Blog

Introducing our new Elderly Care Club, OWLS Club (Older, Wiser, Loveable Souls). This club is dedicated to men and women aged 65 and over, 7 days a week at our care home. We provide a safe, inviting, therapeutic and enjoyable community, environment and program for adults who cannot stay at home alone. It also gives much needed and deserved support to family carers and allows them time to complete tasks or relax without the demands of caregiving.

This year we had two finalists for the Women Achieving Greatness in Social Care Awards. This was a big achievement for the Gables as we know how well-established this awards ceremony and only the best of the best get to the final! Ann, our Registered Manager was up for the Lifetime Achievement Award and Phillippa, our Operations Manager was up for the Business Woman of the Year Award. We are always so proud our all our team members and this is why we nominate them for their hard work! Read on to see how our trip to London went...

10 tips for healthy ageing

Our Awards night was held at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol and it was so wonderful to see so many other great Care companies alongside us. Our night was filled with laughter, prosecco and great food! We were accompanied by some familiar faces which were lovely to be reunited with people we hadn't seen for a long time. The entertainment was very good, we even had a silent disco in some parts of the evening which really got everyone involved, up and dancing! The awards team put on a fantastic night and everyone enjoyed themselves throughout the whole evening.

One of the most commonly asked questions people have when it is time for their loved one to move into residential care is what the difference between a care home and a nursing home is. Different types of care homes work differently and provide different levels of care. Sometimes, what people refer to as a ‘care home’ may in fact be a care home that only provides residential care, known as a residential care home. A residential care home is different from a nursing home. The main difference is that a nursing home always has a qualified nurse on-site to provide medical care. Both nursing homes and residential care homes provide care and support 24 hours a day, however, the main difference is that a nursing home is able to provide a higher level of care. Nursing homes have qualified nurses on-site around the clock to provide medical care as needed whereas residential homes help people with personal care and support them to engage in physical activity.

As a residential care home, we think it's so important to enter care awards annually so we can express to everyone how amazing our home is. It's also important to make our team aware of the amazing work they provide. Here's a list of the awards we are finalists for or have won this year so far!

There comes a sad time when we lose the ones we love, and it's so difficult to know how to handle this stage of our lives and deal with this grief. Whether you're dealing with grief yourself or helping someone else through a hard time, it's always useful to get some advice on how best to cope and what is normal. There are many feelings we may have when our loved ones die and each feeling is completely normal - it's your coping mechanism for grief. There is no timeline for how long grief lasts, or how you should feel after a particular time. These are some of the feelings you might have when you are coping with grief to begin with.

There are all sorts of care services available for the elderly, but how do we know which is right for us? Usually, as we get older we struggle to complete daily tasks as well as we used to, such as shopping, cleaning and cooking, there's only so much help we can get from family members and friends before it can be a bit of a burden on them to look after you 24/7. This is when you know it's time to look into care support. But what are the options?

Moving into a Care Home is a big decision and it can cost a lot of money. Before choosing a care home for you or someone you know, it's worth considering all of the options. Care homes can reduce the stress of looking after your health and care. This may help you focus on other things, like your social life and general wellbeing. Residential care homes provide living accommodation with 24-hour support and supervision, including help with personal care needs, meals and social activities. Nursing homes provide all of the above services, plus on-site medical care from a registered nurse.

Generally, as we get older, some of us will struggle to manage our daily tasks, especially when living alone. We will get tired more easily and lose mobility so that we cannot go out to do the food shop, or jump in the car to run some errands. You may even begin to struggle with personal care, this is the time when you need to look into assisted living with 24-hour care. It can be hard to know when the time is right for a person to move into a care home and who should make this decision if the person cannot make it themselves. A person with dementia will need more care and support as their condition progresses, and there may come a time when they will need to move into full-time or residential care.

During retirement, there may come a time when maintaining your current household just becomes too difficult. When the yard work and housecleaning become too much, or when you begin to struggle to get meals on the table, the obvious option many seniors consider is assisted living. Living on a cruise ship could be a lower-cost way for seniors to take advantage of similar amenities to those provided by assisted living facilities, like all-you-can eat meals, a swimming pool for low-impact exercise, regular companionship and entertainment, and even access to on-board doctors.

How to look after ageing skin ✨ Some of us may worry about how old we look or how many wrinkles we have on our face. We may feel a lot longer than we look, but what can we do about this? Here's a few handy tips..

