Supporting meal times and calming residents at the Refocus Day Centre

The Refocus Day Centre supports people with learning difficulties and complex needs. Individuals have a variety of needs; mental health, sensory and complex health needs.

Karen told us about one young lady who had broken her shoulder and was very reluctant to doing any physio for recovery. They discovered however, that she was happy to play with the interactive projector and stretch across the table to pop balloons, brush leaves and catch fish, so they set this up as her physio, which Karen describes as “amazing”.

She also told us they use the Happiness Programme to calm the people they support “before they go off baseline”. They use train ride, projecting on the wall so residents can pretend to be on a train ride. They use the quizzes, the puzzles, the football, the piggy bank game, balloon pop and holi sensory colour. They also use seasonal games, like firework in November for Bonfire Night or the Valentine’s petals on Valentine’s Day. Karen says for a lot of the people they support at the Refocus Day Centre, they’ve never seen anything like a fish tank due to safety issues at home, so they use pond fishing and the fish tank sensory videos for a fun activity to encourage interaction and she says the residents definitely form bonds as a result “which is lovely to see.”.

There is also a resident at the Refocus Day Centre who is easily distracted and needs support during meal times, and by using the games on the interactive projector he can be positively distracted and supported during feeding times. It also encourages him to be social whilst he focusses on his meals, which Karen describes as “great”. 

There is also a lady who stays half an hour later after closing times, due to parents’ needs. Karen tells us she likes to sit and listen to the radio on the interactive projector, on our own to finish her day.

“It’s quite a nice way for her to calm before she goes home”.