The Wessex Care Welfare Team

Welfare is defined in the dictionary as “the general health, happiness and safety of a person or a group”. At Wessex Care, Welfare is a vital part of the care a resident receives, each of our care centres have their own dedicated welfare assistant/visiting assistant/staff member whose core responsibility is to make sure that our residents can connect with their families and friends, make sure that events are planned and key dates are celebrated (birthdays, annual events) or alternatively to show support through tougher times.

The team also make sure that a wealth of person centred activities are hosted and meaningful 1-2-1 engagements are planned weekly, these can range from group arts and crafts, cooking, seated exercise, games/puzzles, organising shopping outings and trips, to facilitating faith visits and therapy wellbeing sessions from our resident hairdressers and massage therapists.

Now you understand a bit about the role of the welfare this is why we need your help! All our activities are chosen to stimulate the mind, body or soul and are based on what we have found out about our residents though 1-2-1 direct conversations or though friends/family filling out a social profile questionnaire.

A social profile can help us gain knowledge of a resident’s personality and what they have experienced in their past that make them who they are today, this information is crucial for us as a team as it gives us insight into their preferred routines, what activities or engagement they may enjoy and how they would best enjoy doing them, for instance If they prefer to be interacted with on a one-to-one basis or as part of a social group.

It also gives us direction as to what they like or dislike, which can help build bonds between the residents and staff and initiate meaningful conversations.

This knowledge is even more important for residents who can no longer communicate with staff or find it difficult, as knowing what they enjoy we can find other ways of communicating and engaging with them for example though sensory activities and remembering the past (reminiscence).

Residents enjoy reminiscing and is such a lovely way to communicate and find out more about them, it can be especially important for residents with dementia who may have lost their most recent memories and can only recall earlier parts of their life.

So please put yourself into your loved ones shoes, as being moved into a new place with new people can be disorientating and scary, but we want to make it as person centred and welcoming as possible and we need you to help us do this, so if you are a family member or a friend of one of our residents and you would like to fill in a social profile for them please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01722 336933 and ask to speak to me!