Post

Vice President

3 months ago

Memory Care Activity Stations or Set Up

Our memory care areas for 20 residents has limited activity space and cannot accommodate the elaborate "life stations" some communities have. We have some shelf areas, a tv, a little kitchenette area and a little doll baby cradle. There are arm chairs and tables with chairs. We are trying to set up our space to encourage residents to feel free to pick up an activity material and engage with their space when activity staff is taking break or in evenings. We want to leave activitiy supplies out to encourage the care staff to interact with residents in positive way when activities is not present. We also want it to look adult and familiar to residents and not like a kindergarten. I'd love to incorporate the idea of life stations but would have to be able to use all spaces for multiple uses. Also there is the concerns of residents taking off with materials or putting things in mouth so we need to be intentional about what is left out. I'd appreciate it if anyone can share what works for them and also looks good for marketing department!

Susan

Activity Director

3 months ago

Hi Jennifer

You are sin a tricky situation because of the marketing aspect of it

What is your budget ???

Anything you put on the tables will probably disappear so plan on that

Inter-active wall art is good and doesn’t take up much room, but you may have to make your own because of budget constraints

I like this

https://www.goldencarers.com/bored-board-brain-training-for-seniors/6212/

You can put anything you want, on it to meet the needs of your residents

You could hang up other things on your walls, such as a whiteboard or a colorful circle that is used to play catch Then have items that could be stuck on it

As far as what to put on the tables, I like a fancy nonbreakable vase and some fake flowers to put in it

You could have magazines and books

Make sure to have a daily weekly and monthly calendar on the walls where people can see them

You can put colored paper and pipe cleaners stickers Colored pencils on the tables and may be decks of cards There are some Monet things you can do with a deck of cards

Of course, it depends on what your residents like to do which surely change over time

You can put some of the activities that on your bored, board pn the tables also

you could get PVC pipe tees, and joints so residents can put them together

Untangling and tangling string. Is also a good.

You should plan on everything disappearing so I wouldn’t get too fancy with that may be could have Special items when the marketing person is around

If you need any more help, let me know

Wendy

Activities Associate, Memory Care

3 months ago

Hi Jennifer,

I am in a similar situation as yours, in that our MC community is an open-concept space that has no options for "life stations". The section for activities has a very large TV as the focal point, with some chairs and two large tables for group activities. I don't have a "bored board", but I liked the concept, so I now print out Golden Carers coloring pages and leave those and colored pencils and markers on the tables, along with a couple of puzzles and word searches. And yes, things do disappear, which is why I love that we can print items easily, rather than have an entire book! I also provide copies of "today in history", since several residents read. I also leave a balloon out which can easily be batted around by residents and staff.

And, I love the idea of PVC pipes for residents to put together and take apart!! I often will ask a few residents to help fold napkins or sort something at one of the tables before I take a break. This can give them purpose while keeping them busy and sometimes others join in with them.