Short Break Stories

Whitehill Court Day Care Development

A story by Whitehill Court Evening Service

We provided two Evening Care Sessions per week with weekly outings and a monthly dining service for a full 12 months in Kirkintilloch which aimed to benefit 100 individual older people living with dementia in East Dunbartonshire whilst providing invaluable respite to over 50 carers and a further 50 family members.

What Whitehill Court Day Care Development did

We published flyers and information leaflets for both Evening Care Service and Mary's Kitchen and distributed these throughout the East Dunbartonshire area to Health Centres, Community Hubs, Social Work, Local Mental Health Team, and other external organisations who work with Carer's Groups and older people living with dementia. We were also invited to Germany to participate in the ISBA conference and held a workshop on Mary's Kitchen.

Our service users have been referred through self referrals from carers and also mental health teams, social work, carer's link etc. Activities vary depending on our group of service users, giving them choices of outings and theme nights within Whitehill Court. Service users are allocated one night a week for a full month, then they can have a different night another month. If anyone cancels on an evening we will contact other service users to see if they would like an extra night so the service is always used to capacity. This service has enabled carers to have quality time to themselves, carers have enjoyed spending time with other family members, friends, going to the cinema, theatre, or out for a meal and not having to worry about their relative.

Mrs M visits her husband regularly since he moved into a care home. She likes to take him out for a meal occasionally but was finding this very stressful due to the progression of his dementia and also found it difficult to ask family to join them due to financial reasons. Mrs M read about Mary's Kitchen and contacted our service for more information.

This lead to Mr & Mrs M and his brother and sister in law coming to an evening at Mary's Kitchen. The family had a excellent dining experience together. They were all so impressed by every aspect of the evening and have booked again for December. Mrs M said having the opportunity to go out together for a meal as a family was wonderful and looks forward to using this service throughout the year.

Mrs A is in advanced stages of dementia and needs support in all aspect of her care which her daughter provides with the help of her husband. Mrs A stays on from Day Care into the evening service which allows her daughter to have a longer day. Mrs B can now go out and not 'clock watch', enjoy time with friends or go shopping without having to worry about getting back for her Mum returning from Day Care. Mrs B and her husband can also spend quailty time together with the extended day. Mrs B has commented that she feels less stressed due to having more support in the evenings.
Mrs L lives on her own with support from her son and daughter who live nearby. Recently Mrs L started going out on her own and family and neighbours were concerned as on an occasion she could not find her way back home. This has led to family having to be with her in the evening as this is when she is going out.

This was causing more stress between family members. Mrs L started using the evening service and really enjoys the company, participating in outings to local restaurants, outings to various places of interest, meeting new friends and feeling part of the community again. Ms L's family are less stressed knowing that their mother is enjoying a night out in a safe environment and which also gives them time for their own families.

What Whitehill Court Evening Service has learned

We have learned most importantly how needed these services are in this community, making tremendous differences to carers and service users. These services have also opened doors to other services for both carer and service user i.e. Day Care & Short Break respite services within Whitehill Court.

We liaised closely with Post Diagnostic workers in our local Mental Health team who referred people with early diagnosis of dementia to our services. These carers are now more aware of services available within the local area and support for themselves.
Top tips Whitehill Court Evening Service's top tips for an organisation that wants to run a similar project
Tip 1:
Liaise with all external agencies and advertise services throughout your community. Awareness of the services is paramount.
Tip 2:
Good communication with carers. Ask for their opinions and involve carers in choosing activities that they feel would benefit the service. Their views are very important.
Tip 3:
Know what is important to carers and service users. The smallest detail can make all the difference to someone going out for an evening.