Short Break Stories

FMN Respite Breaks

A story by Forget-Me-Not Club

The Forget-Me-Not Club exists to support people with Dementia, their Carer & family. Within the organisation there is an opportunity to provide needs-led short break respite for people with Dementia to provide a break for Carers knowing their loved ones are in an acceptable and safe environment.

What FMN Respite Breaks did

For the last 10 years the Forget-Me-Not Club have taken clients and carers for two or three periods of respite care. Each period is of one week duration.
In 2014 thanks to funding from the Short Breaks Fund we were once again able to provide respite breaks at Jubilee House in Stonehaven. The Forget-Me-Not Club has a dedicated and willing group of volunteers and along with our existing staff, we are able to provide close support on a 24 hour basis during each weekly break. Consequently it has not been necessary to recruit additional staff.

The attendees at these breaks are chosen from our existing Club membership and over the years we have been able to offer our clients and carers the opportunity to attend. Often it depends on the health of the client at the time and their availability. In general we can cater for 3-4 client/carers per week.

Activities during a typical week are a mixture of the following: Outings to places of interest to the clients e.g. Alford Transport Museum, Aberdeen Winter Gardens, Inverurie Cattle Market, Aberdeen Maritime Museum and the House of Dun Tapestry display. Visits to several of the towns around Stonehaven.
Morning and evening walks along the boardwalk at Stonehaven beach. It is usually the case that morning coffee and lunch are taken out at restaurants in the vicinity. In the evening after dinner, clients are encouraged to play games and chat. They are also encouraged to discuss what they enjoy about the break.

During the walks and visits they often buy small gifts and postcards to take home as a reminder of their break and also to help put together a "story" of the holiday for the client and help the carer be aware of the activities and places visited.

Mrs C has now experienced two breaks & explained that that the first week she found it difficult to relax expecting a call from staff to say her husband was unhappy/difficult but this did not happen - B, who is 52 years old returned home from Jubilee House in a good state of mind, the family & friends were delighted in the increase in his conversation & his sense of humour was sharper. The second break was a real opportunity for Mrs C to have a relaxing respite break & the fact that B was talking about how much he was looking forward to his holiday made a difference to her emotionally. Respite in a Care Home would be totally unacceptable for a man of this age.

One client after visiting the Alford Transport museum has been accepted as a volunteer (assisted) at the museum allowing him to pursue a hobby he enjoyed prior to the onset of dementia.
While difficult to quantify, it is obvious to our volunteers and staff that chatting and laughter levels significantly increase over the period of a week.
One client (G) was able to bring her dog on her respite break ensuring she had not the anxiety of leaving her pet in kennels. Her sister recorded an amazing change after the break as G's depression & anxiety were much less obvious & with the use of the Life Story that we created for G she has been able to recall her happy week.

What Forget-Me-Not Club has learned

The Forget-Me-Not Club opened a Resource Centre in 2014 and there was no guarantee that the Club would be in a position to finance any short breaks, however the Fund has allowed us to provide breaks which otherwise may not have happened

Given suitable support people with dementia can help provide services to other people e.g. our museum volunteer

Time spent at Jubilee House builds memories for clients, volunteers & staff which are frequently used to advantage in difficult times
Top tips Forget-Me-Not Club's top tips for an organisation that wants to run a similar project
Tip 1:
Do not underestimate the capabilities of those with dementia. Despite their illness they may be quite capable of supervised work or service provision
Tip 2:
Carers who may be unwilling normally to discuss their problems will often open up to staff and volunteers given a suitable environment like our short breaks to Jubilee House
Tip 3:
When planning Jubilee House Short Breaks, staff attempt to tailor a programme round each client, this can lead to a greater understanding of the client & the carer which enhances the future time within Forget-Me-Not Club