Advocating Your Quality(ies)
YOU know how valuable your work is – but does everyone fully appreciate what you and your staff are providing in terms of care and stimulation for your residents? At ActivityPro, we are committed to providing recreationists with the resources and tools to support you as vital, caring professionals. We recently provided the Recreation Professionals […]
Creating Excitement and Memories in Challenging Times
As the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading across North America it’s becoming more of a priority to protect our vulnerable residents that live in elder care homes. Most homes have implemented strict no visitor, lockdown policies to keep residents safe and healthy. Part of this new normal is the implementation of social distancing measures which includes […]
Activity Suggestions and Best Practices for Limiting Exposure
Due to the COVID-19 Outbreak, we wanted to share some suggestions and best practices for limiting exposure to your residents. We know that large group gatherings are unacceptable during these times of a major outbreak, this is the ideal time to switch to unit-based (or Home Area) programs. And of course, since you probably have […]
Are You Protected From Movie Night Copyright Infringement?
The Motion Picture Licensing Corporation changed their rules in 2016 and a lot of nursing homes are finding out the hard way about the implications to an all-time favorite activity: showing movies. Under the previous rules organizations like libraries, schools, and senior living facilities were exempt from requiring a license to show movies. Now that […]
The Cruelty Of Calling Older Adults ‘Sweetie’ Or ‘Honey’
This article looks at how we can sometimes use age to define people and our tendency to associate stereotypes of incompetence, debilitation, and dependency. This can lead to one of the most damaging of the discriminating behaviors of ageism — we start treating older adults like children. One of the examples they use is calling […]
Expanding Your Community – From the Inside Out
In our previous post, we commented on how we, as recreationists, can become totally absorbed in programming for our immediate community of residents or clients. Just as we must challenge ourselves to bring the community into our homes, we must look for ways to immerse our residents in their broader community beyond our walls. The […]
Expanding Your Community – From the Outside In
As recreationists working it various care and service settings, we can become totally absorbed in programming for our immediate community of residents or clients. As advocates for engagement and normalization, we must challenge ourselves to look beyond our organizations, and recognize that we, and our residents, are part of a larger community beyond the walls […]
Getting Down to the Details for Departmental Reviews/Inspections
Do you sometimes wish others would just leave you and your staff alone, so you could get on with interacting with your residents, and provide great programs for them? Sure you do. However, like everyone in the care process, we are accountable. So whether it is your manager, your care team, family members or inspectors, […]
The Benefits and Balance of Tracking Self Directed Activities
As a recreationist, you are committed to providing a wide range of programs that are relevant to your residents’ needs and interests. At the same time, many of your clients also engage in other leisure time pursuits that are not on your calendar (we call them self directed activities) – and that is fantastic. Some […]
Responding to Family Members’ “On-the Spot” Questions
Let’s paint the picture: one staff member is off sick today and you are covering for her; you are in the middle of setting up materials and the room for the next program (one that you personally haven’t run for years!); a volunteer for this afternoon’s program called in to say she couldn’t make it […]
Sharing Your Knowledge with Administrators and Other Staff
As recreationists, we need and want to share information about our residents, programs and department with others. While we know what is important to us, what we think is important, or great, may not always be the best message to send to others. Let’s take a look at effective “messaging” with two different groups – […]
Family Care Conference: YOUR Opportunity to Shine!
When family members (or the resident’s significant others) are present at care conferences, you have a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate how effective you and your staff have been in not only reaching the resident with excellent programs, but also to reinforce the positive impact your programs are having on the life and well-being of the […]
Proving the Quality of Resident Engagement
For too many years, recreationists have simply relied on tabulating the frequency of resident participation in programs to validate success. In other words, the more often a resident attended programs, the better. Unfortunately such a measure doesn’t represent the quality of engagement, particularly if the resident sleeps through the program, or is distracted and disruptive. […]
Making Tech the Recreationist’s Friend & Ally
Considerations for Both Tech Adopters and Luddites There are two very different types of technology users today: (1) those who love all things “tech” and don’t understand how anyone could exist today without looking at a device (including laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.) at least 23 times/day; and (2) those who wish they could revert to […]
Setting the Right Benchmarks for Your Home
While most of us try to do our best every day, as human beings we are also subject to periodic “slippage.” For example, has anyone else out there made a commitment to lose weight and exercise more…but have let that one slip away? I don’t think I am alone on that one! One of the […]
Person-Centered Programming – Meeting Residents Where They Are
As recreation specialists, we know that it is our responsibility to provide programs that residents want and need. However, there are times when we find a resident is not suited to a particular program – they are unable to do what is is being asked (it may be because it is an unfamiliar task, or […]
What Are Your Expected Outcomes?
When creating an new program, you are likely expected to create a program profile, or description. Usually this includes core details, such as program Goals, Procedures (how to run the program) and Requirements (needed equipment, supplies, staff, volunteers, contacts, etc.). When creating your programs with ActivityPro, or even on paper, the identification of Expected Outcomes […]
Resident Councils: The Politics of Serving Diverse Residents
While we don’t usually associate Resident Councils with politics, the reality is Resident Councils are intended to give voice to the people, a basic premise behind political democracy. A well-functioning Council not only provides an excellent platform for residents to voice their concerns, but it serves as an excellent barometer relative to resident/client satisfaction for […]
The S.O.S. Programming Trend: Short, Often, Smaller!
Yes, if you work in a typical long term care (LTC) community, it is time to send out an S.O.S. announcement about the direction of your programs! And the key message about where your programs are headed is: Short – as in more programs being shorter in length Often- as in offering programs more frequently […]
Be the “Star” at Family Care Conferences
Resident care conferences with families represent a fantastic opportunity for you to really show how great your home and Recreation Department are doing in terms of meeting the needs and responding to the interests of the resident. When families attend the “annual” multidisciplinary care conference, the other department may primarily focus on information and data […]
