Advinia Residents enjoy reminiscing with Our Yesterday activity initiative

Residents at all Advinia Health Care Homes are getting the chance to take an enjoyable walk down memory lane thanks to the roll-out of nostalgic activity initiative Our Yesterday.

As part of their Our Yesterday package, Homes are sent bi-weekly newsletters and activities, online videos, quizzes, memory boxes, monthly calendars and online bingo games.

The material helps Residents to connect with their history through a myriad of different cultural and historical touchpoints, detailed throughout the newsletters and online platform.

Advinia Home teams can use the Our Yesterday material to spark conversations, group activities or to help families engage with their loved ones.

George Dewis, Wellbeing & Engagement Lead at Advinia, said that the response to Our Yesterday across the Homes has been overwhelmingly positive.

George said: “Our Homes love it because there are so many ways to bring people together to enjoy a chat or participate in activities.

“The social aspect of the quizzes and bingo is great for Residents, and the bi-weekly newsletters mean they always have something to talk about.

“For Residents living with dementia, the Our Yesterday initiative can have a hugely positive impact because the music, films and news stories may bring back memories. The feedback has been fantastic.”

Another benefit of the Our Yesterday initiative is that it provides a way for relatives and loved ones to connect and engage with Residents.

George said: “We encourage family members to read the newsletters too because they are a great conversation starter with Residents.

“There are so many little bits of information that spark off conversations that lead off in all sorts of different directions.

“Keeping the conversation going can sometimes be challenging, so this is a great resource for families to use with Residents.”

While the benefit of the group activities is evident, George also says that Colleagues have been using the Our Yesterday material with Residents who prefer not to socialise in larger groups.

George added: “Our Residents can use the material in the way that suits them best, and that can sometimes mean reading and digesting things on their own.

“Quite often, we can screen films that are mentioned in the newsletter either in the lounge areas or on tablet devices, so everyone can enjoy watching a classic movie in their preferred surroundings.”