The COVID-19 Recovery and Rehabilitation project was kindly funded by The Rayne Foundation to help care homes share with each other what they are doing to help individuals living, dying, visiting and working in care homes for older people to move on from COVID-19.  This story relates to Supporting good end-of-life, which is an important part of Developing best practice together.

If you have a story to share, please email us on mhlcharity@outlook.com.

As one care home shared …

As many can appreciate, through the lockdown, care homes experienced the loss of many residents in quick succession. Sometimes this happened whilst they were in hospital, and there was no opportunity to say a proper goodbye. In some cases, due to the viral infection, we were not able to do the things that we would normally like to do for them in the care home. But through it all, we endeavoured to honour the desire of our residents, where possible. We worked closely with relatives, and the increased positive dynamics in our relationship since the pandemic began, was an added advantage.

 

In the lockdown being mindful and considerate of staff, as well as residents and relatives, was important to us and we introduced the idea of death cafés. It was important to appreciate the impact of losing so many residents over a short period of time. The café meetings were held online and took a drop-in approach. Relatives or staff could join in from the comfort of their homes or alternative spaces. They simply came into the café and talked to each other about how they felt. Sharing such difficult experiences together proved to be of immense support. A chaplain facilitated the conversations. Following the lockdown, we have not had many sessions, but this is something we feel should carry on.

 

Another initiative arranged was an indoor concert for people at the end-of-life. When the government guidance offered the opportunity for some visitations, we seized the opportunity to organise a concert. This would always have been a difficult event to manage, but we did it in the midst of a pandemic! It required robust risk assessment, good planning and efficient coordination. We worked together to make it happen for the sake of our residents. And the event was endorsed by relatives too. It’s something we are so proud of!

What have you been able to do to support end-of-life care for residents, relatives and staff, during the pandemic? (we’d love to hear from you)