Family and Friends
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Quality of life and dignity in care
Being close to your family member or friend is important when an individual moves into a care home. Remaining connected to their previous life and to the important people in their closer circle is critical to the wellbeing of the individual. Our care home team will help keep these connections alive.
What you can do
Moving into a care home is likely to be a big change for your parent, partner, other family member, or friend, so it’s important for them to see a familiar face regularly.
To help our residents feel at home and remain connected with their previous life, we do all we can to help them to see you in the same way they did before they started living in a residential care home.
At St Barnabas we invite family and friends to come to the Home as often as they wish either to visit, using our many common areas in the Home, or in their own rooms, or indeed take them out to enjoy some of the delights of Southwold. Letter writing, video-calls and email are other ways that we encourage and assist our residents to maintain contact and connection with those they love and cherish.
Accommodation near the home
Southwold boasts much accommodation for visitors, family and friends. It is perhaps useful to know that St Barnabas has its own visitor’s flat, adjacent to the care home. The 1-bedroom flat can be rented by the week, has easy access (and is wheelchair friendly) and is also offered to the public for rental. Should you, family or friends wish to stay close to a resident of the home, or indeed require easy accessibility yourself/themselves, do get in touch with the local estate agents, Durrants (durrantsholidaycottages.co.uk), who manage the flat on our behalf.
In and around Southwold…
- Southwold Pier
- Southwold Boating Lake
- Putting Green
- Café on the Beach Front
- Southwold Restaurants with wheelchair access
Useful Links
What St Barnabas can offer
A Full Timetable
We have a full timetable of events and activities that happen during the week either within the Home or as special outings in the local environment, and all residents and their families are welcome to join us.
Communal Tablet computer
All residents can request to use the tablet in order to video-call family or friends, send personal emails. Staff will help them with this.
Dogs and PAT (Pets As Therapy)
Dogs are most welcome in the Home. We also try and promote a scheme called PAT or Pets As Therapy. PAT is a charity, which has been at the forefront of community based Animal Assisted Therapy across the length and breadth of the UK. PAT volunteers share their time and their wonderful pets with people of all ages who may benefit from the visits at residential homes, hospitals, hospices, schools, day care centres and prisons. Volunteers with just a small amount of spare time each week work with their own pets, to bring joy, comfort and companionship to many individuals who appreciate being able to touch and stroke a friendly animal. Find out more at petsastherapy.org.
ENTERTAINMENT AND EXCURSIONS
Enhanced living through activities
Stimulation and entertainment is a crucial part of mental and physical wellbeing. We offer our residents much variety in the form of in-house entertainment or through day trips to many interesting and beautiful local areas in and around Southwold.
Regular entertainment is organised, such as Bingo afternoons, board games, live entertainment, sing-alongs, or simply watching TV in the communal sitting room.
In House Activities
- Live singers
- Physiotherapy Dance
- Bingo
- Afternoon teas
- Afternoon movies
- Games
- Other activities initiated/suggested by family members or residents
Prayers & Holy Communion
We have regular visits from the local Southwold churches and a monthly service of Holy Communion is held in the home. Clergy and associated pastoral support workers visit residents in their rooms if a resident isn’t able to join corporate worship. Some residents attend the churches in the town.
Excursions
We take interested residents out to local Southwold locations as often as is possible.