Care staff’s voluntary massage training brings health and happiness

Home news

Mar 09, 2011

A visit to a spa may be a once-a-year treat for many, but for Forrester Court residents, spa treatments have improved their health and even enabled some to return home. Now, thanks to the dedication of staff, more residents at the nursing home are benefitting from the health-giving complementary therapy.

In 2010, the home, which includes a specialist unit for people as young as 40 who are experiencing dementia, opened a multi-sensory and body and mind massage room. Two members of staff gave their own time to train in massage therapy and colleagues were so impressed by the benefits to residents that they decided to take on the challenge of training - four more have recently qualified through Westminster Council.

Julius Adesanya, who qualified in 2010, said: “It has so many benefits. Residents with dementia become more relaxed and aware and residents with circulation and joint stiffness benefit from the massage.

“One lady was bed-bound when she came to the home but, with support from the team and lots of massage, we were able to get her out of bed, then into a chair and eventually into a wheelchair, which meant she was able to go back to her home.  There can be very little job satisfaction in the world that is better than that.”