Balanced lives for Care Homes

A new approach to care home living.

Action For Elders ambitious new three-year project in Swansea has been made possible by the Healthy and Active Fund (HAF), a forward-thinking initiative from the Welsh Government, Sport Wales and Public Health Wales.

Life in care homes for older people is widely misunderstood, with very little work being done to understand the wellbeing of care home residents. Despite hard work and dedication of care home staff, a disconnection with the outside world can often occur for later life residents.

There is a real danger that everyday physical activity can be lost, so it’s important to keep people physically and socially active within this environment.

Balanced Lives for Care Homes wants to ensure that going into a care home isn’t a period of decline and this project is designed to enhance the wellbeing of care home residents, meeting their individual physical, social and mental needs. We are working with four different partners in this project: each with a special area of expertise. This is a programme that is designed with rather than just for the people who benefit.

Our partners

1. SCVS (Swansea Council for Voluntary Service) Finding out what people are interested to inform the social aspects of the programme
2. Bay Health Cluster Network GPs. Working in surgeries to identify patients who could benefit from our support
3. Swansea Bay University Health Board – Offering strategic advice on the health and wellbeing of participants
4. Wales School for Social Care Research (Part of Swansea University) – Responsible for programme evaluation. A formal evaluation published in 2022 will give us unique insight and understanding of communities and individuals

We are currently working in three care homes within the Swansea area: Campion Gardens Retirement Village, Three Cliffs and Brynfield Manor with two more homes to be added in April 2020.

Our Balanced Lives Project

If you would like to learn about Action for Elders Balanced Lives programme and how you can take part or raise funds for them, you can read more here.

Balanced Lives Programmes