Calendar planning

After planning months and months of calendars, we all need some inspiration.  Check out the website holidayinsights.com.  This is a helpful website with special days to celebrate for each month.    I find it useful when I get in a slump and can't think of any new fun events for the upcoming months. 

Book Club

I recently started a book club at our facility in which we are reading an entire book over several weeks. (This is aimed more at our higher functioning residents, as our reading groups which we read short stories are more for our early dementia folks.)
 Our first book is Tuesdays with Morrie, and it has been well received.  I am wondering if anyone has suggestions for books that would appeal to seniors, both men and women and aren't too long or complex?  Any ideas?  Thank for sharing!

Join a List serve

If anyone reading this is a CTRS, please join the ATRA list serve!  Go to the ATRA website for more information.  It is a valuable assets to communicating with others and getting information about conferences, job postings, and answers to professional questions. 
If you don't belong yet, join a yahoo group or other on-line group for activity and recreation professionals.  you can get some great ideas and get answers to some of your tough questions!
If you are on Facebook, friend request Therapeutic Recreation Services.   She posts lots of great ideas and has a big following to draw ideas from! 
Who knows of other resources they want to share?

Balance

I know everyone in this profession will agree that you can't make everyone happy all the time, though we do try really hard.  But unfortunately the squeaky wheel often gets the grease.  How do you balance the complainers who want everything to be for them, and the needs of the other 100+ people in your facility and still make things "person centered?"  That is the question.  It is one of the issues I am constantly struggling with.  How do others handle it?

Rehab. Patients

Any facility with short term rehab patients, probably struggles with what to do to reach them with activities.   I have also always found this to be a challenge.  Our rehab unit is 40 beds, and generally they are not here more than 1 month, and often don't want to do groups with the long term care residents.  I feel that it is OK to care plan that they are focused on therapy, and do not wish to participate in activity groups at this time.  If you visit, offer supplies for independent activities etc., then you are meeting their needs.  We also do a DVD cart (all rehab patients have TVs with DVD players in their room), and well as an afternoon coffee cart.  This helps increase our visits, and is an easy way to check on people without being intrusive.  We have also found that rehab patients are more likely to participate in evening groups than any other time of the day.  What is everyone else doing? 

Visiting the Dying

I am sure many of you who have worked in the nursing home setting, have visiting many of your residents in their last days.  I just visited one of the most special women I have ever known, and it literally brought me to tears.  I have worked with the elderly for many years now and have lost many dear and special friends, But this time it is different.  I usually don't  get emotional about it.  But, sometimes some people just get to you.  We all have favorites, even though we know we shouldn't.  Lousie is a favorite for everyone in the building.  Her last words to me, after I told her how much we all loved her was...  " I love you too."  It came out in a weak whisper, but I know she meant it. 
How do you handle dying and the passing of your residents in your facility? 

Books to Read

If you enjoy reading, there are some great books that will give you insight into some of our residents and the issues they are facing.
Here are a few I recommend...

Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom-  Lou Gehrigs disease

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova-  Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease

 Keeper, Living with Nancy, a Journey into Alzheimer's Disease by Andrea Gillies-  Taking Care of someone with Alzheimer's disease

My Stroke of Insight, by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor-  Having and recovering from a Stroke

There are many great books which are fun to read, and educational, and at the same time, can help us understand what our residents are going thru. Thus, helping us care for them. 
If anyone has read any others, please share with us! 

Teaming up with a Daycare Center

At my facility, we are very lucky to have a great daycare center very nearby.  The administration at the facility is very supportive of community involvement and intergenerational activities.  We have an ongoing program with the center for their Pre K class to visit our facility 2x a month.  I know this is nothing new to any of you.  We all know that seeing and interacting with kids will always bring HUGE smiles to our residents faces! 
A few years ago, I started a program where our elderly residents "assisted" in the daycare center.  Each week two residents would visit the center for an hour.  We rotated residents, and we rotated daycare classes.  Our residents visited two different classes of 3 year olds ,and the two Pre K classes with the four-five year olds. 
The same two residents would visit the same class each time they visited.  The program was very successful both for the daycare and for our residents.  Family members here loved it as well. 
We are no longer able to do this program because of various scheduling reasons, but if you are able, it was pretty special.

QIS Survey

Who has already had a QIS Survey?  Here in NY, it is beginning... most of us are very on edge about the new survey process.  What is your facility doing to prepare?  What are you as a Recreation Therapist, or Activity Director doing to prepare?  My facility has not had a QIS survey yet, but we are coming up on our survey window very soon.  I have interview questions for our residents to help get a read about how they will answer the surveyors questions.  The interview questions are taken directly from the QIS survey itself.  This also helps prepare our residents on the questions they may be asked .    Are you prepared?  If you haven't started thinking about it, now is the time!  Take a look at the survey and the question in both Phase 1 and Phase 2.   Let's share thoughts and ideas on the best ways to prepare.

