What would you find useful to know in a brochure

[1M075]

Hope this is OK to post, I'm currently re-writing the frankly not great brochure for the non-profit care home I work in.

Obviously have all the usual sections on care, facilities, activities, food, ethos, fees/funding.

Is there anything else you / your relative would find useful in this kind of thing?

Also looking to create a next of kin handbook (already have a residents one) as a guide for the first few weeks after admission - what would be / have been helpful or comforting to you here?

I really really want to get this right, I remember my own family feeling really bereft and guilty after DGM moved into a care home so want to do anything I can do in a small way to ease these feelings for people.

Thanks

Are you thinking of an advertising brochure or more of an information leaflet? Personally I wouldn't be interested in advertising - websites and brochures aren't as informative as word of mouth!

But if you are looking to give something to families whose loved ones are moving in there is lots I would like to know/wanted to know.

First of all, I would want to know that I can contact the home to discuss mum's care and perhaps know that there will be a named member of staff that I can talk to. In mum's home one of the senior carers is responsible for her wardrobe and it is good to talk to her to check that she has enough clothes and the ones she has are easy for them to dress her.

Can I put pictures on the walls in her room?

Who do I talk to if I have a concern about her health?

What is the daily routine in the home? What activities are there?

Visiting? How many visitors? How often? Can I bring food? Can we choose where to visit?

Mum has been in the home since October 2021 and things have changed completely in that time. She can have three visitors at once, no masks if we're sitting in the dining room, I've found out who I need to talk to if I'm concerned about anything but it would have been helpful to have it all set out when she moved in.

I can't fault the care she receives - and we have been reassured watching the way the carers interact with other residents and mum when they don't know we can see them. The carers are genuinely and appropriately affectionate and always chat and are mostly welcoming! Even regular updates on the website, social media, or a note stuck on the door would be good.

I'm with @IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere I don't want a brochure.
But I LOVE that you are not-profit and you have bothered to ask.
I would want a You Tube / TikTok link to video maybe 2 mins long because I'd think you were different and very 'visible' and happy to go public, warts and all. That gives huge confidence as being corporate doesn't really work.
Could you do the voice over?

Hi I'm called IM075 and I've been here for five years. Let me show you a room. All rooms are typically 5m x 4m and have space for drawers, for personal effects and en suite. You can bring your own ornaments to make it brighter and maybe a chair from home. Here's your toilet and sink and shower. Look they are clean and work well. Your bedding is washed three times a week and you get clean towels every day. Let me nip to the dining room as it's lunch time. Here's today's lunch. Home made stew and potatoes with some fresh carrots and peas. Here's the activities for this afternoon. Some of us are baking, some of us are singing, some of us are doing our own thing.

I know this would be a whole lot more work but it would impress me.

A list of things to pack.

YY to suitable points of contact, visiting protocols and what to expect when the resident moves in, from the perspective of both the resident and the family. It's a whole new world to lots of people. Can you describe what happens as if they were starting a new job or school? That kind of demystification can be very reassuring.