Over three quarters of care home professionals believe that enabling residents to do their own laundry improves their quality of life, despite many homes not yet being equipped to make this possible.
The professional division at laundry appliance company Miele questioned over 60 care home professionals at The Care Show and 76 per cent agreed that laundry and quality of life were closely linked.
Nicola Whittaker, national account manager at Miele Professional, says: “Although there’s still room for improvement, residents’ laundry facilities are becoming increasingly common in care homes – an appreciation of the fact that retaining this key life skill for as long as possible helps to keep people physically and mentally active. It can be a great sensory experience too.”
Miele’s research also found that laundry-related questions are often asked by many prospective residents and their families. For example, close to a third of respondents said they had received questions about infection prevention and hygiene control strategies when evaluating homes. In addition, 95 per cent said infection control was very important in their home’s priorities and something they invest significantly in staff training for.
Ms Whittaker continues: “It’s reassuring to see that issues relating to residents’ quality of life are top concerns for so many care homes, and professionals are understanding that laundry plays a key role in this.
“There are many considerations when setting up resident laundry facilities. Opting for commercial machines is crucial for quality and longevity. However, residents also need a machine that is easy to use and resembles how they would have done laundry at home. Miele’s Little Giants commercial range, for example, look and feel very similar to domestic machines and are simple for residents to operate, at the same time as offering the level of reliability expected from commercial appliances.”
The research was conducted at the 2019 Care Show which was held at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre. The show brought together key thought leaders from the sector, including the team from Miele Professional, who were on hand to offer advice on quality of life and infection control.
Whittaker adds: “We had an extremely successful two days at this year’s Care Show, it was great to meet new potential customers who were keen to discuss the challenges that come from laundry facilities in care. Some professionals had not though it was possible to set up independent laundry facilities in their care homes before, but after speaking to us, felt optimistic about the idea. Quality of life is such a crucial priority for anyone living in care and I’m always proud to share with people how Miele works to help achieve this.”
