Armagh care home recognised for specialist dementia care

Mahon Hall Care Home in County Armagh has achieved silver standard PEARL accreditation as a specialist dementia care provider, after staff successfully completed a rigorous training programme culminating in an unannounced inspection of the home.

PEARL (Positively Enhancing and Enriching Residents’ Lives) was developed by leading independent health and social care provider Four Seasons Health Care.

Since its introduction, studies of people in the PEARL programme showed a reduction averaging 48% in the requirement for antipsychotic medication, together with dramatic reductions in use of other medications to alleviate anxiety (40%) and induce sleep (44%). Most importantly, an increase in wellbeing was measured among 46% of people.

PEARL has made dramatic reductions in the need for medications to manage the symptoms and a corresponding improvement in the wellbeing of people with dementia

Maribeth Ritchie, Home Manager, commented: “We are proud to call ourselves a dementia care specialist now that we have achieved PEARL accreditation. The team at Mahon Hall is dedicated to providing the highest standard of care and our new silver standard status demonstrates this.”

The care programmes use a range of therapies including reminiscence therapy, sensory rooms and music therapy. The home is designed with consideration of the impact of light, colour, contrast, texture and sound to assist the residents to orientate themselves and create a balanced sensory stimulating environment.

The PEARL report can be viewed here: http://www.fshc.co.uk/binary/CFh.pdf