Exercise is an important part of nearly everyone’s everyday health, including older adults. Experts say seniors should be staying fit and healthy for as long as possible to help improve happiness and quality of life. What are the benefits of maintaining regular exercise into your golden years?

The Queen's Jubilee at the Gables was a blast!! It was the first event we could hold where we could also include all of the residents' families and friends, as it was such lovely weather we were so lucky to be able to sit outside and enjoy the celebrations together, just like old times. We had entertainment from our favourite two singers, Frankie Johns and Dave Dean on Wednesday 1st June and Friday 3rd June. We always enjoy their company, they always put a smile on our residents' faces.

We've got some exciting news... 👑💂🏻 Over the course of each year, The Queen welcomes selected guests to spend a relaxed summer afternoon in the beautiful gardens of Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Garden Parties are an important way for The Queen to speak to a broad range of people from all walks of life, all of whom have made a positive impact in their community. AND WE'RE INVITED!!😱

MEET THE MANAGER ☕️ On Wednesday 16th March 9am-12pm we will be holding a coffee morning with our Care Home Manager, Ann at Hanham Methodist Church, Bristol, BS15 8SD to give people a chance to come along and talk all things care homes and elderly care and answer all the questions they may have. If you're wanting to know more information about the Gables Residential Care Home or just elderly care then come along, have some coffee & cake and get to know our Manager, Ann.

Here at the Gables, we provide elderly care for seniors aged 65+. We welcome everyone and treat them all like family, we treat our residents with our values of integrity, kindness and trust, coupled with our desire to provide a compassionate and dignified environment. To treat our residents as the advanced human beings they are. It is our honour to care for them.

Christmas time at the Gables is the most special time of year, we cosy up together in the living room, play lots of games and enjoy so much delicious food. It's been a difficult time of year for the past few years now where our residents haven't been able to spend time with their families as much as they would like. This has meant that our team has stepped up majorly to ensure our residents have the most cheerful Christmas they possibly can within Covid-19 restrictions. Our dedicated team work so hard to ensure the happiness and safety of the residents, we are truly grateful for each and every member of staff and all their hard work. We don't just celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day, we celebrate all month long

HELLO DECEMBER As the festive season comes around, it's time to be checking on our loved ones and make sure our elderly relatives are being well looked after. If you're finding it a struggle to look after your elderly relatives and find that they may need full-time care, it may be time to look for a Care Home. Our home in Bristol, the Gables Residential Home, provides around the clock care, our team are trained to provide quality care and skilled to assist any medical concerns or daily tasks they may need help with. Our home is filled with love and friendship, all of our current residents have formed wonderful friendships within each other which is so lovely to work with. As Christmas comes around, you may think it's not the right time to put your elderly relatives in full-time care, however, spending a day in our home could be the first step to introducing them into a Care Home, you can spend the day at our home and get to meet our full-time residents, take part in our daily activities (which this month will be Christmas themed) and indulge in lots of delicious food.

Over 300 senior executives filled the Imperial Suite of the National Conference Centre on Wednesday 13th October to celebrate their achievements in driving innovation and providing outstanding, person-centred care over the last 12 months. Registered managers, owners and directors were out in force at the event, along with the industry’s leading suppliers and chief executives from UK social care organisations. The event would not have been possible without our headline sponsor, Radar Healthcare, and our category sponsors Apetito, Beaucare, Care Planner, CoolCare, Fulcrum Care, NDGAI and ThirdAge.Design.

The past 18 months certainly haven't been easy, for our staff and especially for our residents. However, we have kept spirits high and our home safe during the pandemic, of course, we've had to take strong measures to keep the virus out and that has been hard on everyone. But, finally we're back to some sense of normality and our residents can now see their loved ones more frequently. We also had our booster jabs today for all of our residents so they now have an extra layer of security!

Being a small home with only 17 rooms, we are able to create a homely environment where strong relationships are built between the staff and residents, something you may not find in a larger home where the rotation of staff can be unpredictable.

We are delighted to announce that our registered manager Ann Aubrey has been shortlisted for the Leaders In Care Awards 2021 for the category "Registered Manager of the Year" 🎉 The awards ceremony will be a fantastic evening held at the NCC in Birmingham on 13th October and we're so excited to be attending, and it will be even better to see Ann win the award!🏆

Spend the day in great company with delicious home cooked food with entertainment/activities. Abandon loneliness, create strong friendships and just have fun! We're a family here at the Gables, and we always welcome others with open arms. Elderly care and happiness is our priority