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.
Community has always been an important aspect of our home. And the new way of life in our home presented such difficulties for us in creating community or engaging with others.
The training needs of the care home workforce is ever-changing and, in the pandemic, this awareness has been intensified.
Before the lockdown, we prided ourselves on our person-centred care, always engaging with our residents at an individual level. When the pandemic started, we quickly found ourselves doing things differently.
Having a loved one move into a care home can be a tough and painful experience for everyone. This is clearly a major transition.
We have come through a lot. However, now looking back over the very difficult times, it seems like a natural outcome was a closer bond developing between staff, residents and relatives.
It may be viewed as a hurdle which slows down things, albeit important. But shared decision-making is a critical aspect of care home life.