Butterfly Training Session one

May has seen the start of our 2023 Butterfly project, with our new home action team joined by Sally Knocker from Meaningful Care Matters to deliver session one of the programme.

Butterfly Training Day

With a number of new members of the team if was a fantastic introduction to our approach to Dementia care at Langham Court and a brilliant refresher for the team.

Butterfly Training Session one

The focus of the day was centred around developing listening skills and enhancing our ability to engage with those living with Dementia and each other.

A third focus of the day was using dancing to create meaningful moment and fun to our interactions with each other.

I was inspired by the importance of  enabling the people who live here at Langham Court to have positive experiences, by creating a true and comfortable home environment by focusing on the emotional psychological and spiritual needs of each person, whilst caring for their physical needs.

Helen – Nurse at Langham Court  

Helen - Nurse at Langham Court

 

The Butterfly approach is intrinsic in the Dementia Care offered at Langham Court, making us stand out as one of the leading specialist dementia care homes.

For more information click here

Our ethos of personalised and loving care

When the family of one our ladies living in Huntington House, came to take her out for lunch last week, she wasn’t ready, and her family weren’t in the least bit surprised or upset.

That’s because she is a fan of having a boiled egg for her breakfast, and, having carefully taken the top off her egg, it wasn’t quite cooked to her liking, so she had requested another one which was a little runnier.  We obliged with pleasure, so she could savour the breakfast she wanted before getting up and dressed.

This story is just one example of how residents enjoy our personalised, loving, caring approach. Our ethos is that every one of our residents has a meaningful day, choosing what they do and when they do it based on how they feel. From the moment they wake up, our residents’ emotional health, care, dignity and desires are always at least as important as their physical needs.  This is the gold standard of personalised care we work to 24/7/365.

 Family care in a home from home

Huntington House is family owned and run, and residents are treated like family. Residents and our team are free to be themselves in the warm, welcoming, homely and friendly environment we’ve created over the years – a quintessentially English country house suffused with love.

At Huntington House, we always go above and beyond to meet residents’ needs, and they get the nurturing support needed to be independent and live a full life.   Residents can do all the things they enjoyed before moving in – walking, painting, singing, talking, debating, creating and more – and can participate in all the activities and socialising they want and need, with the reassurance of round-the-clock care.

Walk into the house, and you’ll see residents’ art on the walls and their interests and desires reflected in what’s happening at each given moment. Bedrooms are comfortable and welcoming but are just one of the areas where residents can spend time and enjoy themselves.

Window decorations

Residents and their families are encouraged to explore our 30 acres of beautiful grounds, help with our garden or wander through the woods to see the sheep, chickens and horses who share our space.  This is very popular with our younger visitors!

Less mobile residents are accompanied by a team member whenever they want to go outside, whether for a gentle walk or a chance to sit and get some fresh air.

The Huntington and Langham Estate taxi

All you need is love

Unusually for our industry, our staff are positively encouraged to connect with residents, love them and care for them as if they were family.

We have higher than average staffing ratios to facilitate the levels of care we provide. That’s why, much like visiting a family home, when you explore the house and grounds, you’ll hear impromptu debates and conversations, see residents going on outings, laughing and chatting as they do crafts and hobbies or suggesting to the care team how seasonal decorations should be arranged.  A contented hubbub fills the air, and that’s all down to our excellent team.

Our Home Makers and Carers are handpicked for their ability to effortlessly initiate stimulating activities and conversations. Every day, they take the time to create memorable moments for residents based on each person’s personality and needs.

Recently, a quiz question led to a conversation between a carer and a lady living in Huntington House, where they discussed the resident’s female partner and looked at photos together, with her beaming as she recalled a long-ago day out and had the time to reflect on her memories and talk about her love.

What shall we do today?

At Huntington House, no two people are the same, and no two days are the same. That’s why we say no to rotas, schedules and timetables and why informality, flexibility and spontaneity are so important to us all.

Visit or live with us, and you’ll never hear someone say, “I’m off to do 32”.  You or your loved one will remain a person, not a number, a human being deserving of dignity and respect who is positively encouraged to continue living a full and enjoyable life with our loving support.

“The home has been exemplary in its care for my father. On his recent death, the staff members seemed just as upset as I was! The management is caring and hands-on; its supervision instils a caring attitude, which is so much the ethos of Huntington House from every member of staff. We have seen the kindness and willingness to do anything they can. I would not hesitate to recommend Huntington House.” – Janet S

At the Huntington & Langham Estate, we provide luxury care across our two specialist care homes.   Family-owned and run, we offer dignified, compassionate and personalised care to our residents, giving them the nurturing support they need to continue living full, independent and meaningful lives.

We are Butterfly and Dragonfly accredited and both homes have a Care Quality commission Good rating.

To arrange a visit to the Estate and tour our homes and grounds, please call 01428 604 600 or complete this form.  

Love is in the care

The origins of Valentine’s Day

As with many traditions, there are several theories about the origin of Valentine’s Day. One version claims that Saint Valentine restored the sight of his jailer’s blind daughter and gave her a letter signed ‘Your Valentine’.

