ARU Research Report 2019

The Up Project 23 Livening & Lightening: The Living & Working Environment The presence of the children was seen as injecting positive energy into the care home atmosphere, livening up the care home and serving to break up the day-to-day routine of the older adults: “I suppose it breaks up the normal routine which is nice and some residents obviously would look forward to it.” (Relative) ‘Everyone is just happy around each other, it just, the whole atmosphere just really changes.’ (Care home staff) The atmospheric positivity was felt not just in the living environment. Care home staff, for whom the care home space was also their working environment, described how they too had gained from being situated within an uplifting atmosphere. Witnessing the older adults joy and hearing their stories, had in turn created positive emotions for them: ‘Yeah, I think it’s improved it, it’s like that bubbly, you just look forward to seeing them and seeing the adults with the children and their interaction, what they do at the tables and all the different activities and that; it’s really lovely to see…I think it’s very positive, yeah, I love seeing it as well, I think it helps people and the home seems to come alive more and yeah, it’s really lovely.’ (Care home staff) ‘It just changes their whole day, it’s so lovely to watch. I stand at that window sometimes with tears in my eyes, I get so emotional when people are happy and I just think they’re just smiling and I just, yeah, to see that as a carer…’ (Care home staff) The positive experiences and emotions the staff had acquired as a result of the project also had positive implications for their attitudes and approaches towards their work: ‘It’s just even me, I get, it gives me, I just feel that I’ve got a whole new lease of energy just to see the residents in a different, their behaviour, their behaviours are different, they’re happy, they’re upbeat, they’re excited and then that makes me, it makes my job easier because everyone is just so happy…’ (Care home staff)