An Elvis tribute act, its own bespoke bar and a beach in the garden are perhaps not features of the typical care home.
But at Appleby Care Home in North Shields, getting back to normal after a traumatic period during the Covid-19 lockdowns means getting back to helping the residents to dance with the carers and to sharing "lads talk" over a - non-alcoholic - pint in the bar hand-built by Steve Taylor, the former carer and activities lead who now looks after maintenance.
Registered manager Clare Leonard told ChronicleLive how after a scary time during the pandemic, not least when she herself spent a fortnight in intensive care, emphasising the social elements of life at Appleby was a key priority for her team. That could be by reminding residents of their seaside memories or getting Mike Memphis - the Elvis tribute - in to get everyone bopping to a rendition of the Moody Blues.
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The home has a "traditional sweetshop" window and a number of wall displays highlighting hobbies and activities that may have been important to residents, while Clare explained that Steve "puts his heart and soul" into ensuring that to the people living at Appleby it feels like home.
This has involved creating a traditional bar upstairs - though of course alcohol is not usually available. There, some of the men living at Appleby who may otherwise exhibit challenging behaviour can occupy themselves and recall time spent down the pub.
Clare explained that the bar - created in disused space - helped those living in the men's unit to relax in a familiar environment. Showing off Steve's handiwork, she pointed out the memory displays and said: "For our dementia residents Steve put this together. It's for when they wander without purpose - it can remind them of what they used to do or like. There's also the beach in the garden.
"We have lots of residents who are from nearby around the coast and it can be nice for them to touch the sand. In the summer we bring out the deckchairs and have ice cream and it's so they can remember times they might have had when they were young. Perhaps when they would take children to the beach or have a picnic."
This feels like a far cry from the "very challenging time" of the not-too-distant past. During Covid-19, visiting was impossible, though Steve - again - created a visiting and testing room to help make it easier when the rules began to relax.
Clare said Appleby had been luckier than most when it came to Covid outbreaks, and that the home managed around nine months, until just before Christmas 2020, before having an outbreak. However she said that showed in a very shocking way how easily the virus spread - it was a "domino effect" she said.
"We had a big outbreak and a lot of our staff were decimated," she said. "I was hospitalised myself - though the company was absolutely fabulous regionally and nationally so were able to get cover in and the service was always safe. I was unable to come in because I was in the High Dependency Unit. I was in there for a fortnight - so I saw Covid firsthand.
"It gives you an insight. Obviously when I was looking at risk assessments afterwards, it makes you think even harder about how vital it is to make sure all the residents are safe."
Though the worst of Covid is receding into memory, the home still operates a policy of mask-wearing when there is any risk of respiratory infection. Clare is also, as the only care home manager in our region to be part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research's Green Shoots programme, working on trials which are investigating how ventilation can cut the spread of winter illnesses in care homes.
Despite some difficult times and losses, Clare said that - compared to some of the horror stories in other care homes around the country: "We were very, very lucky. A lot of homes had lost lots of residents but we were comparatively lucky and there were very few."
Looking back to Covid-19, she added: "It was a very challenging time. It was a different way of working, lots of risk assessments and making sure that everyone was safe. It was a different way of communicating for us. We had iPads and iPhones and were reliant on Facetiming and Skyping.
"We have always seen ourselves as a 'homely' home, and relatives and visitors are part of the Appleby family so it was very hard. Predominantly our residents have dementia, so one thing that was really hard was how as the pandemic was receding they weren't able to recognise loved ones. It was just really hard for us all."
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