Henbrook House, an all-inclusive luxury care home in St Neots, recently helped 86-year-old resident Eileen fulfil a lifelong dream by arranging her first-ever helicopter flight from Bottisham Airfield Museum near Cambridge. Taking off from the museum’s grounds, Eileen and her daughter Fiona enjoyed sweeping views of the Cambridgeshire countryside, and at some points could even see as far as Ely and Newmarket.
While living in Australia, Eileen would often watch helicopters flying overhead and wonder what it would be like to see the world from that height. In the years since she has always encouraged her daughters to seize every opportunity for adventure they can. Unfortunately, reduced mobility in recent years has made it harder for Eileen to keep up with their activities.
When the team at Henbrook House asked Eileen to name an experience she would dearly love to try, a helicopter flight quickly emerged as the perfect choice. Having never had the opportunity herself, Eileen jumped at the chance to finally take to the skies.
James Chandler, Customer Relationship Manager at Henbrook House, said: “We were so happy to have been able to arrange this experience for Eileen and her daughter. Trips like this obviously require careful judgement and planning, especially when health and mobility factors make accessibility tricky. However, wherever it is safe to do so, we try to treat those barriers as problems to be solved rather than reasons not to try.”
Eileen’s excitement after the flight said it all, but her experience also illustrates a wider principle: moving into a care home doesn’t mean a resident’s horizons have to shrink. The team at Henbrook House believe that exceptional care is about expanding what feels possible for residents by helping them fulfil those ambitions and bucket list experiences they may once have thought were beyond their reach.
That approach is reflected in NICE guidance, which defines meaningful activity in care homes as physical, social or leisure activity tailored to an individual’s needs and preferences. The key is that “meaningful” is defined by the resident themselves: understanding their interests, passions and personal history, and finding practical ways to help them continue enjoying them.
Michael Zinaka, General Manager at Henbrook House, reflects: “Our ambition is to challenge the idea that moving into residential care means stepping back from life. Instead, a care home should be a secure base from which residents can keep enjoying familiar interests, spend time with their loved ones and try new things. Eileen’s experience is a wonderful reminder that later life can still be full of anticipation and excitement. For us, exceptional care is about making those moments possible.”
