Why choose a residential care home? Choosing a residential care home can be a difficult choice to make and we completely understand the concerns you may have regarding yourself or your loved one moving in. In today’s blog post we hope to ease your worries by sharing all of the wonderful benefits of choosing residentialContinue reading “Why choose a residential care home?”
Five ways to create friendships at an older age On Saturday, 30th July we’ll be celebrating International Friendship Day 2022. It’s incredibly unfortunate to hear that according to Age UK, more than 2 million people in England over the age of 75 live alone, and more than a million older people say they go forContinue reading “Five ways to create friendships at an older age”
How the elderly can benefit from Gardening With the Summer solstice approaching and the sun shining just a little more often here in Kent, we’re getting our green fingers ready for a summer of gardening. There are ample benefits to getting outside and gardening, particularly for the elderly. From improving dexterity to reducing symptoms ofContinue reading “How the elderly can benefit from Gardening”
National Smile Month is upon us and here at Birchwood House, we’re all about sharing a friendly smile. Back in December of 2020, we launched Birchwood Smiles. It was a difficult time for us all, with the pandemic a major concern for many vulnerable people. With all staff in PPE, we wanted to make sure Birchwood House residents were still able to see a friendly face and so every team member wore a lanyard around their neck, with a large picture of their smiling face on it.
This month we travelled back in time and turned the clocks right back for an afternoon of vintage 1940s fun. We enjoyed fabulous vintage-styled live entertainment, historically themed displays, and the nostalgic taste of wartime Britain during our 1940s-inspired Tea Dance.
Whether you’re looking for respite or permanent residential care Birchwood House warmly invites you to our Spring Open Day on Saturday 7th May from 12 – 4 pm. All key members of staff will be available to meet you as well as give a tour of our beautiful residential home on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells.
There’s a spring in our step! The flowers are blooming, and the skies are turning blue. Spring is on its way and there’s also a new spring in our step at Birchwood House. We’ve celebrated a number of exciting events so far this March and we can’t wait to share them with you. Firstly, we’dContinue reading “There’s a spring in our step at Birchwood House”
As many adults enter the later stages of their life, they often need either extra care, help and support and want to be around those in a similar situation or position to them from an age and health perspective.
Would you like to be a winner? We’re giving away a Harvest Vegetable Hamper with the October issue of Birchwood Care. We get all our fresh fruit and vegetables from Pembury Greengrocers in Pembury, so we have partnered with our local supplier to offer you this great prize. Harvest festivals are traditionally held to celebrateContinue reading “Win a harvest vegetable hamper”
Our residents sipped on fruit cocktails and were served an array of Mexican food such as pork carnitas, guacamole, pickled red cabbage, churros and flavoured tortilla chips and dips, all of which were prepared by our care home chef, Erminio.
Good eye health and the need for regular eye tests is vital, especially as you age. National Eye Health Week takes place from 20 to 26 September to remind and reinforce the need to stay eye healthy.
After 30 years in the building industry, Ian can turn his hand to many types of work. Which is a good job as he is in charge of our maintenance at Birchwood House.
Respite care is a short-term stay, often around one to two weeks, in a care home, such as Birchwood House, and is usually arranged to give a carer a holiday from their care-related duties. These breaks can be planned or, in cases of emergency, unplanned or at short notice. This is particularly common when friends or family members are acting as a carer and allows them time to look after their own health and well-being.
Our residents and staff travelled back in time to enjoy a medieval-themed summer party held within our 9 acres of picturesque, landscaped gardens on 30th June 2021.
Finding the right care home for a loved one can be a stressful and challenging experience, and often one that people only do once or twice in their lifetime. The location of a care home is therefore critical for a number of reasons. Here we take you through some useful points to consider when choosing a care home for a loved one.
We are delighted to announce that Birchwood Care will be hosting an Open Day on Saturday 26th June from 2 to 4pm. The Open Day will take place in our beautiful nine-acre gardens at Birchwood House in Speldhurst, on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells.
We’re giving away a Cream Tea for Two with the May issue of Birchwood Care and on our Facebook page. Our Chef at Birchwood House is Anne and she comes up with tasty and nutritionally balanced meals for the residents each day. As well as meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Anne really enjoys bakingContinue reading “Cream Tea Giveaway – who will you invite for tea?”
