Recognising staff who go above and beyond at Oakland Care

Staff at Oakland Care are going above and beyond to ensure our residents receive the care and support they need during the coronavirus crisis. Staff are displaying extraordinary dedication, compassion, and selflessness in coming together during these difficult times.

To highlight the amazing work our staff are doing, we asked our teams across our homes to nominate someone they thought had gone above and beyond in the face of this pandemic.

Woodland Grove’s Nomination

The team have nominated Elise Woolnough, the Lifestyles Manager at Woodland Grove. Elise has been with Woodland Grove for the past 6 months.

Elise hit the ground running from her very first day. Care Home Manager Hazel McGwyne said, “She went straight into Panto season, which she pulled off very well with all of the staff getting involved in the story of little red riding hood.”

Going above and beyond

Due to the coronavirus lockdown Elise’s job has got much more challenging in terms of delivering activities within the home that adhere to social distancing guidelines. However, in a short amount of time Elise has risen to the challenge, by being extremely adaptive and strategic in her approach.

She has implemented floor isolation plans and allocated one Lifestyles team member to each floor, as well as setting up measures so she is able to oversee day-to day-activities and ensure everyone is at least 2 metres apart.

“What was so outstanding was the fact that Elise, within an hour of hearing about our shut down, had created individual activities planners for the week for each floor. She then adapted again within a day to take out external entertainers which we have at least three times a week.”

Upon receiving the recognition from the team, Elise said, “It’s such an honour to be nominated at a time where everyone is working so hard to keep everyone happy and healthy. Myself and my team have done everything we can to adapt to new ways of working.

“To have a job that involves spending quality time with individuals, whether the activity is big or small, is so hugely rewarding and I feel lucky to be able to make even a slight difference in this time.”

Homes of Hope

Elise has also started a new project called ‘Homes of Hope’, in collaboration with Brent Youth Theatre. “A group of young people meet weekly with myself over Zoom to create content and letters for our residents.

“The project is at its beginnings but so far has proved to be a huge hit with both our residents and the young people. I can’t wait to continue to see these relationships bloom and grow over the letters and eventually to facilitate the young people and residents meeting.”

Elise’s other Endeavours

Alongside her current projects, Elise also enjoys working with volunteers and has created an herb garden with the residents. These herbs are then used by the chef to cook meals for the residents.

Elise has also planned to take part in the ‘Loughton Horticultural Show’. The show will be taking place on Sunday the 22^nd of August and Elise will be entering the show with produce grown by Woodland Grove residents.

#ThankYouSocialCare

We were encouraged to be a part of this campaign thanks to Care Talk magazine. They wanted to give the sector, and more importantly the wider public, the opportunity to say thank you to social care. They have created a range of free images for social media and posters for care and support workers, care providers and partners to the sector.

You can take part by using #ThankYouSocialCare on social media and show your support. To take part, download the full toolkit here.

Find out more about our Woodland Grove Care Home in Loughton.