Swansea research team publishes booklet of care home ‘magic moments’

A booklet published by Swansea University seeks to highlight the ‘magic moments’ that happen in care homes that very often go under the radar.

All too often media publicity around care homes is negative and the project, from the School for Social Care Research at Swansea University, seeks to redress the balance.

The Older People’s Commissioner, Sarah Rochira, said: “The ‘magic moments’ in this booklet provide real life examples of how small things, such as enabling a resident to assist in the kitchen, can give individuals a sense of value and purpose, as well as providing reassurance that they matter and still have something valuable to share.

“The satisfaction of contributing, however small it may seem to us, can have a big impact upon residents’ lives,” she added.

Nick Andrews, a research and practice development officer at Swansea’s Social Care Research school, said: “The idea of this ‘magic moments’ booklet came out of the Health Care Research Wales funded Developing Evidence Enriched Practice (DEEP) project work. More often than not, media attention about care homes is focused on the things that have gone wrong, rather than the many things that have gone right. This booklet seeks to address this.

“It contains 50 ‘magic moments’ in care homes, which might have otherwise passed unnoticed. The DEEP project has found that when these short ‘magic moment’ stories are shared and discussed, they encourage and inspire others to create their own ‘magic moments’ in ways that care plans, rules and regulations never could. I hope others will find this booklet helpful in supporting celebration, learning and development within care homes,” he added.

Download a copy of the booklet here: MagicMoments_PDF