From May 3rd visitors to Birchwood House will be able to hold hands and enjoy face-to-face conversations with their loved ones as part of the next step of lockdown easing.
The staff at Birchwood House held a quirky ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed Mad Hatter’s Tea Party for the residents of our Speldhurst care home, to bring a sense of fun and magic to all this Easter.
Since the arrival of Covid-19 and having to live through lockdown in the last 12 months, the reliance on the internet and technology has massively increased and become the norm. Staying in touch with friends and family using communication platforms like Zoom and Facetime has seen huge adoption, fast-tracking their way into our everyday lives.
Families going through the emotional stress of placing a spouse or relative into care, often tell us they find the terminology confusing so this blog aims to help explain the different types of care available. Understandably, most elderly people want to live independently in their own home for as long as they can. But many people are not aware of what their local options are.
made initial enquiries and then visited the care home to meet the staff and look around. Sadly, for the safety of our residents, staff, and relatives this is not currently able to happen. Instead Birchwood House – our welcoming care home in the charming village of Speldhurst, near Tunbridge Wells in Kent – offers virtual tours.
Whether you’re looking for a good care provider or thinking of starting a career in care, it’s important to remember caring is all about people. As everyday humans, a carer needs to have a number of skills and attributes over and above those that can be learnt through training. Yes, it’s important to have good and regulatory qualifications along with some experience, but being a people person and having a good personality is just, if not, even more important. Multi-tasking, thinking on their feet, being punctual, reliable and willing to learn are all required skills, but we believe good carers need to have these essential human characteristics to deliver the best care.
We went all out to make sure it was a white and jolly Christmas for the residents at our home in Speldhurst, Kent. With a snow machine adding a dusting of white to the beautiful House, staff held a festive event to bring joy to the residents after a difficult year. The team have been doing all they can to keep things as normal as possible and keep spirits high by working hard behind the scenes to create a magical Christmas celebration for the residents.
We’re delighted to kick off a new initiative to show the smiling faces of our staff behind their masks to help our residents and clients recognise their support and maintain positivity. Aptly named Birchwood Smiles, every team member will be wearing a lanyard around their neck, with a large picture of their smiling face on it. This will help them to engage with residents and clients, even when wearing full PPE.
We wanted to do something to brighten up someone’s day so as people can’t get out much, we ran a prize draw at the end of November offering afternoon tea to two people in our local community.
Owner of Birchwood House and Care Services, Niral Patel, provides his personal reflections on the last 9 months of 2020 and how he continues to be optimistic in the run up to Christmas.
Birchwood House enjoyed a socially-distanced harvest festival in its grounds on Wednesday 9th September, for all staff and residents. Sealed food was donated to benefit the local community.
The lockdown that has been imposed by the Covid-19 outbreak has made us think about how important it is to take care of your mental health whilst either in isolation, or just unable to socialise and interact with others in person for a long period of time. Here are some useful tips for the elderly for taking care of your mental health during these periods which can be relevant and applied now, or during future periods of isolation.
Although summer is only just upon us and we are probably yet to hit the hottest day of the year, the recent spell of warm and sunny weather coupled with spending more time than normal at this time of year indoors during the Coronavirus lockdown has got us thinking about our top tips for looking after the elderly as we get deeper into the summer and the weather gets warmer.
The current Covid-19 Pandemic has caused an enormous disruption to every day life, and has had significant ramifications for care homes in particular. Suddenly the way we look after our residents has changed dramatically and here at Birchwood House we have done everything we can to deal with this, both keeping our residents safe and as active and entertained as possible as we know how important this is for their mental health and wellbeing.
There are a number of signs to look out for in an elderly friend or relative that may signal to it being an appropriate time for additional care. There are many different options depending on each individual’s circumstance – including homecare (which our friends at Birchwood Care Services provide), live-in-care, assisted living or coming into a care home like ours here at Birchwood House. This article goes into detail on key triggers about when a care home may be appropriate, or when assisted living may be a better option.
inding a care home for a loved one can be an extremely stressful and challenging experience, and often one that people only do infrequently so it’s certainly not something they do every day! Location of a care home is critical. Here we take you through the key location points to think about when choosing a care home.
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Why choose a residential care home? Choosing a residential care home can be a difficult choice to make and we completely understand the concerns you may have regarding yourself or your loved one moving in. In today’s blog post we hope to ease your worries by sharing all of the wonderful benefits of choosing residentialContinue reading “Why choose a residential care home?”