Valentine

Care with hope and love

The team at the Huntington & Langham Estate may not be able to restore people’s eyesight, but they regularly give similar gifts of independence, hope and love to people who need support in various aspects of their lives.

Giving people the freedom of feeling independent is a key part of the Butterfly approach to caring for people living with dementia in Langham Court where care works both ways. Care is not something that should be done to people, but rather an act of kindness that gives everyone a sense of purpose.

Crafting cards and arranging flowers to give as gifts is more than just a fun activity for Valentine’s Day, but an act of kindness that enables people living at Langham Court to care for others even when they need care themselves.

Hearts and craftsLove letters

 

How we beat the winter blues with crafts and baking

With the Christmas decorations taken down and Christmas cake all but crumbs in the tin, what better way to beat the winter blues than some craft making and baking.

Crafting and baking

Christopher had a great morning decorating some freshly made buns, whilst Graham and Sue wrapped up for a lovely walk around the estate in the warm winter sun.

Window decorations

Our colouful winter window display had the perfect backdrop of a snowy lawn outside of Huntington House, for residents using the lounge to enjoy a chat whilst continuing with their hobbies. Michael particularly enjoyed some colouring.

For more ideas to help relieve the winter blues take a look at our Art therapy activities ideas

A Musical Christmas

We have had a wonderful build up to the festive season with our resident musicians coming into Huntington House to entertain all our residents.

Tracey gave a great rendition of Rudolph the red nose reindeer which can been seen via this link – Christmas Music At Huntington House

Whilst Kevin took to the Piano in the restaurant and surrounded by all the wonderful decorations played Have a Merry Little Christmas, also available to watch here – Christmas Music At Huntington House2

Yuri our tenor completed the afternoon with festive carols, delighting the residents.

Music at Huntington House

 

 

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Preparations are underway for decorating the homes ready for Christmas.  With a number of visits to the local garden centre’s and potteries this month.

Bill and Alex went on a recce trip to scout out the lights and tinsel options, as well as a little gift shopping.Christmas Decorating

Mrs Lumley, Miss Wilmott, Veronica and Alex then took a trip to Grayshott Pottery to stock up with more new decorations and of course made time for some tea and cake!

Christmas Decorations

A visit to the Forest Lodge Garden Centre by Elizabeth, June, Veronica and Alex, means we now have a bumper selection of ideas and decorations ready to get the homes into the festive spirit.

Christmas decorations

Watch this space for pictures of how our wonderful homemakers transform the homes into the festive spirit.

Children in Need 2022

For BBC Children in Need this year, the team at Langham Court had a fabulous day in fancy dress costumes of their favourite characters, with delicious biscuits baked by our lovely homemaker Niki.

Everyone made a huge effort and we were all amazed at the transformation into character, with the lovely Natasha and Amanda as Alice in Wonderland characters, Elaine as a buzzy Bee, Paula as Mary Poppins and Bente as a Nun.

Children In Need 2022

Wendy brightened the day as a cheery Pineapple, whilst Abbey was showing off her flexibility in her Spiderman suite – all great fun!

Children In Need 2022 (1)

From the lovely Natasha and Amanda as Alice in Wonderland characters, Elaine as a buzzy Bee, Paula as Mary Poppins.  When Charlie arrived on The Firebolt, from wizarding world the resemblance to harry potter was uncanny!

Raising money for Children in Need was just the icing on the biscuit for the team who entertained the residents throughout the day.

Langham Court team for Children in Need

 

A day trip to RHS Garden Wisley

One of the benefits of our base in Hindhead is the easy access to some wonderful places for day visits.  RHS Garden Wisley is a firm favourite for residents Christine, Jennifer and Elizabeth, who enjoyed an early September trip accompanied by our Homemakers and Rich.

RHS Garden Wisley

We were delighted to see despite the hot dry summer that the mixed borders were as stunning as ever and following the recommended wheelchair route made our way around the grounds to the restaurant for a well deserved cup of tea and cake!

Reminiscing with Haslemere Museum

The residents had a wonderful morning learning and reminiscing about old household items brought along by Haslemere Museum.

Founded in 1888 by Sir Jonathan Hutchinson, the aim of the museum was to encourage learning through the handling of objects.  To this day that ethos remains and we are fortunate to have the team bring along artefacts for the residents to explore on a regular basis.

These reminiscence sessions are always thoroughly enjoyed by the residents of both Langham Court and Huntington House, sharing their knowledge and memories of the items being passed around.

Learning about household items of the past

 

A visit from Haslemere Museum

As a Dragonfly residential home here at Huntington House, we actively encourage our residents to take an active interest in their hobbies and explore new interests.

We were delighted to welcome the team from Haslemere Museum to Huntington House, to share with our residents a selection of beautiful shells from around the world, fossils and sea creatures.

Haslemere museum Haslemere Museum

Their fossil collection has over 20,000 specimens, mostly from England but with some from around the world including New Zealand, Scandinavia and North America.

Shell collection