I have been working as a senior facility nurse at Epoch for more than 2 years now. During these years, I loved this job more than anything. I got a good start on interacting with my residents every day. I watched and participated in many activities and therapies with all my beloved residents.
These activities or therapies brought certain effects on the life of my residents. Everyday, I found that residents, especially women, loved to do make-up. While I noticed this, the care attendants asked them which bindi they wanted to have on their forehead or which lipstick they liked, they would get happy & excited! During these interactions with them, I could notice a sparkle in their eyes, thus making us realize that they are loving the interactions as well as they want to participate in such grooming.
I feel that they love to get pampered. Every person young or old, loves to be pampered! We always say that age is just a number, same way pampering is not specific to any group. This group of beautiful senior people who are also young at heart like to be pampered with their favorite things.
One thing more, I notice is that residents choose dresses that match the stars of their time like Hema Malini, Madhubala, Geeta, etc. When they groom like these stars they are always over the moon! So happy! They select the style like hairstyle, eye makeup, lipstick, etc and after that, you can't imagine that they are back in their era and we too become part of their world of stars! Pampering doesn't stop here…..
While interacting with other people, every time I notice that they all are so happy, sometimes our residents express & share their feeling with us by saying things like 'how I look like today ' or ‘am I looking beautiful today’, ’nice bindi’, ‘nice polish’, etc.
This gets me good satisfaction in my life and I feel proud of myself for taking care of my residents. I feel what a good opportunity, I have, to take care of my residents!
They like when they are being taken out to salons, where they have their hair cut like their favourite stars do! When they are complimented over their makeup and style for being beautiful, they feel very happy, and a sense of self-esteem develops.
I have observed that applying makeup has proved to make our residents feel more confident and increase their self-esteem. Our ladies always want to look their best and we love to help them with this each day.
In case our loved one struggles with putting on makeup that they still enjoy, our care attendants apply it to them. The makeup may not last long, but the effect goes more than skin deep! The care attendants always play a big role in this, they are with our residents for almost 24 hours, they understand their favourite colours, and choices that make them happier. After watching my residents, as a caregiver, I always like to preserve their dignity while helping them look their best each day. Thus, helping them out with things that boost their confidence and esteem.
