Activities at Highview House Care Home

It was pliés and pas de deux all the way at Highview House care home, in Inverness as residents and staff welcomed Scottish Ballet to the home on Thursday, 1st of February.  The residents participated in a session of armchair ballet lead by Dance Health Artist, Danielle Tyrer, and musician, Adam Stearns, but for one resident in particular, it was an opportunity to show off her dancing prowess having been a seriously talented dancer in her youth.

Ena McCarrell, 99, was accompanied by her daughters Moira and Maureen for the day, and revelled in a trip down memory lane. In her childhood, Ena and her sister had travelled from Blairgowrie to Dundee for ballet dance lessons, and this culminated in a performance as two of the three signets in Swan Lake.  Ena subsequently fell in love with ballroom dancing and finally met her husband-to-be, Charlie, at one of the local dances.

We have several regular clubs at Highview, and one of the most popular is our Memory Lane Baking Club.  Each week, residents and staff join together to work on a different bake.  Cakes are always a popular choice, but savoury creations are also on the menu.   This is just one example of person-centred well-being and care, which encourages the continuation of life-long hobbies as well as learning new skills.

Highview House care home in Inverness prepared a traditional Burns Night Supper to the tune of bagpipes and the fun continued well into the night. In what was an intergenerational celebration of all things Burns, residents at the home were joined by dancers and pipers from the Fraser School of Highland dancing.

Throughout the day, staff and residents at the home were involved in a number of activities including online quizzes, activity books and home decoration, to mark the Scottish institution.

Across our services residents had a fantastic time during a special live virtual event, led by Emilia from Medical Detection Dogs. Emilia took us on a journey to discover how the organisation began training dogs to support people with complex health conditions, saving their lives on a daily basis.

Using their amazing sense of smell, these dogs can identify odour changes emitted prior an episode and alert the person to take preventative action.

We were introduced to the wonderful dogs and the science behind the sniff.  It was a delightful experience for everyone, especially our canine-loving residents.

Arts and crafts are a important part of many of our residents’ lives.   For some, it is a continuation of a lifelong hobby.  For others, it is a chance to learn a new skill.   We have a number of clubs at Highview, including baking, keep-fit and art.   Here you can see resident June enjoying some drawing.   No matter what your interests are, there is always something to do at Highview House.

Highview residents were delighted to meet Ged Russell, Head Beekeeper, who gave us a demonstration of hiving.  Residents were able to see how bees live, watch the early stages in the formation of honey.    Ged’s fascinating visit was part of our ongoing series of community engagement events which see local community groups and individuals visit the home to include residents in their work.