Guild Care: Health and wellbeing co-ordinators help Guild Care residents to celebrate World Book Day in Worthing

It was World Book Day on March 3 and Guild Care celebrated this across all of our care homes. Haviland House, our specialist dementia care home, even hosted a very special guest.

One of our residents, Betty, frequently tells me about freelance author, editor, and publisher Caroline Taggart, who has been one of her best friends for many decades.

Caroline often travels down from London to visit Betty and always brings signed books with her. Betty proudly displays her good friend’s books and says that they ‘help keep the brain ticking over’.

Last week, Caroline shared her new release, Humble Pie and Cold Turkey, a fascinating look into the origins of some of the words and phrases we use most often.

As Haviland House’s health and wellbeing co-ordinator, I have used Caroline’s books for many years in my activity groups and so I was thrilled to meet the lady herself. Caroline even bought me an extra signed copy of her newest book, which I will treasure.

See also: See how schools in Worthing celebrated World Book Day 2022

Every one of Guild Care’s care homes has its own health and wellbeing co-ordinator, and organising activities for special occasions, such as World Book Day, is just a small part of our role.

Keeping mentally and physically active during day-to-day life is incredibly important for our residents and this is where being a dedicated health and wellbeing co-ordinator really does make a difference. As co-ordinators, we all lead a variety of activities, ranging from arts and crafts, baking and read-alongs to gentle physical workouts and non-denominational services on Sundays.

Studies show that giving the brain a mental workout is just as important as daily physical exercise, particularly as you age. Continually giving your mind new ideas to grasp and challenges to work on are some of the best ways to stay alert and promote brain health. As with so many age-related issues, prevention is key, and keeping the brain active is a welcome part of our daily routine.

See also: See how Worthing is celebrating World Book Day

Having a wide range of group activities can also be vital in preventing loneliness. We know that feelings of isolation have been particularly prevalent in the last few years, so my colleagues and I have made it our mission to ensure that all of our residents feel included as part of the Guild Care family.

The beginning of March means that spring is just around the corner and the improving weather opens up a wealth of new outdoor activities to keep our family members active and engaged. I for one know that our residents are already planning activities and will certainly be putting their gardening gloves on soon. This is one of our most popular activities which our residents look forward to all year round.

Guild Care is a registered charity and care provider that has been serving Worthing since 1933. For more information on our services, or to find out if we could support you or a loved one, please visit our website at www.guildcare.org or follow us on social media to keep up to date with more stories like these ones.

See also: Worthing childminders celebrate 20 years of support group Magic Minders

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