Care at Moorehall Lodge Balbriggan
Moorehall Lodge Balbriggan offers a team of medical experts and services to look after the care of our residents. These include Nurses, GP, Physiotherapist, Occupational therapists, Speech & Language therapists, Dietitians. We provide pharmacy, chiropody, optical, dental, mobile x-ray, 24 hour Dr on Call services. We also work with Palliative care teams as appropriate.
Moorehall Lodge Balbriggan also offer the residents a list of social care activities that will assist them mentally and physically as well as activities that they will enjoy.
In house services
GP
We have an in house GP operating out of Virtue Medical. This is our own GP service specialising in medicine for the older person. This GP is solely dedicated to look after residents living in Moorehall Lodge. Access to GP care for our residents is unrivalled, with all residents being proactively monitored.
Physiotherapy
We have our own in house physiotherapist service. All residents receive an initial baseline assessment on admission, physio review post fall, and weekly group physio classes. One to one physio available to residents who wish to avail of this service at an additional cost.
Types of care
At Moorehall Lodge Balbriggan we endeavour to create a friendly, warm and welcoming environment where the focus is on our residents living their life to the full.
Moorehall Lodge Balbriggan offers long term residential care, short term care, respite care and dementia care.
Butterfly Model of Care
An emotional journey – where ‘feelings matter most’.
Butterfly Model of Dementia Care is a person-centred approach to caring for someone living with dementia. It aims to improve their lives by focusing on the person and not the disease.
Butterfly care is an emotional approach. People living with dementia can no longer process thoughts or reason and life is based on their emotions. The world each one of us lives in is a place that is familiar and well known to us. However, for a person living with a dementia, their world can be a strange, confusing and sometimes upsetting place. It can look, feel and sound different.
Emotional support and connection are at the heart of the Butterfly care.
A person’s life journey makes them who they are today. The emotions of our memories affect us and our behaviour daily. Residents’ life stories are compiled with families which help us to understand their worlds.
If residents appear emotional but unable to clearly articulate the reason for this, we have the background to enable us to connect the resident to a happier place emotionally.
This may be discussing happy memories from their past, GAA, gardening, showing photographs or whatever is meaningful to the resident.
Positive emotional connections bring joy
The environment is colourful with lots to look at, touch and do. For example, there may be life size shop fronts, a pub set up or a corridor with a garden theme with flowers and a watering can. Butterfly care encourages connection to how people are feeling inside and supporting them in their reality whatever or wherever that may be.
A connection can be something as simple as a doll which might remind a person of children or a family they have cared for, or a toy tractor that might remind a person of the years they spent working the land, a toy cat or dog that might re-connect a person with their love of animals and pets.
Being ourselves with residents
Life feels, sounds and smells like a very homely place. The team wear their own clothes to work including a pyjamas or similar for someone working at night time.
The team are encouraged to be themselves with the residents. For example, if someone is excited about going on holidays or a family member or pet is unwell they are encouraged to share information about their daily lives with residents. This changes the culture of the “them and us” way in which care is often delivered.
Language of Dementia
As someone becomes more emotional and their cognitive ability declines it’s often the emotion behind what they are saying that’s most important.
For example, they may say “I’m looking for my mum” but what they are looking for is love and security. We know the feelings but have trouble finding the right words. It’s the way you talk to us that matters not exactly what’s said. Your smile, your laugh and your touch are what we connect with.
Living with dementia can be very challenging for the resident and their family and an emotional model of care can bring meaning and joy to the daily lives of those living with dementia.