Bit of help and advice needed for an activity co-ordinator

[dawneliz2]

Activity ideas


Hi
I am the Activity Co-ordinator for a residential care home. We have residents with all stages of dementia and also nursing care. I plan my activities each month ahead and advertise them by posting them on the walls of the home so the resident can know what is going to be on and when. I agree it is a difficult job trying to find activities that will suit each person but I try to cater for everyone. I planned a 'War Theme' party/entertainment last November where I organised a group of singers dressed as soldiers who sang war time songs. Every resident were seated on one long table decked in red, white and blue cloths, we had an 'union jack' theme in cups and plates, buntings all around the ceiling and walls and the residents wore union jack party hats. We provided old fashioned food such as spam, cheese, soda bread, crackers etc, ginger beer, dandelion and burdock and cloudy lemonade to drink and as a souvenir I purchased replicas of a original Ration book with each of their names and date of birth on. It was a fantastic event and loved by all. At Christmas I organised a Christmas party for the residents where the staff came in fancy dress and did a 'cat walk' style for the residents to judge the best costume in the morning and the day ended in party games, dancing, raffle and lots of fun.
The day to day activities I put on include: Walks in the garden, Bingo/Quiz with prizes, gentle chair exercises, dance exercise (including the time warp) chit chat club, charades, hand massage and manicure, I spy, arts and crafts, flower arranging, indoor gardening, cookery, bringing in entertainers, "the price is right" game etc. Every 3 months I produce a resident newsletter for that season which includes historic facts, resident news, quiz and games and give them to each resident which has provided hours of entertainment. I also hold regular activity meetings for the residents.

This gives some idea on some of the things that I found that my residents love to do.

Hope this helps
Dawn

 

[trudydidy]

First of all, many congratulations for trying to work out what to do in this situation. Your concern for people at all stages of the illness does you credit, and you should be given a pay rise for it, not be worrying about losing your job!

When my aunt was in a care home I was quite angry with the activity coordinator's attitude which seemed to exclude my aunt, although I knew she really benefitted from being engaged in some way with something. It's much harder to come up with things for the ones that seem not to respond to the things that we people without dementia think are 'activities'. That is, the activities you are already supplying are ones that people without an illness would also consider fun to do - and there will be people in the home, as you have found, who like these very much, but as you say, there are many there who will not take part in these kind of activities.

I feel very strongly that what is needed is a different approach in those of us trying to provide an activity, to lower our own expectation of what is good enough. My aunt could be really entertained unravelling a cotton reel for instance. The activity coordinator would never think of offering her something as 'uninteresting' as that, but that was what she found interesting. When I was there I took in things that used to be familiar to her - such as cards, sewing things, cooking things etc - but I DIDN'T play games, sew or cook... we developed new ways of using these items.

She liked to feel and watch the cards as I put them down. She liked to move one card from one place to another. She liked to feel them in her hand. The activity coordinator thought she should be encouraged to play 'patience' - wrong - and when she didn't take part the coordinator gave up and wouldn't offer her cards again.

She liked to unravel cotton reels and balls of wool. She liked to feel bits of material and put them in a pile and then look at them. She liked to have the material gently rubbed on her hand. She liked to look at knitting patterns. She liked to put sewing tools in a bag, and then take them out again. The activity coordinator thought she should be encouraged to knit, or make a material picture or bracelet - wrong - and when she didn't take an interest in these activities the coordinator gave up.

She liked to pour liquid from one cup into another (making a mess on the floor). She liked to stir things in a bowl. she liked to mash things and push them around her plate. The activity coordinator wanted her to be interested in a cakemaking activity - wrong - and when she didn't take part the coordinator gave up.

I could continue. I think these activities were great for many of the residents, but they were too goal-oriented for my aunt's level of dementia. Also most of them required her to focus further away - this is something that gets much harder it seems with the illness. She could only focus on something right in front of her, so any activity taking place around a table with lots of other people didn't work at all for her - she needed something individual in front of her.

I was convinced I could have done a much better job at the care home with this level of dementia than the activity coordinators. I appreciate this kind of activity is harder to organise because it has to be set up on an individual basis. On the other hand, once you have set it up, people might be very happy with the items and not much other input from you. Perhaps you could focus on these kind of needs every other time you are there. I tried to discuss these needs with the care home manager, but although she seemed to agree with me the activities provided in the care home never changed, so she was very dependent on me coming in every day to give her something to focus on.

Thankyou for taking the trouble to ask these questions. I hope my answer here has been a bit of help.

