ve used computer technology to create holiday photos and turned our cinema room into a themed restaurant so they can feel as though they’re dining out on holiday .”

The ‘travelling’ has been embraced by the entire home. The catering staff have created French-style breakfasts with hot chocolate and croissants, Spanish paella and Greek moussaka accompanied by Retsina. Care staff have worn traditional costumes and home manager, Georgina Gamble, stepped up for a US Oscars-style awards ceremony.

She said: “It is fantastic fun but also a wonderful way of encouraging reminiscence. One of our residents is Greek and although she has quite advanced dementia, she really benefited from listening to the traditional music we played and our attempts at Greek dancing. She really enjoyed the food too, it gave her a great deal of pleasure.

“Many residents here are well-travelled and this has been a great stimulus for their holiday memories, sharing their experiences and bringing them together.”

Resident Claire Braybon said: “It’s wonderful. It has always been an unfulfilled dream of mine to visit America, so when I discovered we were on our way there, I simply couldn’t wait! We walked the red carpet before attending the Oscars, where I was so happy to receive a personal achievement award for losing two stone during lockdown. The highlight was visiting Las Vegas. The money wasn’t real, but when I broke the bank the feeling of satisfaction was!”

“We felt it was important to give our residents that feeling of freedom while the furthest they could travel was the garden,” said Kimberley. “We’re off to Japan next week and then we’re letting the residents choose where they want to go. The only limit is our imagination!”

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