Photography, Identity and Complex Care at Heanton Nursing Home

Some people spend their lives searching for ordinary comforts like a favourite song on the radio, the warmth of a cup of tea or the sight of birds in the garden. Others spend their lives searching for the edge of the world.

Martin Baker was always drawn towards the latter.

Long before Martin moved into Heanton Nursing Home, he travelled across some of the world's most amazing places. Antarctica. Namibia. Morocco. India. The Arctic. Places filled with extraordinary wildlife, cultures and landscapes that few people ever witness with their own eyes.

His camera became more than something to take photographs with. It became how he understood the world around him.

Growing up, Martin developed a resilience that would shape the rest of his life. Diagnosed with diabetes at just nine years old, he faced challenges from an early age, yet those closest to him remember someone who persevered through almost everything life placed in front of him.

His family still affectionately describe him as a "daredevil". One of his favourite photographs captures a rhino charging directly towards him, while another unforgettable adventure took him aboard an icebreaker in Antarctica, where he spent three weeks camping in freezing conditions and travelling through waves reaching twenty feet high. While many around him became seasick, Martin somehow remained completely unaffected.

Even a serious car accident caused by a diabetic hypo became, in Martin's telling, another remarkable story. After crashing upside down into a tree, he walked away physically unharmed, something he still speaks about with pride.

Yet alongside his adventurous spirit there has always been sensitivity too. Despite being a smoker, Martin stopped smoking completely throughout his time in Antarctica because he did not want to pollute the untouched environment he had travelled so far to experience.

Today, Martin lives at Heanton Nursing Home with bipolar disorder and changing cognitive needs. There are moments when frustration can rise if he loses the words he wants to say, but the team understand that these moments are not something to correct. They are often an expression of emotion, confusion or the distress of losing hold of a thought that mattered.

Rather than drawing attention to what Martin cannot remember, conversations are gently guided back towards the parts of his life that continue to bring him confidence.

Today, his photographs from those journeys cover the walls of his room. Wildlife frozen in single moments of intensity. Memories captured from a life lived with enormous curiosity and determination.

When the team sit with Martin and begin talking about his photography, they often notice an immediate change in him.

"You can see him light up," one member of the team shared.

Alongside those conversations are the familiar comforts that make each day his own: a strong coffee in the morning, cigarettes throughout the day, naps whenever he feels tired and time spent walking around the home chatting with those around him. There is no expectation for Martin to fit into somebody else's routine.

At Heanton Nursing Home, complex care is about understanding the person behind the diagnosis. It is about recognising what brings comfort, confidence and connection, while protecting the identity that has been built over a lifetime.

For Martin, that identity still lives in the stories of his travels, the extraordinary wildlife he photographed and the adventures that continue to shape the conversations he enjoys today.

To read the whole story:  Photography, Identity and Complex Care at Heanton Nursing Home - Heanton Nursing Home

Evolve Care Group Invites Over 500 Team Members to Training Academy

Evolve Care Group recently delivered their latest in-person training for team members across their homes in their Bristol-based training academy (Evolve Care Academy).

The group has care homes across Devon, Somerset and South Wales, offering a place to call home to people living with a varying range of needs, from dementia and complex care to residential and respite support.

The training sessions ran across four days so that all team members from the homes were able to take part.

The training covered a wide range of learning, including Evolve’s practice frameworks, shaped around the work of Thomas Kitwood and Carl Jung, dementia-friendly language, clinical knowledge, and ways to build connection with people living at the home who may find communication or engagement more difficult because of their cognitive journeys.

In one exercise from the day, small bags containing five random objects were placed on each table around the training room. Team members were invited to take out one item at a time and create a story inspired by it with the rest of the group.

The exercise encouraged creativity and storytelling as a way of connecting with others, using everyday objects as a jumping off point for conversation. The stories could be personal memories, stories heard from others, or completely imagined. What mattered most was the act of sharing and creating something engaging.

For people living with a Dementia or are on a cognitive journey, being asked direct questions can sometimes feel overwhelming or confusing. But if a story is being shared, it may evoke recognition or familiarity and encourage sharing of their own life experiences.

Something as simple as picking up a beach towel and talking about a sunny holiday in Spain may encourage someone else to speak about their own experiences of travelling, holidays or time spent with loved ones, bringing comfort, familiarity and positive feelings into the conversation.

Another part of the training included exploring a number of simulated environments built within the training room. Bedrooms, living rooms and dining rooms were set up as examples of inviting and colourful environments that encouraged stimulation, alongside environments which felt uninviting, dull or institutional, to show the impact and importance of creating spaces that feel positive, homely, engaging and personal.

Eve Carder, Clinical Lead of Evolve Care Group shared, ‘We are not creating institutions, we are creating homes, places of safety, of creativity and hopefully magic.’

Established in 2015, the groups care academy was born out of a realisation that outsourcing e-learning alone was not enough to upskill teams to provide the emotional support needed for individuals living in Evolve’s care homes.  Recognising the limitations of standalone digital learning, Evolve embraced a holistic approach that combines e-learning with interactive face-to-face courses and hands-on experience gained through understanding the lived experiences of people living in their homes.

To read more about training, learning and development provided by Evolve Care Group in their Evolve Care Academy, visit https://www.evolvecareacademy.com/