Visiting someone in a care home for the first time may be daunting – you aren't quite sure what to say, what to bring as a gift, or how to cope with other residents.
Equally, volunteering in a care home calls for skills which aren't necessarily innate. We can all learn from others who have done it before, and that's what Tina English, director of the charity Embracing Age, is doing to help everyone achieve more quality time with those they come to see in care.
'Enjoying quality time with a loved one with dementia' is the first in a series of Making Moments publications. They are free to download from the charity's website.
Others in the series guide you towards reading aloud with people with dementia, sharing poetry together.
Another shows you a variety of Christian devotions to use to draw close to someone in need of love and reassurance as their dementia develops. The thoughtful suggestions give you confidence and enable you to enjoy worshipping together, creating meaningful moments to treasure.
Tina hopes to have enough funding available to print the booklets in time. That would benefit those without access to computers and printers.
'Since many carers don't have the time or the energy to read whole books, I wanted to write something short and accessible, so the Making Moments series was born,' writes Tina in an article in the summer edition of Plus, the magazine of Christians on Ageing. Tina intends to add extra titles and these first three are a great start for people new to supporting someone living with dementia or someone who has recently moved into a home (writes Debbie Thrower).
In the meantime, you might also be interested in our Anna Chaplaincy Easy Guides, several of which are also a support for people with dementia. For example, we have: Easy Guide 3: Running Messy Vintage in community settings and Easy Guide 4: Setting up a dementia café.
Browse the growing range of Easy Guides at annachaplaincy.org.uk/easy-guides.