Podcasts

 Thing 10 – Podcasts

I searched through the world of Podcasts until I came across ‘The Road to Outstanding’ – a podcast for care leaders. The Podcast featured an interview with Samantha Buckley who is an Activities Coordinator at the Boynes Care Centre in Worcestershire. Last year, she won The Carer Magazine award for ‘Unsung Hero’.

The interview was carried out with the intention of understanding more about what an activities coordinator does, how they get the most out of their job and how the sector could attract more people like Samantha. https://theroadtooutstanding.podbean.com/e/samantha-buckley-award-winning-activities-coordintor

The interview was a great source of information covering a range of topics from the details of the activities coordinator’s role in each setting, to the needs that we aim to meet for our service users. Samantha shares resources and advice on how she structures her activities and her evidence recording methods. I picked up some useful tips to improve my practice such as using more detailed planners and creating monthly activity reports for relatives to view if required.

Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular, they are easy to access, easy to use and easy to implement in your setting. Personally, I think that Podcasts can truly support my learning and practice as they offer a way to implement cognitive activities in the comfort of the service users’ own rooms.

Armchair Adventures is a series of Podcasts that I have decided to utilise in my setting and I feel that it could play a vital role in improving our practice.

https://audioboom.com/posts/7683004-welcome-to-armchair-adventures

Armchair Adventures are seen as being a podcast and activity pack. It is designed to stimulate the user’s imagination. Each episode is’ inspired by people’s personal experiences and the group expresses that through drama, music, song and movement’ while encouraging your service users to participate and contribute. Armchair Adventures are a great way to stimulate residents to really use their imaginations to create a journey of their own. They provide me with an opportunity to implement a sensory activity that meets the cognitive development needs of my service users, they are also a great way to support group activity in my setting which is required on a weekly basis.

With a Podcast like this, you are guided through your activity while you support your residents, each episode offers you a new idea for an imaginative journey that you can take with you and recreate with other service users so each episode is a learning experience in itself. Podcasts are so easy to utilise that I think they could be a really positive recourse to have in care homes. When internet supported devices are available in units, it would be easy for staff to accommodate the use of Podcasts in the setting without relying on activities staff to be present so therefore I can ensure that stimulation is offered on a continuous basis.

 

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