The cliché that no two days are the same is absolutely true. The joy of working with our service users who are living with acquired brain injury or learning disabilities is that they make every day different. However, routine is important to many of our residents, so there is an established structure in each home. It may vary from one home to another and residents are always free to choose what they do.

Last summer we filmed some of our care staff talking about their roles. In this blog, Judy and Colin from  2 & 8 Kingsthorpe Grove, homes for adults with learning disabilities, take us through a ‘typical day.’

Watch the video here

Morning handover

Care staff who arrive in the morning have a handover meeting with the night staff and the rest of the team. They are updated on anything that went on during the night and any appointments for service users scheduled for that day. Then they assist the service users getting up and help them get their breakfast.

The day’s activities

After breakfast, different activities are planned for the day. This might be something like rock climbing, trampolining or sailing with Sailability, and many of the guys love going out for a walk. It also depends on their personal interests. Some people really like horses, for example, or trains, so these are incorporated into their daily activities where possible.

It’s soon dinner time, and as part of our ethos of promoting independence, service users and staff work together to get dinner and do the clearing up afterwards.

There’s time to relax in the lounge in the afternoon, or do some other activities. These may be craft activities, baking, games, a relaxation session with Assistant Psychologist Julita, Music Enrichment Activity with Martin the Music Man, or a trip out somewhere in the local community.

After tea, there’s some downtime to relax and watch TV before getting ready for bed.

Rewarding work environment

Judy reflects on why she enjoys her role at Richardson Care so much, saying: “You’re doing a good job and at the end of the day, I can say that I’ve finished my shift and I know that I did my best.”

Colin adds: “It’s brilliant. I love it. I can’t say anything else.”

By employing caring and compassionate people like Judy and Colin, who love working at Richardson Care, means that we can help our service users to live their best lives.

For more information, contact our Admissions and Referrals Team on 01604 791071 or complete our online referral form.