‘Here you know there is someone who will help you out’
‘I need to keep my health as good as it can be,’ she says. ‘I’m on the go all the time. I’m not one to sit and put my feet up and have a cup of tea.’
Ann has always led an active life. She used to be a dresser for American country music singer-songwriter Tammy Wynette, travelling with her and taking care of her dresses, jewellery and shoes. She was a nurse in Los Angeles, worked in advertising and was also a chauffeur.
Now, at 68, she lives in a one bedroom bungalow at Lark Hill Village in Nottingham.
‘I’m happy here,’ she says. ‘Everyone knows me and I have made a lot of friends. I have always been able to mix.’
Ann volunteers at the village, delivers the internal post, helps with events and teaches stained glass cutting. She enjoys walking and going to the cinema and theatre. ‘I never stop,’ she says.
Ann has angina and heart failure and has been helped by Lark Hill’s Well-being Advisor Chrishanti Blackwood.
It was thanks to Chrishanti that she discovered she had a deep vein thrombosis in her leg. Chrishanti sent her to the GP who sent her straight to hospital. ‘If it hadn’t been for Chrissie I wouldn’t have known,’ she says.
Ann believes ExtraCare’s Well-being service is essential. ‘Chrissie is fantastic,’ she says. ‘She is so knowledgeable. She helps in every way she can.’
The Well-being Advisor offers a well-being assessment for all residents. A resilience tool has been incorporated into the well-being assessment, to help identify personal goals with residents and help them to reduce their level of frailty and become more resilient. Each resident who has an assessment is given a frailty status. Ann was diagnosed as pre-frail with an increased risk of diabetes.
Ann moved into Lark Hill in 2009 and enjoys the security of living in the village. ‘I’m on my own,’ she says. ‘Here you know there is someone who will help you out. The staff are absolutely wonderful. This is one of the best moves I have ever made.’
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