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Enhancing home care with group activities
Engaging home care service users in group activities not only boosts well-being but also helps achieve better outcomes for those that take part. However, organising and managing group activities can be challenging for home care providers. Fortunately, IQ:caremanager’s activities module has revolutionised the way planning, delivering and monitoring how these experiences are conducted.
Benefits of group activities in home care
Taking part in activities together has profound effects on the mental, physical, and emotional well-being of care recipients. Engaging in social interactions and stimulating activities can alleviate loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Moreover, engaging together in shared experiences provides an opportunity for cognitive stimulation, promoting mental agility and overall brain health. It can also connect service users with meaningful cultural and social experiences that are important to them and their desired way of life.
Whether it is a weekly bingo activity, exercise classes, a coffee morning or a regular lunch period – group activities can be used to enhance the lives of care recipients.
Challenges faced by home care providers in implementing carer activities
Home care providers face various challenges when organising and implementing group activities. Logistical challenges such as scheduling carers, coordinating calendars, and limited resources may hinder the successful execution of these activities.
Role of group activity functionality in home care software
Activities functionality is available to all IQ:caremanager users. This solution offers a comprehensive set of features specifically designed to streamline the organisation and management of activities. From scheduling carers, inviting clients, tracking attendance, and invoicing attendee contracts correctly – group activities simplify the process and empower home care providers to create meaningful experiences for their clients.
Benefits of using the group session planner tool
Firstly, the software automates the hard work of organising and managing complex events. Using the scheduling technology present in the product, it is easy to invite clients and add activities to their care schedules.
The system automatically assesses the number of carers required to cover activities based on the attendees’ needs, ensuring that the correct ratio of clients to carers is always allocated for a safe event.
Moreover, carers can be assigned to cover various aspects of an event – whether they are rostered to cover the full period, turn up for a portion of the event, arrive early to set up or stay later to tidy up. This makes it possible to accurately audit event attendance and pay carers accurately for the time they have worked.
Events can easily be repeated to occur as and when the team is required and the same team of carers can be assigned to cover events automatically – helping care coordinators save time with their scheduling duties.
Finally, group activity functionality can be used in various ways to fulfil the needs of various home care services. Some of our Extra care clients use group activities to schedule lunch periods for their residents – allocating carers to set up, supervise and clean, but allowing clients to attend if they wish. Our partners that deliver waking or sleeping night care often use group activities to cover shifts where a carer might need to log notes or clock into a specific client if they have a disturbed night. The possibilities are endless!
Who can use group planning tools
Group planning tools can be used effectively by all different types of domiciliary care organisations – that provide services for:
- Learning & sensory disability
- Mental health and wellbeing support
- Reablement
- Extra care
- Case management teams
- Young people and children
- Dementia
- Retirement and elderly care
Group activities hold immense importance in home care settings, promoting socialisation, mental stimulation, and emotional support for care recipients. The introduction of group activities software has revolutionised the way home care providers organise and manage these activities. By embracing technology and leveraging group activities software, home care providers can enhance the care experience, improving the overall well-being and quality of life of their clients.