Jean

Try tempting them with food and drink.

I bought a bottle of non alcholic gin, various mixers, sliced orange, lemon & lime for garnishes and asked them to choose which way they wanted it mixed. One lady enjoyed a glass of lemonade, another had water on iced garnished with a slice of orange whilst others had a G & T. We had background music playing, I had a few salty biscuits on the table and even those who were not very pleased with the taste of the drink (eg it's too cold) enjoyed a sociable time.
I will do this each month now while they enjoy it.

If the staff don't read the info you put up don't give up or feel disparaged remember that by putting the info up you are proving that you are in a job that is structured and requires special knowledge and skills. Your job has aims and goals and you are not at work to just 'play'

I don't know if this comment will be of any help to Julie and Danielle, I see myself as a 'trainer' and I print articles from this website such as: How to conduct a Reminiscing Session' Your Departments Role in End of Life Support, How to Plan a Music Activity for Dementia care' etc and each week I put one on the notice board in our staff room for all of the staff to see, read and learn from. If a member of staff expresses an interest I print a copy of the article for them or if I see a member of staff engaging in an activity I give them information about it. I had one particular staff who seemed good at helping a resident undress and dress a doll, I thanked her for getting involved and gave her information on 'doll therapy' saying 'you may be interested in reading this'. There are a lot of articles on the website but choose training material that is relevant to the activities that you do, perhaps this will help them to understand your reason and the role activities plays in the residents life.

I did try one for several residents, it was a boat trip, that they really enjoyed Make sure that your resident is comfortable using it. They must also be seated. I'm not sure if there is a warning against using them with certain medical condition eg epilepsy.

Thank you, this will be a hit.

Yes, I had the same Julie. Nothing like a 'cuppa'. No matter what food or drink we are tasting we make sure that the regular tea trolley still visits the group

We use them a lot. The organisation that I work for has subscribed to several programs that offer person centered music, videos, family photos etc. We have 5 x 7" and 3 x 9". they are in covers so that if dropped etc they don't break and can also stand on a table when the residents is viewing. I agree with Susan the bigger the better and you may need to use them with headphones if you are downloading videos, music etc as when you get several playing at once it is noisy . I have times when I have a resident listening to Elvis, another one watching a video of the Tattoo and yet another one listening to a church choir all in the lounge at the same time.

Did you see my comment on the forum, just bread and jam it went down well.

They loved todays session. I had 8 residents 10 slices of buttered bread and 4 pots of jam. I cut each slice of bread in 4 and we spread jam on it whilst chatting about getting scratched by thorns stung by nettles etc whilst picking berries and fruit. Most of the residents could recall the big pot and the sweet smell of sugar and fruit when their mothers made jam. An hour and a bit this afternoon well spent.