Is this a good activity for adults in the psych ward?

[chariot]

I'm in my psych class right now and each of the members in the clinical group needs to lead a group activity for the adults in the psych ward. I was thinking of pictionary with positive things like stress reducers such as walking your dog when you're stressed. i wont divide the people into teams so it will be an all or nothing game. do you think this is a good idea for adults??

[wish_me_luck, BSN, RN]

Yes and no. I know when I did my psych clinical, we did the same thing as you guys. Each clinical one person had to do the activity. Need less to say, many people did the same thing and it was pictionary. But, it is an okay activity over all. I just thought I'd throw my two cents in (sorry, if you find me rude), but I do know the patients who are there for a while, it does get monotanous when you do the same activity.I know I did Bingo with them and brought hard candy as prizes. Sugar free for diabetics and regular for non. It was both a prize and an intervention for the poor patients that had dry mouth as side effect from the medication. Maybe they like pictionary, if so, do it. But, I know where we were they got a lot of pictionary. It doesn't have to psych related, it can be just a group activity. But, if it's something no one has done or they like it, I think it's fine.

Other activities people did were like coloring pages (with glitter, etc), Hangman, and karaoke (my place had a karaoke machine). I also think like Uno or Apples to Apples could be fun (if you could get a hold of something like that).

[CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN]

I did a kareoke/sing-along thing. Brought a few CDs of various songs, had the lyrics printed out, and offered to sing along with them. Had to get a variety of music trying to account for many age groups and backgrounds, while also trying not to bring many drug/alcohol or lost-romance types of songs. I think that unit had a system with a mic and amplifiers.

There was one day of collages (brought in old magazines).

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

One of the single coolest things I've ever seen in nursing happened during my psych rotation. The unit had a batch of different types of drums, plus maracas and tambourines, and they had drumming group every Thursday. The patients would just sit on the floor and play whatever instrument they wanted, however they wanted; they could also change instruments whenever they chose---the only rule was, of course, that they couldn't take it away from someone else.

Anyway, I decided to sit in on the drumming group......WOW, what an experience. It was almost primal---just a bunch of people sitting around, making rhythms that had no shape or form, but all together we sounded incredible! Half the time people would just drum with their eyes closed and sway gently to the music we were making; there were even a couple of times I noticed that one of the more keyed-up patients had silent tears running down his face as he pounded out his angst.

The experience was also unbelievably relaxing; by the end of the session they basically had to pour me into my car so I could drive home. And everyone of us---patients, staff, and me---had smiles on our faces, as if we'd just breathed deeply of peace and harmony. I'll never forget it.

Obviously, I highly recommend this, if you can round up enough percussion instruments and a few rattly/shaky things. :) Best of luck.