TUESDAY 25 JANUARY - Dementia workshop and drumming for the brain

The blog has been inactive for a week due to some technical difficulties. Hopefully these are now resolved.

Last Tuesday we welcomed a visitor to Somerset Care. Robert Chamberlain, Editor in Chief of Care Management Matters spent the morning with the company and was able to join me at the managers Dementia Workshop organised by Jane Lynch.


The workshop was an important opportunity for managers of our homes with specialist dementia services to share best practice ideas and to update on developments and innovation in care and support provision.


One idea being shared was the use of hand bells for music making.
Highlight of the day was a demonstration of therapeutic hand drumming by Sharon Stone. Sharon runs her own company "Organic Rythm" from her base near Yeovil.

The demonstration showed the powerful potential of drumming as an enjoyable and stimulating activity for people with dementia. It was one of the traditional activities I encountered amongst First Nation communities on my recent visit to Canada and I was delighted to discover an expert local practitioner in Sharon.

I hope we will see drumming introduced as an activity in our homes. My thanks to Sharon for the demonstration. Further details at:
www.organicrythm.co.uk

Location:Calway House