Recommended by over 90% of subscribers
Recommended by over 90% of subscribers
We spoke with Gareth to hear about all the positivity the Happiness Programme has been bringing to Ambleside Lodge, a residential home supporting 6 people with learning disabilities.
“The games have definitely been beneficial for her health and wellbeing.”.
Gareth told us a lovely story about one of the residents they support at Ambleside Lodge, who is hard to motivate to be active or stand up. He says since they have used the Happiness Programme she has been much more active and she enjoys the painting games, especially the Gaelic category and the church stained-glass windows.
“The Happiness Programme creates a bond between the people we support.”
The resident who has benefited most from the painting games doesn’t have the same mobility as other residents, so Gareth tells us how it encourages them to work together. He says the more able resident paints the top of the painting and the less able resident paints the rest, “creating a better friendship and bond between the people they support”. They use the painting games on the walls, the star gaze games in the evening and the air hockey game on the floor.
“The more and more The Happiness Programme was used, the more he was interested.”
One resident’s main activity that he enjoys includes going for a drive. When there are no drivers on shift it can be detrimental to his personal health as he becomes distressed and inflicts harmful injuries to himself. After being recommended to show him the Happiness Programme, he initially just observed from a distance but the more it was used, the more he was interested. This has helped with his distress when not able to do his usual activities.
“It helps motivate people to follow their cultural beliefs.”
One person they support was declining going to church. To motivate her, they tried YouTube and other social media videos but nothing worked. After introducing the stained-glass window game, she’s attended Sunday Mass and she thoroughly enjoyed it. Gareth says “that’s down to the Happiness Programme.”.
“100% helps with socialisation.”
Although before residents were content in the same room but didn’t interact, not they are happy to play games with each other. Gareth says this is especially great because they’re non-verbal, so it’s a way in which they can communicate with each other.
A last quote from Gareth:
“The main bit is the diversity of the people we support. We have six people, all with different beliefs, different cultures and they are all none verbal and have different needs. Quite a few of the needs are challenging behaviours but the Happiness Programme definitely helps building bonds and friendships between them. So, the behaviours have definitely slowed down and I think the projector is doing a wonderful job. The team should be proud of themselves.”
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