Solange

Hi Carla, I am sorry about your Director - may she get well soon. Have you thought about having Hallway activities? Residents sit at the door entrance of their rooms so they can see each other at a distance. Offer activities like a sing-along, poetry reading, read aloud short stories and jokes, chair exercises, Roll a Ball game (give each resident a pool noodle and throw a small beach ball in the hallway for them to pass around), themed quizzes, Finish the Proverbs, True or False, High Tea, Threesome, and Bingo. You could also offer a competition: enlarge one Spot the Differences or Hidden objects and give each resident a copy; whoever finds the most differences or hidden things first is the winner. A token prize to the winner is optional.

Hi Jessica, there are some easy trivia quizzes like True or False, Proverbs, I Went to Market game and Things That Go Together. You can also make up your own trivia by asking, for instance, the Name of Flowers/Fruit, Brands of Cars, Famous Hollywood stars (show the picture for the group to guess). Rhyming words, as Susan suggested is also a fun activity suitable for all kinds of minds.

Thank you, Laura, your feedback is really appreciated.

Hi Fran, thank you for the feedback. It is really appreciated.

Hi Karen. Its such challenging times, remember you are not alone. We will see the end of it soon. Have you thought about having ‘Hallway’ activities? Have residents sitting at the door entrance of their rooms so they can see each other at a distance. Present activities like a sing-along, poetry reading, read aloud short stories and jokes, chair exercises, Roll a Ball game (give each resident a pool noodle and throw a small beach ball in the hallway for them to pass around), themed quizzes, Finish the Proverbs, True or False, quizzes: Threesome, True or False, themed quizzes, High Tea. You can also spice things up with a competition: enlarge one ‘Spot the Differences’ and give each resident a copy; whoever finds the most gets a token reward. Take care, thinking of you.

Hi Marie, hang in there, you are not alone. Its such challenging times but you are strong and will persevere to the end. Have you thought about having ‘Hallway’ activities? Have residents sitting at the door entrance of their rooms so they can see each other at a distance. Present activities like a sing-along, poetry reading, read aloud short stories and jokes, chair exercises, Roll a Ball game (give each resident a pool noodle and throw a small beach ball in the hallway for them to pass around), themed quizzes, Finish the Proverbs, True or False, High Tea. quizzes: themed quizzes, Threesome, True, or False. You can also spice things up with a competition: enlarge one ‘Spot the Differences’ or 'Hidden objects and give each resident a copy; whoever finds the most gets a token reward. All of the above can be found in Golden Carers. Take care, thinking of you.

Hi Sarah, that is certainly a challenging situation. Ideally, they would walk a couple of meters from each other. However, having cognitive deficits they may not understand or forget to maintain social distance.

So, one solution would be having activities they enjoy in their bedrooms like involving them in video and phone calls with family so they stay put; another would be ‘making’ something they feel valuable like unraveling a wool sweater for later use or matching socks together. (Remind them to wash their hands with soap before and after each activity).

Alternatively, you could let them have turns walking in different parts of the facility one at time e.g. front garden and side and back yards and supervise them to stay in their spaces.

Hang in there!

Helping clients at home to stay connected is challenging, no doubt.

One useful thing to do is to show/teach them how to use Skype/FaceTime so they can call family and friends.

Another idea is to download apps with captions/subtitles for hearing deficit clients.

More ideas:
1) make a booklet of 7or 8 pages with trivia, quizzes, spot the differences, riddles, numbers games, name the animal/musical instruments and more. Post it to your client to do.
2) Find out what your client is interested in and recommend YouTube channels; painting, online forums, learning a language, watching children's’ dancing competitions, gentle chair exercises, caring for baby animals.
3) Call the client once a day to lend support.
4) Choose an easy facial mask pattern and make a parcel with enough fabric for the client to trace. Alternatively, you may send a parcel with traced masks for the client to cut for you.

Excellent Janet. Very creative.

HI! Thank you very much for the feedback. It is really appreciated.