‘Here you know there is someone who will help you out’. 

Former nurse Ann Strickland is full of praise for ExtraCare’s Well-being Service.

ExtraCare’s Well-being Service supports residents to improve their health and well-being. Residents have a comprehensive assessment before moving into one of our retirement communities. They are also assessed annually and offered informal ‘drop in’ sessions.

Aston University was commissioned to evaluate the effects of the integrated approach on health and well-being, cognition, social functioning and independence over time. A resilience tool was developed to use as part of the research, which has now been incorporated into a Well-being App (tablet based).

This tool has been piloted and now integrated into all assessments. This enables prediction of a resident’s ‘resilience’ and personal goal setting. This workshop will explore what the data means for residents and the charity.

ExtraCare Resident Ann Strickland benefits from the App – she tells her story…

‘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 in her sixties, 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.

It was thanks to the Well-being Advisor that she discovered she had a deep vein thrombosis in her leg – she was sent to the GP who sent her straight to hospital. ‘If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have known,’ Ann says.

Ann believes ExtraCare’s Well-being Service is essential. ‘Our Well-being Advisor 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 wellbeing 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.