How can you help families stay in touch with their loved ones in your care home?

When someone moves into a care home, it’s only natural that their families want to make sure that the environment they are choosing for their loved ones is the right environment for them. This is especially important because some of the biggest issues for those living in care is dealing with chronic loneliness and feelings of isolation, so as someone working in care, it’s vital that you give families every opportunity to stay in touch with their loved ones. 

Ensuring that families have every opportunity possible to stay in touch with their loved ones is important because it can enhance the overall experience of residents in care, as well as working to strengthen the relationship between families and their loved ones, but it can also be beneficial to the sense of a wider community within the care home that extends beyond it to the families of residents. Not only this, but it is also of course becoming more and more important from a regulatory standpoint. 

Specifically, according to the CQC, Regulation 9A of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 aims to make sure:  

• People staying in a care home, hospital or hospice can receive visits from people they want to see  

• People living in a care home are not discouraged from taking visits outside the home  

• People attending appointments in a hospital or hospice, that do not require an overnight stay, can be accompanied by a family member, friend or advocate if they want someone with them.  

The CQC goes on to say: “The regulation explains what providers must do to make sure they respect the right of each person to receive visits and to be accompanied, following an assessment of their needs and preferences.  

“Everyone should work on the assumption that in-person visiting and accompaniment to appointments are possible. Providers must put in place any measures or precautions necessary and proportionate to ensure that visiting and accompaniment can continue to happen safely.”    

Crucially, they also say: “These must be the least restrictive options and must be decided with the person using the service, and their family, friends or advocates where appropriate.” 

The role of care homes in helping families stay in touch with loved ones 

Enhancing resident experience through the maintaining of a strong relationship and connection between those in care and their loved ones means acting as a proactive facilitator of practical ways of staying in touch. In other words, trying to find ways to encourage engagement and connections that will be more meaningful and create more lasting memories. 

This is especially important in the early stages of someone moving into a care home, which can sometimes be a stressful and disruptive time for both residents and their families. For families in particular, helping them to be reassured that they have made the right decision will help the transition into the care home be as smooth and trouble-free as possible. It is also very important particularly during the winter, when nights are shorter and older adults could be more at risk of issues like seasonal effective disorder. 

Communication is one of the main ways to achieve this; and proactive communication means engaging with family members and helping them to make the most out of this transition by suggesting ways they can stay in touch and be involved in this new phase of their loved one's lives in meaningful ways. 

So, below, we’ve come up with some of the best suggestions you can make for families who want to stay in touch with their loved ones. 

Regular virtual catch ups 

We would recommend that in the first instance, you should encourage family members, where possible, to visit with their loved ones in person as often as possible, especially in the early days and months of moving into a care home as this can be very beneficial in managing the transition to maintain a sense of continuity in their relationship. 

However, it’s also important to recognise that sometimes it’s not always possible for family members to visit as much as they would like to because of other commitments. Moreover, the routine of someone in a care home can be disrupted by certain issues, so they might not always feel up to having visitors. This can cause some distress for family members as they feel a sense of guilt for not being able to visit as often for whatever reason. But a useful way to get around this is by encouraging them to do regular virtual catch ups alongside in-person visits.  

Engaging in regular virtual catch ups with those living in care homes can be a comforting way to keep in regular contact and help maintain a meaningful connection more often because it can offer many of the same benefits as regular in-person visits, but they are also much easier to organise on a regular basis. Virtual chats are also much more impactful than phone calls because for people living in care homes, it’s much more comforting and provides a far greater sense of familiarity to see the faces of their loved ones. So, it might be a good idea to try and help families to reschedule regular virtual calls with their loved ones.  

Celebrate special occasions and get involved in care home activities 

Making time to celebrate special occasions, such as birthdays, can be very beneficial to the wellbeing and overall happiness of those living in care anyway, but making sure you do your best to get families involved in this will make it even more special because it means families can play a bigger part in the daily life of their loved ones living in care, and can become more part of the wider community within the care home.  

It can bring everyone together and make the occasions more meaningful and can demonstrate to those living in care that they are still a big part of their family's life, which will have a profound impact on their sense of self and their experience of care.  

Likewise, it’s a good idea for you as someone working in care to encourage family members to get involved in the activities that are put on by the home because this, like getting involved with special occasions, can help to maintain a strong relationship between those living in care and their families, as well as a sense of continuity in the life of someone living in care.  

For example, when it comes to participating in activities, your care home could plan days out to a seaside town or you could plan a quiz night, or perhaps a movie night, and invite the family of those you care for to join in. Better still, if you organised a cooking day or an arts and crafts session, this would be the perfect way for family members and those you care for to spend meaningful time together and also create something special and lasting.  

How do go about creating meaningful memories 

Whether it’s a celebration or a fun day out, it’s a good idea for you to make it as personalised as possible and to connect with the family of the person you’re caring for to find out any little details about them that will make the activity truly unique.  

For example, if it’s a birthday party, you could ask what type of music they like, what type of food they like or if you’re having a movie night which types of films they like. Or it could be getting together with family members to discuss any specific memories that could be used in creating something like a memory box. The opportunities are near endless! 

In addition to connecting and including family members in the preparations for celebrations, it would also be useful to use the features available when using a digital care planning system like Who I Am, with which care providers can create a personalised document for each resident that comprises information that is unique to them, such as what is important to them, what they like and dislike and more.  

With features like Who I Am, which is available with Person Centred Software’s digital care planning system, you can gain invaluable insights into what would make a special occasion or get-together truly special. 

Enrich the lives of residents by using digital solutions 

Ensuring that those you care for have the opportunity to stay in touch with loved ones is one of the most profound ways to enrich their lives and positively impact their quality of life, as well as creating a closer bond within the whole home community.  

To do this in the most meaningful way possible, investing in resident engagements tools can give you an abundance of features that are specifically designed to ensure that every aspect of resident experience is prioritised and valued. 

Click here to find out more about our resident engagement tool and to talk to one of our experts about how it can bring meaningful moments to those you care for.