Giving comfort during coronavirus - the Midsomer Norton care home making isolation more fun
By Susie Watkins
10th Jun 2020 | Local News
A surprise delivery at Midsomer Norton's Lynwood House is helping residents with learning and physical disabilities adjust to the coronavirus lockdown.
Staff at the Lynwood Close care home, run by Voyage Care, knew that lockdown restrictions would present a challenging time for the residents they support.
"Not only were residents unable to go out as normal," explained a Voyage Care spokesman, "but staff using PPE affected them as so much of their communication relies on reading facial expressions.
"Any changes to someone's appearance can have a real impact on someone that relies on information visually.
"The staff team got together to come up with some ideas to make the time in lockdown as happy and as fun as possible and identified the need to give everyone something to focus on." After researching ideas, the Lynwood House team came across the Incredible Eggs company, which provides hatching kits for chicks or ducklings - with the option of keeping some or all of them. Staff kept the plan under wraps and residents didn't find out about the special delivery until the day it arrived.Louise Simmons, Acting Manager, said, "Everyone was so excited!
"No one got much done the first three days we were so busy watching the eggs."Then one morning all of the ducklings started to hatch and by the evening we had seven baby ducklings.
"It was incredible to watch and so exciting to see how our residents reacted, everyone seemed to forget what was going on outside.
"This also included all the staff: it took their minds off of what was happening too.
"For residents, the time away from their family and friends has been a real struggle, not being able to touch or hug their families was really hard for everyone.
"But the ducklings liked being cuddled and snuggled and it has been so lovely to see the impact these fluffy little ducklings have had on everyone.
"I don't think our residents - who are all usually so active in the community - would have managed as well without them.
"The ducks have changed the way they are dealing with isolation: it's made it enjoyable."
The residents named the ducklings, hatched at the end of April, and Lynwood House has kept four of the feathered friends.
The quartet live in the care home's garden where both staff and residents share the responsibility of caring for them.
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