Rosebank Care Home in Oxfordshire has opened a new dementia-friendly, seaside-themed corridor.
The CQC ‘Outstanding’ home, which specialises in dementia care, celebrated the opening of the corridor with a grand opening and ribbon cutting, which was attended by Witney MP Robert Courts, Rosebank residents and their relatives, the home’s staff, and Rosebank’s new owners Robert Adams and Renos Sideras.
Dubbed ‘Memory Lane’, the space has been decorated and refurbished in a seaside and underwater theme, with aquatic wallpaper, hand-painted shells and fish, and beach huts painted around doors.
The redesign was led by Gemma Foster, activities coordinator at Rosebank. She said: “Multi-sensory experiences are really important for people living with dementia, which is why our newly decorated memory lane is so stimulating. There is lots to look at, music that plays, and even tactile elements that the residents can touch. It’s a treat for the eyes and the ears! Most of our residents have lovely memories of the seaside, which is why we settled on this theme. If anyone is feeling a bit stressed or overwhelmed, we take a walk down ‘Memory Lane’ and talk about memories and just escape for a little while.”
Rosebank’s manager, Vanessa Lavender, said: “We are so excited to be able to open our brand new dementia corridor. It’s a complex condition which requires lots of stimuli, and this corridor delivers just that. We hope that by having this asset available to us we can provide better care to our residents, and also help the people of Oxfordshire understand what works well for people living with dementia. It was a pleasure to welcome Robert Courts MP to officially open the corridor. Our residents love a party, and love engagement from the outside world so it was a really successful day. The completion of this corridor will make a huge difference to our residents. It provides an escape, a different experience and is something that they have helped to sculpt and build which is just lovely for them.”
