Introducing Namaste Care at Kineton Manor Nursing Home

At Kineton Manor Nursing Home we are always trying to enhance the quality of life of our residents.  Some of our residents are living with dementia, which means that at times, they are not able to fully experience the benefit from activities provided by the home. It is our aim to ensure through GSF (Gold Standard Framework), LSD (Love, Stimulation and Dignity)* and now Namaste Care, that their quality of life will be the best that it can be.

We have therefore begun to explore how Namaste Care can further increase the quality of life for residents living with dementia and those who are at the end of life. Namaste means ‘to honour the spirit within’ and it focuses on engaging the senses – sound, touch, smell, taste and sight. Joyce Simard is the lady behind the development Namaste Care. With the support of our training coordinator, Hazel Ratcliffe from Ratcliffe Consultancy, we held Namaste training involving a number of staff. The feedback from the staff was positive. They mentioned that it gave them a more personal approach to providing care and activity to our residents.

To capture the benefits of Namaste, we filmed a short session with three residents and we would like to share it with you (here’s the link). Consent was obtained from the families to share the video, as they are all supportive of the project. All three of the residents involved are living with dementia and they are all at an advanced stage. Two of the residents are cared for in bed as their bodies are usually very stiff and contracted. The other resident usually appears to be restless and anxious, as she constantly paces up and down the corridor and doesn’t like to sit down, even for just a second.

The three residents responded positively to the Namaste care. As shown in the video, the resident sitting in the chair at the beginning tried several times to get out of the chair but later on relaxed and appears to be less anxious. Both of the residents who are in bed appear to have responded positively. One of them was smiling during the session and carers later provided feedback that the other resident was very relaxed after the session, noticing that her limbs were less contracted during personal care and this effect lasted for a week. We are planning to arrange more Namaste training for staff and relatives. This will allow them to experience the importance of engaging all the senses when providing care and activity to the residents.