Care Settings
Care settings include residential homes and day centres for vulnerable elderly people, people with physical disabilities and people with learning difficulties. A number of Transformation Fund projects were based in such settings, or included learners from care settings alongside learners in the community.
Examples included:
- Projects in care homes for the elderly - CHANT project
- Projects in day centres for elderly people and people with dementia - Artsdepot
- Projects which engaged a range of groups in the community and, as part of their commitment to inclusivity, included opportunities for people in care settings to take part - Mining Durham's Hidden Depths; Canterbury Museum
See also the pages for older learners, learners with physical disabilities and learners with learning difficulties.
Taking learning opportunities into care settings brought the following benefits for the participants, their families and for care workers:
- Participants were able to gain new skills, including ICT skills which kept them in touch with the outside world.
- Projects with a reminiscence element for elderly people reconnected them with memories and experiences which enriched their lives.
- Care workers became aware of unrealised potential in their clients, and gained new inspiration for learning activities that clients could take up.
- Care workers also gained new skills to engage their clients in learning.
- Family members found that their quality of life improved as elderly relatives suffering from dementia regained some abilities, if only temporarily: "At home it's like having a gremlin in the house. She screams at me and calls me all sorts. It's stressful and depressing. But she'll come to Limelight and sing. It's like having my old mum back for the afternoon." (Daughter of participant in the Artsdepot project).
Intergenerational projects benefited from having elderly people from care settings involved. A project developing 'story sacks' for young families engaged elderly and disabled people attending a day centre. The elderly people recorded traditional stories onto CD and used their craft skills to develop the 'story sacks'. Their skills and experience were valued by the young families and they gained opportunities to learn new skills as well. (Canterbury Museum)
Partnership working between the care setting and the learning provider is key to a successful informal learning project. Each partner needs to be clear about their responsibilities and their contributions. It's important to:
- find out what skills learners in care settings may be able to contribute to others, as well as what skills they want to learn;
- consider practical issues, such as shift patterns, which may make it difficult for care staff to make a regular commitment to being involved in facilitating learning sessions; and
- think about providing training for care staff so they can support their clients in practising their skills between timetabled sessions, to reinforce learning.
With an ageing population and an increasing number of people living into the "fourth age" (over 75) where physical and mental vulnerability become more prevalent, learning opportunities in care settings will become increasingly important.
Recent research has begun to demonstrate a range of measurable benefits from introducing informal learning to care homes for the elderly, including reduced need for medication and incontinence pads, and improved sleeping patterns. Such benefits can save money and reduce the stress on carers as well as enhancing the quality of life of the participants. A range of materials are being developed to support managers of care homes and learning providers to work together to expand learning opportunities for residents.
Web Links
Enhancing informal learning in care settings
NIACE research results and resources to support informal learning in care homes and day centres
