Care homes provide medical and physical care for disabled or older adults. But they can offer a lot more than that. Many care homes and retirement villages offer multiple forms of therapies to promote well-being and are also a great way to help people stimulate their brains.
Holistic and creative therapies
1. Animal therapy
Spending time with animals can bring a lot of joy to someone’s day. It also has a lot of physical benefits, including reducing stress levels and providing a balanced emotional state. Loneliness is an issue in care homes, especially if someone’s family lives far away and can’t visit regularly. Spending time with an animal provides companionship and the opportunity to socialize.
Animal therapy also coincides closely with cuddle therapy – a physically therapeutic process of platonic contact with a person or animal. Cuddling a gentle dog can evoke feelings of happiness, love, safety, and calmness, which can stay with someone for some time after their experience with a furry friend.
2. Creative therapy
Creative therapy can include music and art therapy. Both are ways of expressing yourself and sharing ideas creatively with others. They can be profoundly beneficial both mentally and physically.
Music therapy involves healing through sound frequencies or making music with a group of people, proven to reduce stress and muscle tension and lower blood pressure. The joy of sound therapy is that people can do it alone, one-to-one, or as a group.
Art therapy can be a great way to express feelings that feel difficult to talk about, or just as a fun activity!
Physical and practical therapies
1. Speech therapy
Sometimes, people in care homes struggle to speak. This could be due to their age or a medical condition. It can be very distressing and frustrating, but speech therapy aims to support people through this challenge and help them to speak clearly. This can be especially important for people who have also lost physical mobility, as their means of communicating are severely limited if they struggle to talk or swallow.
2. Gentle yoga
Yoga does not have to be strenuous and can be an excellent exercise for older people. It encourages mental well-being through breathing exercises and physical strength and flexibility. Lots of evidence suggests that yoga can also help reduce anxiety, stress, and depression, which can significantly benefit the life of someone struggling with their health or being in a care home.
3. Physical therapy
Physical therapy can take many forms but is focused on helping you move your body better and elevate any physical pain you might experience. Physical therapy can include massages, exercises, stretches, or finding ways to improve movement and balance. This is a widespread form of treatment in care homes, as many residents experience chronic illnesses, injuries, or reduced mobility due to the natural aging process.
Geriatric physical therapy targets older adults whose muscles no longer work as they used to. A physical therapist in a care home setting can teach a resident how to compensate for any weakened muscles, improve their posture, and hopefully prevent future injuries.
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