The best days of Mum’s life were in a care home
Published on 04 March 2015 09:00 AM
A South Wales woman will today tell a national conference that her mother's days living at a Porthcawl care home were ‘the best years of my Mum's life'.
Marianne Manser's mother Morfydd Jones had dementia and moved to live to the Masonic Care Home in Porthcawl in May 2007.
At today's Age Cymru My Home Life Cymru Conference in Cardiff, Marianne will be speaking about the kindness and friendship her mother experienced at the home.
She will say that she and her family considered staff at the home as ‘part of the family'.
Marianne says;
"Mum never wanted to go into a care home; she used to say ‘they are all full of older people sitting around sleeping'.
"When her memory started to deteriorate and it was becoming more obvious that despite home care, it wasn't enough to keep her safe at home.
"The Masonic Care Home was home - mum's home.
"We struck gold! I was told that I could come and go as I pleased, visiting Mum whenever I wanted.
"She was very happy there - the staff treated her with compassion, devotion and humour - and we were always consulted and kept in the loop."
Age Cymru's My Home Life Cymru's Programme Manager, John Moore, says;
"We are delighted to be joined by Marianne and other relatives at our seventh My Home Life Cymru Conference in Cardiff.
"Our aim is to share positive personal experiences with the Care Home sector to ensure that steps are taken to provide the best care for older people."
Other speakers at today's event include Chris Roberts and Jayne Goodrick who shared their story about dementia on BBC Wales's ‘Week In Week Out' in October 2014.
The conference - themed ‘Realising quality of life in care homes for older people', is sponsored by Barchester Healthcare, Grŵp Gwalia and the Older People's Commissioner's Office.