Cheesy Activities in LTC

LikeSweetSoulMusic · Apr 15, 2009

I, too, was an Activity Director for a LTC community, but it was private pay and all stages (independent , assisted, rehab, dementia).

The most important part of being a good activities person is knowing your residents and caring about meeting their needs. You can make it work on any budget, but obviously it gets easier with more money. (but not necessarily better.) Just as in nursing, there should be independent assessments of the individuals to understand their needs, wants, likes and desires. If they have been around a long time, they may not have as much of the theory, but there is a whole body of Activity Professional theory out there. In fact, Directors often have to be nationally certified.

OP, I think it is fantastic that you CARE! If your frame and phrase it right (but offering help, not plain criticism), you can make a difference in another aspect of your residents' care. Maybe bring in an outside group you are a member of, or coordinate a service project for your residents? They want to be helpful, too!

I miss Activities work and I look forward to finishing my nursing schooling to marry the two specialties!

yaya21 · Apr 15, 2009

Where I work at they play Bingo of course but they have the Wii system and they do activities with that which is fun.

Trauma Columnist · Apr 15, 2009

Another thing to consider is the age group and perhaps group activities to different age groups. I worked in LTC many years ago when the nursing home was for OLD people.

Nowadays, I work with a very diverse population and many of my pts ages 18 to 90 somthings go to the NH for various reasons - many are very temp for rehab. Those pts in a NH for rehab might get 4-6 hours of therapy per day and would probably appreciate some down time resting and/or reading, watching TV. For those who are traditional NH patients, then maybe activities could come up with more money if it didn't have to be stretched so thin.

gapeacheykeen · Jan 21, 2012

I started volunteering recently at a ltc facility and have been blown away. Today we played chair-balloon-volleyball. It may sound childish but remember that residents can't take a real hit from a real ball and it got their eye hand coordination going. The big clencher was the residents smiled, laughed and had a really great time. We used a streamer for the net that was hip high. The decorations have to be simple and bright because eye sight is failing and the bright colors stand out better.

Morainey, BSN, RN · Jan 22, 2012

One of the nursing homes I used to work in had movie screenings, occaisonal crafts, "garden club" on the patio, baking, exercises, a Bible study, a book club, ice cream socials, and knitting club. Also, a pet therapy dog would come once a week.

We had a preschool nearby too, so the kids would come through and say hi to the old folks and sometimes they did activities together. It was really cute.

Not sure about the decor, ours was homelike. Smiley faces seem a little juvenile to me too.

LaterAlligator · Jan 22, 2012

At the dementia care facility I work at part time, there's a very active "Garden Club" that the residents really enjoy. They bring in dirt and pots and the residents sit at the table and plant indoors in the pots, then the ones that are able do the outdoors work. There's large boxes for vegetable gardening, which the male residents seem to get pretty into. And basically all of them are capable of watering flowers or at least sitting in the courtyard and enjoying them. One of the CNA's there puts together a short DVD every year that's a slideshow of photos of all the residents gardening, and sells those to family members as a fundraiser to buy supplies. And they also do a flower show once a year that's open to the public and all the family members, which seems to be pretty popular.

Spa day is always a fun one too, plus it's so nice to have a dedicated time for nail care since that's something the residents need done anyway, and it can be a social, chatty thing for them to feel pampered while getting it done. Also very inexpensive.

Your local library might be willing to come and do something once a week, like a reading and/or book club. Being read to might sound childish, but I think it depends on the material and the tone. It can be more like an author's presentation or discussion group than a story time.

Use those community resources - have Girl Scouts come in to do crafts, if you have sharp residents, maybe they could do a homework club where they help little ones read or study.

runnergirl86, BSN, MSN · Jan 22, 2012

I worked in a LTC facility that was awesome! The campus had 3 buildings, over 400 residents, 2 chapels, ILC (day care on one floor), you get the picture... They have a resident-directed care philosophy, and they did have quite a few resources available, but these were a few activities done with I believe the residents enjoyed:

Art class with the ILC and residents (that way the residents spent some time helping the children, while working on fine motor skills and conversations)

Daily Rosary in the chapel

The chapel was televised on one channel, so if a resident could not make it to church/rosary, they could turn the TV on

ILC visits twice a week and the children would read a book, sing a song they learned, and for holidays (i.e. flag day) they would come up to the residents and pass out a paper with whatever lesson they were being taught for the residents to keep

Karaoke done with the residents/staff

Holiday themed meals (cinco de mayo, Chinese new year, St. Patty's day) with REAL coronas, wine, etc. The nursing staff would just let the ARNP/MD know that we would be serving alcohol and monitor for any problems. The ARNP/MD would call if they were really concerned about a resident having alcohol. They crazy thing about it is that most residents would choose not to drink, or only have a few sips, but it appeared that they enjoyed having the CHOICE. :)

Live outdoor music Fridays in the summer time with the community. It usually drew a large crowd, and dining services would serve different snacks during the event (popcorn, pretzels, cookies, lemon aid, ice cream)

Halloween parades from the ILC kids and the residents would pass out candy

Live dinner with the chef monthly or bi-monthly

Fair art/pottery projects. Residents would work on something and submit it to the fair, quite a few of them actually would receive ribbons and a little extra cash!

Making sandwiches/food for the homeless (what better way to feel that you are still contributing to your community)

Monthly birthday party (anyone can eat cake, just have it be soft and add a little milk and it's pureed for those who have a mechanically altered diet)

Another channel was the in-house movie channel, a movie would be played at 10am and 6pm in one of the library/studies, but those who did not want to go watch it there could still watch it in their room.

Around Christmas time we pulled out caroling books and sang Christmas carols together for the afternoon

Amongst those things we also had the usual bingo, pet therapy, volunteers, manicure days, weekly outings, almost daily live music (pianist, guitar, one volunteer played the harp), resident counsel, 1:1 visits regarding their past hobbies, travels, etc.

Regarding your employee Christmas party, the past few years we've done a white elephant gift exchange between staff. It's a fun game, doesn't cost anything, and you might end up with something pretty cool! Last year I was stuck with a silly coffee mug and half burned Jesus candle (no kidding!) but the year before I went home with a BEAUTIFUL sheepskin fleece blanket.

Hopefully some of these activities are what you have in mind, many of them don't take a lot of money. I feel that residents want to a) be comfortable in their home b) be talked with regarding their interests. Have you thought of asking the residents what they would like to be offered?

nursecat64 · Jan 22, 2012

There's research that shows a large decrease in depression in nursing home residents who had their own plants to care for. :yelclap: