activities to do with psych clients

[maureen11]

Hi. I am a nurse in an outpatient psychiatric house. I am trying todomactivities with the adult clients that will better prepare them with the outside world. Some clients, (in my opinion), should not yet be in the community. I need to start with real basic.. adl, healthy eating, social skills...etc. It is very difficult to run a group and not sound like you are talking to children and yet these clients dont brush their teeth, wash their hands after using the bathroom, shower, etc.

Does anyone have a website that I can go to, to find activiites that are age appropriate and yet teach simple tasks????

[icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN]

Maybe a high school Health class textbook would be a good place to start.

[A&Ox6, MSN, RN]

Another helpful resource might be some occupational therapy resources that focus on this population.

Also, I have seen places that teach these skills as an activity. So, they get makeup artists to teach appropriate makeup application, hair stylists who teach hair care and offer easier to manage haircuts, Fashion shows that have prizes for most appropriate in different areas. (how would you dress to school/day program/office job/job interview/family get together?)

To teach ADLS, I know that it may be helpful to get a dental hygenist/dentist or school that teach these to demonstrate with the dye that shows all of the plaque. They learn to brush and floss effectively by removing the dye.

Hand-washing can be a group activity that includes pre and post washing "cultures".

[PMHNP-1]

Another way to teach skills is to have the group define the skill and then have people volunteer to demo the skill in an "acting" setting.

A good demo, and a "wrong way to do it" demo, for fun.

Example: they define "how to brush your teeth the right way". They list the tools needed. How much time needed. How should you move the brush, how often to do the activity, etc........They think up questions people might ask about this skill, if they were teaching it to people who never heard of it before.

Then they make up a scenario: "Let's write a scene where a famous actor is going to brush his/her teeth in the scene. Let's brainstorm an actor or actress first. Who should we use?"

Facilitate writing the scene - they might end up with Johnny Depp teaching a giraffe how to brush her teeth......Then, introduce a character who comes in and brushes the teeth all wrong (uses spaghetti sauce instead of toothpaste, etc), let them act that out too.

Other fun acting learning lessons involve miming without words. For example, they teach each other how to do the task, without talking, and people have to guess what they're teaching.

But all of that is after it has been determined that the reason the ADLs are not being performed is a lack of skill or knowledge, not forgetting, not because of behavior problems/loss of control, not because of disorganization. If it's any of these things, the clients KNOW how to brush their teeth, they know how to wash their hands, and they will be grossly insulted if we try to teach them those things as if they don't know how. Instead, CBT techniques and a heavy emphasis on why these things are done, and how to incorporate them into the client's everyday life will be what is important, not teaching the skill itself.

[PMHNP-1]

As for social skills training, it depends on the cause of the social skills deficit. A trained instructor is definitely needed - otherwise, it's going to be frustrating.

So two different approaches: if the population is more autism or mild DD, the SIDARI method is good. If the reason for the social skill deficit is schizophrenia or schiz-affective, the classical social skills training is appropriate. Good resource for that is Social Skills Training for Schizophrenia, Second Edition: A Step-by-Step Guide (TREATMENT MANUALS FOR PRACTITIONERS): 9781572308466: Medicine & Health Science Books @ Amazon.com

[PMHNP-1]

duplicate - no way to delete

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

We have board games at work that teach about feelings as well as how to handle independent living.

During my groups, I separate each skill and cover it in depth during group. For example, I might cover keeping healthy during flu season one session, in another I might cover med compliance. I keep the topic very focused on my objective. Keep the lessons simple. As far as something like oral care, I'd probably focus on the importance of seeing the dentist. As far as hygiene, I'd probably cover basics such as body odor, bathing, keeping nails trimmed and keeping hair short and clean and neat. I have taught hand washing in a very specific manner. Design your curriculum with your clients specific needs/ problems in mind.

Even if you feel like the topics are simple, try to get on your clients level. Treat them as humans who simply were never taught how to do certain things or like people whose mental illness prevents them from easily doing things we take for granted.

I use group participation, I demonstrate activities, I stand up, ask them to participate and use a white board to teach.