Communal Spaces
Our Plymstock home features three distinct communal spaces designed to suit every stage of dementia:
- The Green Lounge: a quiet, relaxing environment for rest and comfort
- The Purple Lounge: a central space featuring engaging activities and a therapy corner
- The Conservatory: a serene, peaceful retreat
Residents are free to move throughout the rooms as they wish and most people choose to navigate between different rooms, depending on the current activity, for example to watch a different film or TV show, to watch live music being played by the various visiting musicians that we arrange several times a week, to enjoy some art and craft or just to help do something they have been doing all their life, the washing up!
The Green Lounge
The quietest and most formal of our communal rooms, the Green Lounge has a traditional, homely feel, like most elderly people's lounges at home. Most people who choose to sit in this room enjoy watching television without too much distraction. On most afternoons, you’ll find people watching a quiet film. There’s also a good selection of books and board games.
The Purple Lounge
The Purple Lounge is where most activities take place at Plymstock. If you want to chat or hang out with the staff team, this is the room to be in. There’s a therapy corner filled with a range of soft pets and dolls, which effectively helps to reduce the stress levels of some of our residents.
There’s a well-equipped kitchenette with a sink, dishwasher and fridge, and a 'help yourself' snack bar where healthy snacks and drinks are available at all times.
The staff team's study area is next door, so it’s very much the hub of the house. We don’t tend to put television programmes on in this room as many residents are no longer able to follow these for any length of time, but we play favourite DVD's, including The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and Mamma Mia.
We consistently bring out all sorts of 'stuff' from the activities cubes and encourage the residents to be part of the running of the home. From washing up and folding laundry to dusting, we find this kind of stimulation helps people feel important, especially as the staff team are very generous with their compliments!
The Conservatory
The Conservatory is designed to be visually stimulating and is full of interesting items, along with some light therapy and sensory objects. In this room, we display sensory images, such as fish tanks or rainforest pictures, accompanied by calming music. The Conservatory is designed to be particularly peaceful, and although it is intended for people living in the advanced stages of dementia, many just enjoy the peace of this room or settle down with a good book.
