Holistic Care Spotlight: Residents’ Activity & Wellbeing Programme Essence 52 by Liz Woods

They discover how to facilitate group and individual sessions for relaxation and lifelong learning. Additionally, they will learn how to empower their residents to pursue their area of interest individually or as a group.

In 2014, I was pursuing a career in academic research when my mother had to move to a nursing home after a sudden illness. She mentioned to the Director of Nursing that I was an aromatherapist and I was asked if I would be interested in developing a group class.

So, I brought some essential oils in for the residents to try the various aromas of the plants. The aromatherapy sessions became very popular with the residents, and I was told on many occasions that the session was the main focal point for many of the residents’ week.

I never expected to work with older adults in residential care but enjoyed it so much that it quickly became my full-time career as I was asked to provide classes for several other nursing homes. I found it a privilege to work with older adults, to get an insight into the lives they have led. In a class of 10, I had access to approximately 800 years of wisdom and life experience.

The format for Essence 52 developed over several years in response to the residents’ interests and needs. I used my background in psychology to research scientific studies and implement recommended practices to enhance the residents’ wellbeing.

Many of the activity coordinators asked if I would consider training them to deliver the group session to their residents. When the Covid pandemic closed all the nursing homes in March 2020, it was a chance to diversify. At that point, I became a qualified trainer and developed the Essence 52 facilitator training course.

During this time, I was also accepted onto Enterprise Ireland’s entrepreneur programme New Frontiers where I received a lot of support to develop Essence 52. As part of the New Frontiers programme, I had to conduct a pilot study in a nursing home.

Some of the findings of this study indicated that it would be more practical to provide on demand training modules and resources that the activity coordinators could access online in their own time.

Empowerment of the residents is an integral part of the Essence 52 model of wellbeing. The activity coordinators are first trained to facilitate the residents’ personal interests. Afterwards, they can use Essence 52 downloadable resources with activity suggestions that are related to the topic of the week.

There are 12 themes, divided into 52 weeks, that are relevant to the seasons and cultural events. These activities suggestions include cultural weeks to bring the world into the nursing home, topics to explore such as the ancient spice routes, or celebrating St Valentine’s with rose week, making life in residential care exciting and dynamic, while helping to build a sense of community amongst the residents.

This makes it very easy and straightforward to deliver the lifelong learning curriculum for the residents and saves time in activity preparation.

The activity coordinators can also attend the monthly workshops throughout the year that support them in the delivery of the lifelong learning curriculum.

The Essence 52 facilitator training course is blended learning with on-demand content provided on a learning management system and Zoom workshops. Consequently, participants require an intermediate level of computer skills.

The residents residing in high-dependency areas of the nursing home can benefit from the relaxation sessions in their bedrooms or in a group setting. There are activity suggestions for more independent residents that include activities they can enjoy with their families, providing a sense of purpose to life in residential care.

As the Essence 52 lifelong learning curriculum has a different topic each week, it can not only help to motivate the residents but also provides a focus for the week as the topic can be integrated into the existing activities timetable.

The Essence 52 Inspire lifelong learning session takes place on a Monday, where we introduce the topic of the week. Each topic is based on an aromatic plant that produces an essential oil. Essential oils serve as a sensory aid for learning, and the aroma can also trigger a long-forgotten memory even from childhood.

The Essence 52 model of lifelong learning is circular. As the activity coordinators listen to the residents’ knowledge about the topic and any memories that surface, the resident becomes the teacher. There is usually a collective memory as the residents are generally from the same generation.

The activity coordinators can become very creative and incorporate activities or ideas that the residents might have. The residents feel empowered when they can lead activities, and the activity coordinators find it rewarding when residents feel motivated and are engaging in activities that are relevant to them.

In addition, the residents’ particular interests during each week can be recorded, so, when the same week comes around the following year, even though there could be a change in staff member, the essence of the resident will be remembered helping the resident to retain their sense of self, this is the core value of Essence 52.