Care staff training guides

Age Cymru's My Home Life Cymru programme has published two training booklets for care home staff about sharing memories and working with people who have dementia.

The guides are called ‘Open your heart to see me - a guide to working in dementia care' and ‘Getting to know you - a guide for reminiscence and life story work with older people living in care homes'.

My Home Life Cymru's programme manager, John Moore says:

"For the last two and a half years, My Home Life Cymru has been speaking to care and nursing home residents, relatives and staff across Wales.

"We've been trying to discover the ideas and innovations that improve the lives of people involved with care and nursing homes.

"And we've identified that a significant contribution we can make in achieving this goal is to provide training materials for staff on working with people with dementia and on the benefits of sharing memories."

‘Open your heart to see me - a guide to working in dementia care' covers issues including maintaining identity, sharing decision-making, creating community and managing transitions.

It contains information about improving health and healthcare, supporting good end of life, promoting a positive culture and keeping workforce fit for purpose.

‘Getting to know you - a guide for reminiscence and life story work with older people living in care homes' looks at understanding reminiscence, methods of engagement and enquiry with residents and understanding body language.

The guide also has sections on reminiscing with people who have cognitive impairments and telling life stories in pictures.

John Moore concludes:

"The My Home Life Cymru is very proud of these new training guides that have already been used to provide valuable training to care home staff involved in the programme.

"The training was well-received and we and hope that the guides make a real difference in achieving our goal of improving quality of life for people involved with care homes across Wales."