Neil Robinson
Brightwater at Home client Neil Robinson, loves his independence. He rides his gopher to the local shops to get the paper and loves to chat with the friendly staff at the newsagents.
Neil is 88 year’s old and has a speech impairment which can limit his ability to be understood over the phone. But with assistance from speech pathologists and ongoing support to master his iPad to email family and Brightwater Coordinator, Neil is becoming much more confident in getting his messages across.
COVID-19 has presented many of us with difficulties, and for Neil, it has meant that his day centre shut and he could not travel to the shops. It also meant that he was not able to have family visits. Neil’s daily visits from support staff for personal care and weekly visits from his speech pathologist continued, but he found the changes very difficult and was frustrated that he could no longer go out and see family.
Using the funds that Neil would’ve used towards the day centre, Brightwater was able to provide additional visits and support from therapy assistants and speech pathologists to support with training on his IPad and provide social interaction.
Neil is now using his iPad to email family and coordinators on a regular basis.
Neil’s speech therapists have created innovative ways to keep him engaged in activities including keeping a communication book at his home so that they can check what has been done during past visits, ensuring that they provide the most relevant care possible.
One of Brightwater’s speech pathologists also created an activity pack for clients, so that he could keep his mind occupied during quieter times, while another speech pathologist has him doing jig-saw puzzles which he is becoming quite good at.
Rayma Thomas
85 year old Brightwater at Home client Rayma Thomas has some memory impairments and used to become anxious attending community activities.
When Brightwater introduced the Group Music Therapy sessions as part of the Music Pharmacy, Rayma was encouraged by her carers to attend. From this point on, Rayma’s confidence in a social setting flourished, and she has enjoyed the sessions so much that she has become happy to engage with the other clients, which has been a huge success.
When Rayma and other clients could no longer attend these group music sessions at the Brightwater at Home office due to COVID-19 restrictions, remote sessions were arranged online so clients could still participate with the aid of clients support worker to help them connect remotely.
This means that Rayma can still maintain those connections she formed with the other group music therapy members.
Rayma’s family have been very appreciative for Brightwater’s level of care and can see improvements in her wellbeing.
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