Bringing Vibrant Health within the scope of geriatric practice aims to prevent or slow down degenerative processes such as dementia and anti-social behaviour, as well as other osteopathic, nutritional and physiological deteriorations that frequently come to accompany old-age.
Method:
The primary goal is education – to raise the standard of British care homes and implement a new lifestyle for geriatric inhabitants, teaching a positive philosophy enriched with healthy habits.
What do we mean when talking about a positive philosophy? It is a culture of health consciousness and awareness in taking an independent approach to one’s life, surrounding oneself with an individually crafted environment that facilitates health and happiness. This can be done in a number of ways such as some of the following;
Highly nutritious food can center around ‘Fun Food’ which includes Nutritious food, Beautiful food and Soul food like Hippocrates soup, also implementing sessions with ‘Help from Nature’ where inhabitants learn about effective juicing and supplementation.
Organising regular sessions that facilitate a more proactive use of mind and body shouldn’t be restricted to weekly Bingo sessions, but should take a creative element. As well as encouraging greater social interaction, bringing in regular light physical exercise like stretching, walking or ballroom dancing are excellent methods for an elderly individual to feel happy, healthy and fulfilled.
Social interaction is a key element to living a satisfying and fulfilling life, e.g. prompting communication and conversations, sharing jokes, watching movies etc. Other ‘Mental Gym’ activities can be introduced in a more creative way such as initiating group discussions about current events and history, or various takes on games, puzzles, quizzes and crosswords. One approach could incentivise elderly people to playfully compete toward taking a more active charge of their health.
It is necessary to involve the education of staff in a similar fashion, for better quality of work satisfaction and ability to engage in a better dynamic with those they are caring for. The VH project hopes to deliver a message that can engage carers to a more well-rounded schedule for geriatric inhabitants, which not only stimulates positivity, but also boosts preventative and regenerative health care with minimal costs.
Dealing with standardised means of treating ‘health’ and correct ‘health and safety’ regulations (such as holding an NVQ qualification) is not always enough. Compassion, understanding and social care innovation needs to be applied generally – not just in private practice.
