Recently, a student social worker shadowed our activity group at Sandon, Chelmsford and we are delighted to share the wonderful testimonial received for our resident practioners. Our dedicated team really do put their heart, soul, and experience into making sure that our clients get the most out of their visits. This is an example of the fine work they do: –
“I would like to say thank you for the opportunity I had to shadow today at Sandon. It was very helpful for my professional development to observe how the staff engaged with the clients. I learned from the experience today that it is good to allow time for someone with dementia to think of how to respond when asked question instead of rushing them.
I also learned a good way of helping someone remember something by giving them clues in a different way. When we were playing a game, one of the staff members showed me a unique way to help the client remember things.
For example, a question was asked to the group to mention term used when there are equal days and nights. I knew the answer but I did not know how I could give clues to the client. So, I asked one of the staff members to help me. She told the client that the word has Eq and ends with x. When the client could not pick the clue up, the staff member started knocking on the table and asked the client what she was doing. The client said, “you are knocking on the table”, then the staff member asked the question again about equal days and nights. It was amazing for me to see how the client managed to remember that the word is Equinox. This demonstrated to me how having several techniques of communication can be helpful when working with clients who have early stage dementia.
It was a pleasure working with the staff, hopefully in the future I will have another shadowing opportunity.”
Student Social Worker -Older Adult Mental Health
Adult Social Care-Mid Essex County Council