Five ways to create friendships at an older age On Saturday, 30th July we’ll be celebrating International Friendship Day 2022. It’s incredibly unfortunate to hear that according to Age UK, more than 2 million people in England over the age of 75 live alone, and more than a million older people say they go forContinue reading “Five ways to create friendships at an older age”
How the elderly can benefit from Gardening With the Summer solstice approaching and the sun shining just a little more often here in Kent, we’re getting our green fingers ready for a summer of gardening. There are ample benefits to getting outside and gardening, particularly for the elderly. From improving dexterity to reducing symptoms ofContinue reading “How the elderly can benefit from Gardening”
National Smile Month is upon us and here at Birchwood House, we’re all about sharing a friendly smile. Back in December of 2020, we launched Birchwood Smiles. It was a difficult time for us all, with the pandemic a major concern for many vulnerable people. With all staff in PPE, we wanted to make sure Birchwood House residents were still able to see a friendly face and so every team member wore a lanyard around their neck, with a large picture of their smiling face on it.
This month we travelled back in time and turned the clocks right back for an afternoon of vintage 1940s fun. We enjoyed fabulous vintage-styled live entertainment, historically themed displays, and the nostalgic taste of wartime Britain during our 1940s-inspired Tea Dance.
Whether you’re looking for respite or permanent residential care Birchwood House warmly invites you to our Spring Open Day on Saturday 7th May from 12 – 4 pm. All key members of staff will be available to meet you as well as give a tour of our beautiful residential home on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells.
There’s a spring in our step! The flowers are blooming, and the skies are turning blue. Spring is on its way and there’s also a new spring in our step at Birchwood House. We’ve celebrated a number of exciting events so far this March and we can’t wait to share them with you. Firstly, we’dContinue reading “There’s a spring in our step at Birchwood House”
It’s been a fantastic month here at Birchwood House. We’ve recently celebrated Valentine’s Day and have enjoyed smiles all around.
As many adults enter the later stages of their life, they often need either extra care, help and support and want to be around those in a similar situation or position to them from an age and health perspective.
Would you like to be a winner? We’re giving away a Harvest Vegetable Hamper with the October issue of Birchwood Care. We get all our fresh fruit and vegetables from Pembury Greengrocers in Pembury, so we have partnered with our local supplier to offer you this great prize. Harvest festivals are traditionally held to celebrateContinue reading “Win a harvest vegetable hamper”
Our residents sipped on fruit cocktails and were served an array of Mexican food such as pork carnitas, guacamole, pickled red cabbage, churros and flavoured tortilla chips and dips, all of which were prepared by our care home chef, Erminio.
Good eye health and the need for regular eye tests is vital, especially as you age. National Eye Health Week takes place from 20 to 26 September to remind and reinforce the need to stay eye healthy.
The importance of power of attorney (LPA) for the elderly.
After 30 years in the building industry, Ian can turn his hand to many types of work. Which is a good job as he is in charge of our maintenance at Birchwood House.
Respite care is a short-term stay, often around one to two weeks, in a care home, such as Birchwood House, and is usually arranged to give a carer a holiday from their care-related duties. These breaks can be planned or, in cases of emergency, unplanned or at short notice. This is particularly common when friends or family members are acting as a carer and allows them time to look after their own health and well-being.
Our residents and staff travelled back in time to enjoy a medieval-themed summer party held within our 9 acres of picturesque, landscaped gardens on 30th June 2021.
Keeping the residents at Birchwood House mentally and physically active is the job of Activities Co-ordinator Zoe.
Finding the right care home for a loved one can be a stressful and challenging experience, and often one that people only do once or twice in their lifetime. The location of a care home is therefore critical for a number of reasons. Here we take you through some useful points to consider when choosing a care home for a loved one.
We are delighted to announce that Birchwood Care will be hosting an Open Day on Saturday 26th June from 2 to 4pm. The Open Day will take place in our beautiful nine-acre gardens at Birchwood House in Speldhurst, on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells.
We’re giving away a Cream Tea for Two with the May issue of Birchwood Care and on our Facebook page. Our Chef at Birchwood House is Anne and she comes up with tasty and nutritionally balanced meals for the residents each day. As well as meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Anne really enjoys bakingContinue reading “Cream Tea Giveaway – who will you invite for tea?”
