Residents at a specialist dementia care home in Wellington have been having a great time with a role-play activity that has taken them on a flight of fancy to a far-off destination for the holiday of their dreams.
The activities team at Camelot House and Lodge, a service run by dementia care specialists Camelot Care, decided to treat residents to an experience day which included a staged airplane flight and a variety of holiday ‘specials.’
Seating in one of the lounges was rearranged to resemble the lay-out on an aircraft, with the ‘crew’ taking a light-hearted approach to the inflight entertainment by performing a specially choreographed dance routine for the enjoyment of their passengers.
Residents were then treated to a play-list of holiday themed music, including well-known favourites such as Cliff Richard’s We’re All Going On A Summer Holiday, Frank Sinatra’s Come Fly With Me, Tony Christie’s Is This The Way To Amarillo and Summer Nights from the film Grease.
The team also played airplane sound effects and gave the residents individual boarding passes.
In role as chief flight attendent, activities co-ordinator Richard Dempslake used the tannoy to announce: “Thank you for travelling with Camelot Airlines. We hope you took a moment to listen to our safety procedures, enjoyed your complimentary drink and liked the in-flight entertainment.
“We wish to thank all our passengers for choosing Camelot Airlines, and salute our pilots Captain Sam Paddon and second officer Bonnie Frear for a wonderful flight and a smooth landing on the Isles of Camelot despite the slightly bumpy weather.”
The team wore flight attendant hats and uniforms created especially for the occasion, and even provided the delighted passengers with ‘oxygen masks’ they made themselves and life jackets to further the illusion of genuine airline travel.
Props such as suitcases, sunglasses and beach towels were produced for the enjoyment of the residents when the flight ‘landed’ and both residents and staff agreed that a great time was had by all.
Camelot House and Lodge, run by award-winning care providers Camelot Care, provides a full and varied programme of activities for the residents it cares for who all live with memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language.
