During September the residents have been taking part in a variety of sensory activities for World Alzheimer's Month, focussing each week on a different sense and using these activities to demonstrate their sensory awareness and encourage the support of dementia in order to help demystify the disease.

When it came to smell, they used the olfactory game Le Loto des Odeurs (Follow your nose) to help awaken that sense with its 30 smell capsules. These included exotic fruits, flowers, and other delicious scents found in everyday life.

They completed some blackberry painting using the juices after mashing the fruits in a bowl. This brought back many happy memories of blackberry picking along the hedgerows as children. They would come back with bowls of fresh blackberries to eat and bake with.

Blackberries are full of flavour, smell and colour which make them perfect for sensory exploration.

With many different surfaces and textures to choose from paper was their chosen material with autumnal themed pictures depicting the changing of the seasons.

They also harnessed the #powerof30 for World Alzheimer’s Month. Those living with dementia say music is of paramount importance to their wellbeing. Residents listened and sang along to their favourite classics for 30 minutes.

All in all, the residents enjoyed their month of sensory activities.  There was lots to discover and share when it came to new and enriching experiences around their sensory re-awakening.