Improving Eating Times at Turning Point Services

At the Refocus Day Centre, individuals with a variety of complex needs and learning difficulties are cared for including mental health, sensory and complex health needs.

Karen tells us the Happiness Programme has “made such a difference”. They use it for people who tend to isolate themselves. We asked Karen to tell us a few nice stories about individuals at her service and the different games they use.

“The biggest impact was a young lady who had broken her shoulder and was very reluctant to do any of her physio. What we did notice that she was quite happy to stretch across to table to pop balloons or brush leaves and catch fish. So that was all we needed her to do: stretch her arms, so without her realising she was doing a bit of physio… which was amazing.”

“The other things we’ve done is, we’ve got people with quite challenging behaviour at times so we’ve used it to calm them before they go off baseline- we’ve used the train ride, we put it on the side wall so he can see the train and feel like he’s on the train. He’s had a few sessions on that, and he absolutely loves it. We kind of prepare him with the Interactive Projector. We use it for quizzes, even though the people we support don’t have the capacity to understand, they love to be social and interact with each other. Table Football… the Puzzles… the Piggybank is quite a favourite… the Bursting Balloons and the Paint Splats. Fireworks during November is always very good. The Snakes and Ladders and Pond Fishing is great. For a lot of the guys, it’s the first time they get to see something like that. Families don’t tend to have fish tanks in the house due to the safety. So, we use it for fun whilst they’re interacting and forming bonds- which is lovely to see.” 

“The Valentine’s petal game that is new, they really enjoy it. The food one during Christmas, we have a gentleman who gets easily distracted and needs support with feeding- he can nicely be distracted by the food on the Interactive Projector, whilst he can still be supported with feeding. As he’s still socialising and focusing on his meals, which is great.”

“The guys also like Karaoke, as well as the staff. We’ve discovered that people like using the Elvis music- a few Elvis fans in the building. We now keep it on in the sensory room whilst they come in and listen to Elvis so that’s a bonus. There’s a lot of things we use on there! Invaluable to our service.”

And when asked about any final points she’d like to make, Karen told us:

“Oh my gosh, I would absolutely recommend The Happiness Programme. It’s so portable, easy to move from one room to another. It’s amazing. When I go in first thing in the morning, I turn it on, so when the people we support come in and it’s the first thing they hear, they know they’re in a safe space.”