Sharing

Do you get together regularly with fellow professionals in your area?  Do you share ideas, calendars, who the good and not so good entertainers are?  If you don't, you should.  Having a support network can be very beneficial in so many ways. It is a great way to get new ideas.   It is easy to start one in your area if you don't have one already.  Set a date, send out some letters and see what happens.  Once you get one started, it will grow.  The key to keeping these meeting productive and helpful is to have a facilitator who doesn't allow complaining or "venting" to go on too long.  Good luck! 

Alzheimer's awareness month!

Check out the Alzheimer's Association link. 
Making a Leap Toward a World Without Alzheimer's

Hero:

Donald Sugg

Action:

Skydiving on Alzheimer's Action Day

Honoring:

His sisters, Kate and Reva

On Alzheimer's Action Day, Don is planning on making a big jump—one from 14,000 feet. To draw attention to Alzheimer's and in celebration of his 97th birthday, Don will sky dive on Sept. 21. Having watched both of his sisters and many friends suffer from the disease, Don is committed to the end of Alzheimer's starting now.
Now that is totally inspiring!  

Big Breakfast

One of our residents favorite activities is our monthly big breakfast.  All residents get the choice of coming to the main dining room, where our dietary department cooks eggs to order or pancakes.  There is bacon and other favorite breakfast sides.  Orders as taken menu style and tables are waited on by activity staff and CNAs.  It is a definite team effort between the departments.  Residents love this because the coffee is hot, and they can have their eggs soft if they want it that way.  It is a lot of work, but worth it when we see the smiles on their faces.  What types of special events do you plan with coordination of other departments?

Low or no cost Game

At an area activity director meeting, one of my fellow directors, showed us an easy game for cognitive residents.  It is called LUCK.  All you need are 12 poker chips for each participant, a pair of dice and a paper with number 1-12 for each player. 
The players take turns rolling the dice, and on each roll, they are allowed to cover two number that add up to the total roll on the dice.  For instance a roll or 10-  player could cover 1&9, 2&8, 7 &3, 4 & 6, or just the 10.  It becomes a game of luck and strategy.  If the person already has all the appropriate numbers covered, he/ she must pass.  The object of the game is to cover all your numbers first. 
This is a nice games for mid- high functioning or for mild impairment, with some cueing.  It has been very successful at my facility.  We sit around round tables, about 6 residents to each, and I have a staff member or volunteer helping each table.
What other easy to run/ low cost game ideas do you have?

Getting to know each other

A no cost activity that I enjoy doing is "Hidden Treasures."  We ask residents to bring something special to them to show and share information about.  It is sort of an upscale show and tell.  Residents bring photos, old jewelry, handmade quilts etc.  They each get a chance to be proud of something and show off an item.  It is a really nice feel good activity and I always learn something new about some of the residents, even the ones I have known for years.  I also encourage the staff running the group to bring in something of their own to show.  This activity works but needs to be infrequent.  Maybe once every 6 months or so. 

Elder Wisdom

Sometimes, it can be as challenging to think of ideas for groups for our high functioning residents as it can be for our residents with advanced dementia.  One group that I hold on a monthly basis and find very successful is Elder Wisdom.  There is a website called Elder Wisdom Circle. It is designed for individuals to write in their questions/ problems that they are looking for advice about.  The key is, the site is set up for elders to be the one answering the questions.  You can sign up your facility to be one of "elders" who response to the questions, or just print out the questions and use them for a basis for discussions.  It is always interesting to hear the advice ideas!

Craft ideas website

There are lots of great websites for craft ideas, one that I like is Kaboose.com  It is geared towards kids crafts, but I have found that many of the projects are simple enough to make, yet look sophisticated enough for adults to enjoy doing.  As we know there is a fine line between a craft project being simple and being too childish.  This site often has things to make that are fun, aren't too difficult or confusing and are something the residents and patients can be proud of when completed. 

Person centered

One easy way to help insure that your activities are person centered, is to hold an "activity ideas" meeting each month with the residents in your facility.  This is akin to resident council, but strictly for the residents to make suggestions or voice concerns regarding the activity and recreation program.  Make sure to take notes and write out your minutes each time and keep a file incase DOH has any questions.  Encourage residents with complaints and suggestions to attend the monthly meetings.

Cognitive games

Though there are many different and great cognitive games and activities that you can get in the various catalogs we all recieve, I have had good luck with other items as well. 
One I like is a Tanagrams game called Tangoes Jr.  I purchased it a few months ago at Target.  It comes in a nice carry case and has hard and easier pictures to make.  Even if a resident can't make the picture with the tanagram pieces, he or she can usually make some design with them.  It is a great activity to work on spacial awareness.

Coloring pages

One website I recently found that I like is coloringbookfun.com.  There are many, many coloring pages that can be printed out and copied.  It takes some time to sort through and find more adult pictures, but I found many nice fall and other seasonal images to print out and use recently.