Opinion: Apples, broccoli and the impact of touch in care
Sian Harris is Communications Lead at Evolve Care Group, which operates nursing and care homes across the south west and specialises in care. Here, she reflects on the important role of touch in care…
Evolve Care Group has been delivering its own bespoke training programme for more than 800 team members through its Evolve Care Academy since 2015. The academy recently continued its year-long training series, ‘The Alice Years’, with its third course – which focused on ‘Touch’ and manual handling.
Photo courtesy of Evolve Care Group.
Drawing inspiration from Alice in Wonderland, this engaging and immersive programme aims to deepen understanding and practical skills while ensuring that the training feels meaningful and impactful. The previous course in the series, ‘Control’, has now been CPD accredited, underlining the group’s commitment to quality and continuous development. Evolve’s approach is centred on enhancing care through thoughtful and accessible training, built with the unique needs of its residents, who are referred to as ‘family members’, in mind.
The course, which was repeated over four days to ensure all team members could attend, started with Clinical Director Eve Carder highlighting the significance of touch in care settings, particularly for family members living with dementia. She posed thought-provoking questions: Is touch merely a task? Is it something we ‘do’ to someone? Team members were reminded that every interaction could feel like the first time for individuals living with dementia, that it’s essential to approach them as though they’ve just stepped into their own ‘Wonderland’, and to join them in their world.
The session delved deeply into the principles of manual handling by highlighting the importance of maintaining a person’s mobility. Far from being a mechanical task, proper movement helps people keep their ‘world and wonderland as big as possible for as long as possible.’ Team members were asked to reflect on the profound impact that declining mobility has on an individual’s world, likening it to a bridge gradually shrinking, which in turn affects mood and well-being.
The science of touch
The training also touched on the scientific research around the critical role of human touch. Beginning from infancy when skin-to-skin contact helps regulate a newborn’s vital functions and emotional state, the natural interaction lowers blood pressure and cortisol levels while triggering the release of oxytocin, nurturing emotional bonds (Ferber, Feldman, & Makhoul, 2008). In care environments, the right touch can provide similar benefits, helping family members feel grounded and connected.
Bruising, broccoli and apples
The delicate nature of supporting individuals living in a care home was crucial to the training day, particularly regarding bruising. MAYBO-certified trainers for Evolve Care Group Mark Reed (COO) and Jay Carder (Social Care Trainer) emphasised the importance of using flat hands rather than fingers when moving family members, comparing it to the difference between gently holding an apple versus bruising it by squeezing too hard. Never one to shy away from making training unique, 800 apples were purchased as a concept idea to emulate a person’s body.
Broccoli was also used to represent capillaries under the skin. This visual aid made it easier to explain how capillaries can be compressed and damaged, causing them to break and blood to pool which then leads to a bruise. Mark and Jay both demonstrated this by gently running their hands over the top of the broccoli, making some of the florets break off and fall on to the table, showing exactly how a bruise forms.
Effective touch
The team practiced touch and safe manual handling using beds, armchairs and low-friction sliding sheets, focusing on techniques to prevent bruising while ensuring safety. The day ended with shared experiences and discussions, leaving team members with a stronger sense of responsibility and confidence in using touch effectively.
Mark Reed closed the day with a key question: ‘When designing our training, we always ask ourselves how would we want our own parents to be treated if they were in this situation? This simple yet powerful question serves as the ultimate standard, guiding us to create training that emphasises dignity, compassion, and the highest quality of care.’
With this approach, we hope to improve emotional well-being, physical health and mobility, as well as developing awareness around how bruising can occur through touch and how taking time is not a cost but an essential investment in care.
For more information about Evolve Care Group’s career opportunities, visit www.evolvecaregroup.com/contact-us.
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