About Susan:
Susan Berg is a freelance writer, retired healthcare professional, retired Activity Director and current writer for several senior care e-magazines with more than 20 years of experience working with Senior Citizens and eight years experience writing for a number of publications. She is the author of a book for those with dementia and their caregivers. Susan has two blogs about activities for seniors and information vital to all wanting to know about dementia. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and North Shore Community College.
Senior Citizens
Susan is an expert on senior citizen issues. She is currently a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant(COTA). In this role, she has worked with senior citizens. Susan is an expert on adapting and modifying activities so that seniors can participate in them. She spent twenty years as an Activity Director in nursing homes. She devised, planned, coordinated, and facilitated stimulating activity programming. Also she designed a program for homebound senior citizens. Currently, Susan shares her knowledge about senior activities on one of her blogs.
Dementia
Susan is also an expert on dementia and related issues. She is a Certified Dementia Practitioner(CPD). She has participated in numerous workshops, seminars and alike where she has gained much knowledge. Her work as an Activity Director and COTA has given her much knowledge and experience in relating to individuals with dementia. Susan is passionate about sharing her knowledge. She is hopeful that people will do what they can to prevent or at least slow down dementia in themselves or loved ones. Susan has shared many tips on how to prevent dementia or slow it down on her other blog.
Feel free to visit and comment at either of Susan’s blogs at
http://activitiesdirector.blogspot.com
http://dementiaviews.blogspot.com
28 Activities
3507 Comment
19th Aug 2018
Activity Director
Encourage all to do this because it's definitely cognitive stimulation
13th Aug 2018
Activity Director
Reminiscing: How to Create a Memory Board
Talking about the memory board will probably redirect and refocus the residents attention to what is on board and hopefully they will forget what upset them in the first place
12th Aug 2018
Activity Director
Reminiscing: How to Create a Memory Board
Remind all that you never ask a resident with dementia "Do you remember?"
Instead say "Tell me about"
11th Aug 2018
Activity Director
https://www.goldencarers.com/free-activity-calendar-for-seniors/4857/ or here are other templates I and others created https://www.goldencarers.com/sample-activities-calendars/3881/
How familiar with Microsoft word??
You definitely can add pictures. You may have to change the size
I would also put the pictures behind the text
I like to use a size 8 or smaller font to list activities on the calendar
I resized the calendar to 11x17 on a copier so ir is easier for the residents to see it
Also I created a template for a weekly calendar for those that wanted it
Let me know so I can walk you through the process
Susan
2nd Aug 2018
Activity Director
I am surprised that residents do not want to attend because it gives them a chance to get out
Is there a cost involved ??
Do you have a destination in mind ??
Going out to eat is always something residents want to do even if it's just to McDonald's
Maybe you can get ice cream someplace
You could go to a shopping center so they can get supplies
I hope this helps
Susan
21st Jul 2018
Activity Director
8 Creative Group Activities for Seniors
I used to do many creative activities with our residents I also had some of my staff run the activities but they were not for every staff member
The first activity I did was something called a picture is worth a thousand words
I showed the residents a picture with a lot going on
Then I asked the residents to tell me about certain aspects of the picture
The next step was for me or another resident to make the statements into a story
I printed the story out and put it in a notebook with the picture
That way the residents could look at the story periodically
I also had story starters that the residents could finish
Another idea is to do mad libs where the residents told the leader certain words without seeing the story. Then you fill in the words that they told you
It can be pretty funny and good for a laugh
I also did poetry such as limericks, haiku or just creating a poem for the season or for special topics
I also like to do Mandala art
Higher functioning residents could create a Mandate
Others could just color them in
We also took some popular songs and changed the words to make new songs
I was able to adapt and modify these activities for almost any type of resident
As I mentioned earlier I like putting these creative endeavors in a notebook so the residents good view them periodically
If you need help with any of these ideas, let me know
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Thanks for the hard work you put into making our Jobs a bit simpler....This is such a valuable site for all Diversional Therapists. I can't thank you enough :-)
Kareen Kovacich
Diversional Therapist
Australia
The Importance of Documentation for Activity Directors