Hampshire care homes launch campaign to debunk common myths

The campaign ‘Keys to Open Minds’ has been launched by St Cross Grange in Winchester Borovere Care Home in Alton following data showing 93 per cent of care home residents are satisfied with their care.

Staff and residents will be out in their area spreading wooden keys with messages dispelling common myths with facts.

The aim is to encourage people of all ages to engage with the reality of care home life, join the conversation on social media at #KeysToOpenMinds or visit the homes to see first-hand.

Not-for-profit care group Greensleeves Care, which operates the two Hampshire homes and 26 others in England, launched the project in line with the start of Care Home Open Week on Monday, June 26.

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Keys are being placed in public spaces for people to find (Image: Greensleeves)

For people like Margaret, 81, moving to a Greensleeves Care home three years ago was nothing like she expected. She said: “If you would have said a few years ago I was going into a care home, I would have said “get stuffed”. My opinion was that I would be told what to do, when, and how to do it.

“I now know that life in a care home is good, I am still very much in control of my life despite living in a care home. I can still make decisions myself and find the staff helpful and caring. I feel here I still have a purpose.”

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'Care homes are only for very ill people, right?' (Image: Greensleeves)

Director of business development at Greensleeves Care, Shona King, said: “The main aim of our Keys to Open Minds campaign is to prompt better conversations, reduce stigma around care homes and encourage people to reconsider their preconceptions.

“Misconceptions around care homes abound – from the quality of the food to how residents are supported to live with dignity. As our own data shows, the reality is that for the vast majority of residents, care homes are a positive, much-valued chapter in people’s journey through later life.

“Long-standing myths are damaging not only for the sector but for the thousands of families looking for specialist 24-hour care for their loved ones. They want to feel confident and empowered in the choices they make. At Greensleeves Care, we believe that feeling empowered starts with having a myth-free, more accurate idea of what it is like to join a care home community.”

Anyone who finds a key in Hampshire is invited to either leave it for others to find or take it to Borovere or St Cross Grange on Friday, June 30 in exchange for a treat.