A Dorset care home has promoted mental health and human connection through a day devoted to encouraging happiness.
Residents and team members at Colten Care’s Amberwood House in Ferndown were invited to dress in vibrant colours and sing and dance along to live music.
Among the activities was a Tea & Togetherness afternoon which featured a rock ‘n’ roll show from Bournemouth-based singer and performer Nicole Young.
Resident Marj Mason said: “It was lovely to see all the bright colours that everyone was wearing. It was a great and happy afternoon of music.”
Companionship Team Leader Madeleine Baker, who was encouraged by resident Shirley to get up and dance amid smiles all round, said: “We set out to promote health and happiness in different ways including wellbeing, kindness and finding joy. We had a wonderful day filled with music, laughter and dance.”
The celebration was inspired by World Happiness Day, a global initiative designed to remind people how important happiness is for everyone, no matter our age. The theme for 2026 is ‘caring and sharing’.
And it comes as this year’s World Happiness Report, published by the University of Oxford in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, put the UK in 29th place among the world’s happiest countries.
In top spot for the ninth-year running is Finland.
The report’s authors found an association between heavy use of social media, particularly platforms driven by algorithms, and a feeling of reduced wellbeing.
Separate research, published in a new report by the cross-party social care committee of the UK Parliament, argues that physical activity should be at the heart of NHS support for older people and is as important as providing medication.
The committee has called for ‘a national conversation and a cultural shift in the way ageing is perceived and talked about in society’.
