What is Christmas Like at a Care Home?

For many people, Christmas is a magical and joyful time of year. Christmas music, mulled wine, and, of course, delicious pigs in blankets are enough to get them into the festive spirit!

Care homes recognise that Christmas can be a challenging time for some residents who lack family to share the day with. Therefore, care home staff make a great effort to involve all residents in celebrating the Christmas spirit, ensuring they are surrounded by joy and laughter on Christmas Day.

We all have different ideas of what our ideal Christmas Day involves, and care homes take this into account when organising festivities for their residents. Often, staff members will talk with their residents to discover their individual preferences so they can customise Christmas Day to suit everyone. Despite being under the same roof, care homes aim to ensure that each resident has a Christmas that they enjoy, whether that means breakfast in bed or watching their all-time favourite Christmas films!

What can Care Homes do to help residents enjoy the build-up to Christmas?

• Care homes often organise assisted shopping trips for their residents. Residents are likely to have family members and friends they wish to buy Christmas presents for, but their health prevents them from doing so independently. Residents may also value the help of their Caregivers with gift ideas; there's nothing like a second opinion, right?
• Sending Christmas cards to friends and family has long been a tradition and is a wonderful way to stay connected with loved ones. As people grow older, writing Christmas cards may become more difficult. Care homes recognise this and are pleased to offer their residents help with writing and sending Christmas cards.
• Care home staff can help residents use video chat to stay connected with family members who live far away or abroad during the Christmas period.
• Staff members will willingly help residents attend events if they are able. Living in a care home does not mean saying goodbye to cherished Christmas traditions such as attending church services or local Christmas fairs.

Care Home Christmas activities

Every care home will have a unique selection of festive activities available to residents during the lead-up to Christmas. Activity Coordinators will ensure that there is something for all of their residents to enjoy. Here are some examples of activities which may be held at care homes:

Crafts

• One of the activities that you can expect to see on the activities planner is Christmas card making. Everyone enjoys receiving a Christmas card, and receiving one which has been handmade especially for you is even better!
• Another popular activity around Christmas time is wreath making. Residents may have fond memories of the wreath they used to hang on their door each year as a younger person which they can recreate for the door of their room at the care home.
• Christmas decorations come in all shapes and styles, from baubles to mini knitted stockings. Some tree decorations are even edible! Care homes will undoubtedly have an activity where their residents can get creative.

Themed baking

• Mince pies are greatly associated with Christmas so what better recipe to bake at the care home! The smell of mince pies cooking in the oven may be nostalgic for some residents.
• For those who are not quite so able but have a passion for baking, decorating gingerbread houses could be on the cards. Supermarkets often sell kits where the gingerbread pieces have been made ready to construct with icing & smarties!

Interactive activities

Music

Care homes are often inundated with performers wishing to entertain their residents with sing-alongs, so they will no doubt have Christmas tunes sounding around their homes. There may also be a care home choir that residents can join and attend regularly. There's no better way to get into the Christmas spirit than with a bit of Christmas music.

Nativity Play

Over the Christmas period, local schools may visit the care home to perform a nativity play or to simply put a smile on the residents' faces by spending time with them. You may be familiar with the heartwarming Channel 4 programme 'Old People's Home for 4 Year Olds', which showed the undeniable benefits of young children spending time with care home residents. Since this programme was aired, many care homes have invited schools into their home to spend time with their residents.

Animal Therapy

According to UCLA, Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) has multiple benefits for older people's mental and physical health. They say that "The simple act of petting animals releases an automatic relaxation response." Many care homes welcome AAT, including Woodspring House in Fakenham, Norfolk. According to the BBC, they recently had a visit from Jack the Shetland pony and his handler Ali Stearn, who have been visiting care homes "to bring festive joy to residents and raise money for dementia charities." (see video below). If you would like to find out how emotional support dogs can be trained to support care home residents, check out BetterPet's fully accessible guide.

Example of Christmas Day at a Care Home:

Morning

On Christmas Day, the doors are opened to residents' friends and relatives and to those who don't have anyone to spend Christmas with. Everyone is welcome; the more, the merrier!

9 am The day starts with being served a glass of your favourite beverage in bed.

9:30 am Would you prefer breakfast in bed or with peers in the communal breakfast room? The choice is yours! The chefs have considered everyone's requests, and so fluffy pancakes with cranberry compote & delicious baked eggs with smoked salmon are both on the breakfast menu.

10:30 am Christmas is all about spending time with family & friends so everyone joins together by the Christmas tree in the shared lounge where staff and residents exchange presents - be assured that no one will be left out!

11 am Those who wish to attend a Christmas church service will have the option of attending a local service assisted by staff, or they may wish to stay at the care home, where a lovely church service will be held in one of the communal rooms. For everyone else, an array of activities such as board games will be going on around the home.

Afternoon

12:00 pm Christmas lunch is served, and it's not one to be missed; pigs in blankets, chestnut stuffing and homemade cranberry sauce. For those who do not have much of an appetite, smaller plates will be provided. The tables are decorated beautifully with Christmas crackers containing those cheesy jokes we all love and colourful party hats.

12:45 pm Do you have a sweet tooth? If so, you are in luck. For dessert, Christmas pudding and black forest gateau will be served with a choice of cream, ice cream, or custard.

1:00 pm Whilst your scrumptious meal is going down, a range of light activities including a sing-along, Christmas movies, board games will be going on for everyone to join in with as they wish. The care home understands that all the excitement can be tiring for some of their residents so will be on hand to help anyone to their bedrooms for an afternoon kip at any point.

3:00 pm The King's speech will be shown on TV at 3 pm on Christmas Day. Residents will be able to watch in the comfort of their rooms if they have a TV or in one of the communal lounges, depending on their preference. Of course, the famous English cup of tea will also be available with a biscuit or two!

Evening

5:oo pm After a heavy Christmas lunch, the menu for the evening is lighter with a wide selection of crackers, cheese and chutneys amongst other buffet-style foods, not forgetting the mince pies that the residents helped to make the previous day!

6:oo pm After a day full of joy and excitement, it's time to begin winding down with the Christmas specials we all look forward to on TV.

7:oo pm Residents begin to say their goodbyes to family & friends for the night and gradually head off to bed after a glass of Bailey's on ice!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!