Carrigoran daycare centre ready to open its doors

CARRIGORAN will add a daycare centre to its facilities inside the next fortnight.
Speaking to The Clare Champion last week, Valerie Vaughan, who will be the clinical nurse manager at the facility, said things are almost ready to go now.
“We’re opening on January 15. The building is completed, there’s nothing further to be done on that and some clients have sent in their referrals for our three specific areas. We’re ready to rock.”
The service will operate three days a week, with 25 people on each day.
“It’s for age 65 and over and they need to have clearly identified needs to attend, so referrals are coming from GPs, the people themselves or from public health nurses,” Ms Vaughan added.
She outlined the type of facilities that are being put in place. “There was a preservation order on the original Carrigoran House so what we’ve done is to renovate that and it’s absolutely beautiful. That’s half of it and the other half is a new construct. Within it, we have two identical dining and sitting areas and the idea of that is we can accommodate a dementia specific need if it’s identified.
“The same in relation to activities – we have two activity rooms, one will have six computers and if people want an introduction to the internet or email or Skype, we’ll be able to do that. There’s a hairdressing service also in it and we’ll have a little oratory. We have a little bar, it’s really a coffee dock but if there is any kind of social event, we can serve wine or whatever it is from that.”
There will be a range of activities on offer to the users. “There’s a transport service that’s free of charge if they want to avail of it. They’ll have socialisation and activities during the day that will be tailored to their specific needs, rather than us setting up something, so we’ll wait and see what people want to do and we’ll meet those needs. We’ve two large activity centres that can accommodate that.
“Other than that, they’ll have their meals, they’ll have something when they arrive in the mornings, they’ll have their dinner and something before they leave in the afternoon.”
She said the services will be available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
“We picked those days so Bank Holiday Mondays won’t interfere with it and on Fridays, people tend to get their pension and do their own thing, so we’re ensuring that service users will be able to use it to its max. The areas that we’re going to service are Shannon, Sixmilebridge, Cratloe and around Newmarket,” she concluded.