Communication with the families of loved ones staying at Resthill Memory Care is of the utmost importance. Regular communication keeps families in the loop and alerts them to any issues or problems that residents may experience, as well as keeping them in touch with developments at Resthill.
WhatsApp is an important way of communicating with families. There is a general WhatsApp Families group where general information, updates and news get shared. This may include things such as birthdays, special occasions and other bits of news relevant to everyone.
Each resident also has their own WhatsApp group. This is created by the families themselves and includes the people they would like to have on the group, as well as key staff members of Resthill Memory Care. This group deals with issues pertaining to the specific resident in question. Issues like medicine, health alerts and personal matters are discussed on these personal groups.
Resthill Memory Care has also started a new innovation called The Resthill Minute. This is part of Detangle Dementia, where information is made available about Resthill specifically and dementia in general. It takes the form of a short podcast that is sent out weekly. It is available on the family’s WhatsApp group, but also available to everyone who has an interest in the topic through a specific Detangle Dementia WhatsApp group. It is also circulated widely on social media.
The aims of these podcasts are to improve communication with the families while at the same time sending a message to the broader community about the services provided at Resthill Memory Care. This podcast series has just been launched and the first two episodes are introductory in nature, explaining why it was started and what to expect from them over the next few weeks and months.
It will cover topics such as what exactly memory care is and how it differs from other types of care, what services Resthill provides and introducing some of the staff. It will then move on to other topics covering dementia of the Alzheimer type, the stages thereof, communication and behaviours, and other relevant topics related to the disease itself.
Grief will be discussed at some length too, providing coping mechanisms and explaining the types of grief a loved one may experience over the extended illness period.
Support of families through counselling is a big part of the service provided by Resthill Memory Care and how this is done will also be covered.
Of course, issues cannot be covered in much detail during a three-minute podcast, and so links to articles that expound on the topics covered will also be made available for those who want to read more.
By doing so, the team at Resthill Memory Care want to demystify what they do, how they do it and the reasons they do it, so as to create an open forum of communication.
You are of course welcome to join in on the conversation on any of the available platforms.
To contact Resthill, visit the Resthill Memory Care page.