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Jordan 16th Feb 2022 Activities Director

Hello there! I have been an AD since May 2021. I am also a board-certified music therapist. I have a question regarding scheduling the calendar. I work in a 76 bed SNF w/ LTC and rehab. I also have 2 ACs. I would estimate 75% of my residents have some level of dementia. With that, I have to make many activities very adaptive so all can participate. When I arrived, there was only a morning activity at 10:00 and an afternoon activity at 2:00. I wanted to provide more diverse activities options and more activities in the day because, frankly, I didn't think it was enough. Now, we do also do 1:1s every day, but I think that the socialization aspect is very important. My trouble is that we don't really have a designated Activities space. We typically do activities in the dining room, so we are subject to limit times due to meals. We have a beautiful living room but there are staff that have to work in there due to limited office space. So, my question is: how many activities do you typically have going on in your facility daily? How many staff do you have to assist? Do you have to share space? I'm just trying to get an idea if this is normal and I've being overzealous or if there is a way I can provide more. Thank you!

Susan 16th Feb 2022 Activity Director

Hi Jordan
Actually I think you are pretty lucky to have two I am assuming activity assists
Are you on one level??
I used to do activities in the hallway
You can have trivia music or horse racing in the hall
I know staff may get annoyed with the noise
How Big is the dining room?
Is it on the same level as the resident rooms??
What about Activities before a meal or after a meal
That way the residents are already there
Do you do activities with the residents
Let me know if you want further explanations about the activities and please answer the questions I asked
That way I can be of more help to you

Jordan 22nd Feb 2022

Yes I do have 2 Activities Coordinators! I have tried hallway activities, they are doable but a bit difficult. I have a hard time getting my staff excited about activities the way I am, but that's another post entirely. I have lots of ideas it's just a matter of fitting them all in the day. We only have two scheduled activities each day. Is that too few? Everything in the facility is on one level.

Pretha 22nd Feb 2022 Occupational Therapist

You could do trivia or other word games before or after a meal (as Susan mentioned).
We usually have 2 activities going at the same time. We have 2 floors. If you have different sections you could do this. Or have a main activity and then the other assistant does a small interest group (4-6) activity (ie, knitting, craft, men's group etc)
All the best.

Susan 22nd Feb 2022 Activity Director

Hi Pretha
These are great suggestions thank you for them

Susan 22nd Feb 2022 Activity Director

Jordan
Pretha has some good ideas
Here are some ways to fill up your calendar
First to make a Calendar you will be very general about things such as let’s get physical for physical activities which could be whatever you do
You will have to talk to others doing activities and find out what and when they do them
You may just put a.m. and p.m. on the calendar
If you have a particular activity you do but it is somewhat general you might want to put explanation of it on the calendar
Here is some thing I did CAM=Customized activity medley which consists of 5-
60 minute 1:1, small and group activities which may include but is not limited to card, dice or other games movement activities, prayers or other religious offerings, arts&crafts, independently or staff directed looking at magazines, puzzles, light touch massage or other sensory stimulation skills, jokes, trivia reminiscing or other discussion groups, sing a longs and other music groups, snacks or other food groups
You may want to put down TV programs that they watch on Calendar
I always like to use independent leisure activities as a general name
Why not look at the sample calendars on this site
The ones I contributed are the last ones

https://www.goldencarers.com/sample-activities-calendars/3881/

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