From May 3rd visitors to Birchwood House will be able to hold hands and enjoy face-to-face conversations with their loved ones as part of the next step of lockdown easing.
The staff at Birchwood House held a quirky ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed Mad Hatter’s Tea Party for the residents of our Speldhurst care home, to bring a sense of fun and magic to all this Easter.
irchwood Care Services, so when she needed further care Birchwood House was a natural choice.
Since the arrival of Covid-19 and having to live through lockdown in the last 12 months, the reliance on the internet and technology has massively increased and become the norm. Staying in touch with friends and family using communication platforms like Zoom and Facetime has seen huge adoption, fast-tracking their way into our everyday lives.
Families going through the emotional stress of placing a spouse or relative into care, often tell us they find the terminology confusing so this blog aims to help explain the different types of care available. Understandably, most elderly people want to live independently in their own home for as long as they can. But many people are not aware of what their local options are.
made initial enquiries and then visited the care home to meet the staff and look around. Sadly, for the safety of our residents, staff, and relatives this is not currently able to happen. Instead Birchwood House – our welcoming care home in the charming village of Speldhurst, near Tunbridge Wells in Kent – offers virtual tours.
Whether you’re looking for a good care provider or thinking of starting a career in care, it’s important to remember caring is all about people. As everyday humans, a carer needs to have a number of skills and attributes over and above those that can be learnt through training. Yes, it’s important to have good and regulatory qualifications along with some experience, but being a people person and having a good personality is just, if not, even more important. Multi-tasking, thinking on their feet, being punctual, reliable and willing to learn are all required skills, but we believe good carers need to have these essential human characteristics to deliver the best care.
We went all out to make sure it was a white and jolly Christmas for the residents at our home in Speldhurst, Kent. With a snow machine adding a dusting of white to the beautiful House, staff held a festive event to bring joy to the residents after a difficult year. The team have been doing all they can to keep things as normal as possible and keep spirits high by working hard behind the scenes to create a magical Christmas celebration for the residents.
We’re delighted to kick off a new initiative to show the smiling faces of our staff behind their masks to help our residents and clients recognise their support and maintain positivity. Aptly named Birchwood Smiles, every team member will be wearing a lanyard around their neck, with a large picture of their smiling face on it. This will help them to engage with residents and clients, even when wearing full PPE.
We wanted to do something to brighten up someone’s day so as people can’t get out much, we ran a prize draw at the end of November offering afternoon tea to two people in our local community.
Owner of Birchwood House and Care Services, Niral Patel, provides his personal reflections on the last 9 months of 2020 and how he continues to be optimistic in the run up to Christmas.
Birchwood House enjoyed a socially-distanced harvest festival in its grounds on Wednesday 9th September, for all staff and residents. Sealed food was donated to benefit the local community.
The lockdown that has been imposed by the Covid-19 outbreak has made us think about how important it is to take care of your mental health whilst either in isolation, or just unable to socialise and interact with others in person for a long period of time. Here are some useful tips for the elderly for taking care of your mental health during these periods which can be relevant and applied now, or during future periods of isolation.
Introduction to Helen Geer – Manager of Birchwood House
Although summer is only just upon us and we are probably yet to hit the hottest day of the year, the recent spell of warm and sunny weather coupled with spending more time than normal at this time of year indoors during the Coronavirus lockdown has got us thinking about our top tips for looking after the elderly as we get deeper into the summer and the weather gets warmer.
The current Covid-19 Pandemic has caused an enormous disruption to every day life, and has had significant ramifications for care homes in particular. Suddenly the way we look after our residents has changed dramatically and here at Birchwood House we have done everything we can to deal with this, both keeping our residents safe and as active and entertained as possible as we know how important this is for their mental health and wellbeing.
There are a number of signs to look out for in an elderly friend or relative that may signal to it being an appropriate time for additional care. There are many different options depending on each individual’s circumstance – including homecare (which our friends at Birchwood Care Services provide), live-in-care, assisted living or coming into a care home like ours here at Birchwood House. This article goes into detail on key triggers about when a care home may be appropriate, or when assisted living may be a better option.
inding a care home for a loved one can be an extremely stressful and challenging experience, and often one that people only do infrequently so it’s certainly not something they do every day! Location of a care home is critical. Here we take you through the key location points to think about when choosing a care home.