Molly

This assessement is such a great tool, thank you!

Hi Skye, do you have a local university or senior center nearby? Students and retirees often make great volunteers because they have flexibility in their schedule and more time to dedicate! We also put flyers in places and our social media pages, and once we got the word out that we were looking, we had several people call us.

Hi Sunya,

Yes, I believe they can especially as Solange says if they are resourceful. A good place to start may be to have them schedule 2-3 activities a week to see how they do.

Hi Jennifer,

What an exciting opportunity for you to build a stellar activities program! It does sound like your residents are getting acquainted with their new living space maybe you could start incorporating socials like an afternoon tea/coffee https://www.goldencarers.com/how-to-host-a-high-tea-party/3435/, or a meet and greet party where you invite their family members to join. If that is too forward, maybe do an arts and crafts session that allows them to work on a piece to decorate their new room.

Here is a great article on social inclusion you may want to check out: https://www.goldencarers.com/16-ways-to-promote-social-inclusion-in-senior-care/5722/

Hi John,

Happy to share, and fully support your mission to have fun while keeping the mind active.

Have fun!

Best,

Molly

Hi Carla,

With a tag, they will most likely want to see actionable items that staff will have to complete. For instance,

Activities staff will provide 1:1 visits three times a week for 15 minutes each visit.

Resident enjoys reading, listening to music, and watching T.V. staff will provide new music, books, and movie options during 1:1 visits to ensure the resident maintains their preferred daily routine.

Activity staff will provide meaningful interactions during 1:1 visits by engaging the resident in conversation, reminiscing, or any other specific preferences the resident may have.

Activity staff has notified nurses, aids, and family members of the residents 1:1 schedule, and has offered in-room activity ideas that can be done while visiting or providing care.

Hi Barbara, a shop sounds like a fun idea! I think you are right: Not all residents will have cash on hand, but if you advertise it to family members they may be willing to make sure their loved one has some petty cash on hand.

As for items in the shop: Magazines, fun snacks, and candies, puzzle books, lotions, shampoos, and other beauty care items could all be items I think your residents would enjoy having access too.

If you don't have a free standing room to designate as the shop you could use a push cart and make is a mobile shop!

I'd be interested to hear others thoughts on this, too.

That would be great, thank you, Melissa!

Hi John, so good of you to look out for your fellow members - they are lucky to have you as their Chair! Here are a few links from Golden Carers. The first link offers over 300 Rebus puzzles! I hope these help and you all have a ton of fun.

Rebus Puzzles: https://www.goldencarers.com/rebus-puzzles---powerpoint-presentation/5425/

9-Letter Puzzle: https://www.goldencarers.com/nine-letter-word-puzzles/5540/

Riddles: https://www.goldencarers.com/riddles/

Hi Carla,

We reserved in-room visits for individuals who did not make it out of the room at least once a day. We had to write the room visits into their care plan and specify how many room visits the individual would receive weekly. Fifteen minutes is what we considered a meaningful visit. It is also important to note that room visits need to be manageable by staff and the number that is recorded in the resident's care plan should always be met, which can sometimes be tricky if you don't have enough staff on hand. To ensure this, we counted visits from family members, friends, other staff members, and volunteers.