I just wanted to write to thank you for this advice. I am about to start work as an Activties Coordinator and find your experience and suggestions really helpful. I will chat to people and find out about their interests and develop some activities of the type you describe. Best wishes, Trudy

 

[trudydidy]

Thank you

Try local fabric shops for small samples of different materials or carpet shops for out of date sample books

Thank you for this suggestion I'm new to this type of role and will definately try your idea! Best wishes, Trudy

 

[pippop1]

hand massage

I used to work in a day centre and some of the staff were trained in gentle hand massage on the people that came. They used a small amount of scented oil(lavender?) or a nice handcream. The person being massaged rested their hands on a towel. Everybody seemed to like it.

It might be something you could train volunteers to do and it makes it easier to talk to the residents while they do it.

 

[Fenny21]

Items to help those with dementia

In case anyone else comes to this thread from a search engine in future, something my residents have been doing is knitting twiddlemuffs, those who are younger and more able bodied have been knitting for those with dementia, the twiddlemuffs are great items that fold to keep the hands warm, but have lots of bits to fiddle with on the inside and outside, lots of different textures, bits to feel, zips, poppers, Velcro they are great! Searching on google for twiddlemuffs will bring up the patterns, I have too few posts to attach the link

 

[Caroleca]

Yes, izzy put a link to a pattern a short time ago. I think it was Izzy? They look fantastic!! I plan to knit one for mom...and some extras for others if needed. What a great idea!!!
Carole

 

[Izzy]

Yes, izzy put a link to a pattern a short time ago. I think it was Izzy? They look fantastic!! I plan to knit one for mom...and some extras for others if needed. What a great idea!!!
Carole

Yes, twas me! My husband has one on loan just now and people from our drop in cafe are knitting them.

http://www.warringtonandhaltonhospitals.nhs.uk/_store/documents/twiddlemuffsknittingpattern.pdf

 

[jane o]

Our role is little understood

hello, I have been working as an activity coordinator since 2008, still I have to remind myself that unless others fully understand what my role is it will always seem to be difficult. I expect, like me other team members freely give you their ideas (like you don't already know!) but they don't go to too much trouble in helping with the sitting positions of the residents etc... etc... etc... I am sure you are doing the very best for the residents and they appreciate having you around also their relatives must feel happy that you are there caring for their loved one's social life. Keep up the good work my friend even though at times it seems a bit of a struggle.

 

[fbrillon]

Jigsaw puzzles from alzafun.com

I designed few jigsaw puzzles for my father who has levy body dementia. These creates nice moments to share with him. Check them at : alzafun.com

 

[1954]

Asking for guide dogs for blind to come in, bingo, memory boxes

 

[Suzanna1969]

Loads of really good stuff here, I am going to try and adapt some things for my parents who still live at home as it is hard to come up with things for them to do together as their conditions are so different.

One of the few things my Mum still engages with is her garden. She loves pottering around and when I go out there with her she chatters away about her Dad's garden and what he used to grow, it really brings her alive.

Admittedly it's a bit niche but if certain residents are a bit resistant then a garden walk in one of the homes that actually has nice grounds could be a way of engaging some that aren't interested in the other fun things you are organising. You could get them to point out favourite plants, relate their own gardening stories and get a bit nostalgic about prize winning marrows etc...!

Animals are a great idea. Sometimes my Mum seems only interested in the cat! A bit of a worry as she is knocking on a bit now...

 

[funqueen]

Person Centered Care

Hi There!

I am an activities Manager over four sites with some 140 residents in total. All the residents are of mixed ability and presentation.

I would suggest that you are "An Activities COORDINATOR" not an entertainer and you are not there to solely make the activities happen.

Take a look at the care staff, and are you working to the social model of care? If so your care staff should be supporting the residents to participate in and to attend the activity. You are the facilitator who makes all resources available and you make it occur.

i would suggest that each resident has a daily living plan this tells the care staff what the residents interests are and how they like to have things done and at what time. Do a weekly program and each day go around and remind the staff and residents what is happening that day, where it is taking place and meet them there! Be organised and have everything thought through and available.

Themed events are great to get the staff on board, i have dressing up outfits and encourage the staff to join in. The residents love it and the staff have a fabulous time and really enjoy their job when they participate.

Singing for the brain is an alzheimers training that you can do and is very effective.

Take a look at the NAPA uk site National Activities Practitioners Association absolutely brilliant! Fabulous ideas and well worth the membership.

Activities is a very stressful job and I do hope you get some help.

All the best fellow activities coordinators.

 

[Izzy]

Funqueen this is a very old thread - last posted on in August 2015