John

Hi Shelley,
We have had several themed days at our facility that the residents (and families) have enjoyed..We have had a Masquerade ball ..I bought cheap masks for the residents and cheap material and made shawls for the ladies...The Hawaiian Day we purchased lais etc and decorated our dining room in a hawaiian theme. A rock and roll day...Elvis day, Cowboy and Indian day and provided a country and western type lunch...The staff are invited to dress up and enjoy these days as well and often put on a dance for the residents to enjoy.Hope this helps

We have adopted two cats in our dementia wing which have proved to be a great asset to our facility. Both cats have been desexed are wormed and given flea treatment on a regular basis. One resident in particular regularly requests the company of a cat on his bed at night when he cannot sleep and the staff oblige by bringing in the cat to spend time with the resident. We find that this has prevented this resident from continually walking around the facility all hours of the night. The cats roam around on their own free will but are locked out at meal times. It makes me feel good when I see a resident sitting on the verandah nursing one of the cats and talking to it like it is one of their family.. We should remember that a lot of residents come into aged care facilities and have to leave their pets which can cause unhappiness. If we can bring just a little bit of pleasure to our residents then I say go for it.

Jigsaws are another idea for residents that don't like mixing with others. We leave a jigsaw out at all times and the residents can go and put in the pieces when they like. Once the jigsaw is finished we place it in the main sitting area for all to enjoy until the next one is done. It's amazing the amount of residents that like to pop in and add a few pieces every now and then.

I would like to share some photos of last years Melbourne cup celebrations. We usually hold yabby races where the residents buy and name a yabby then race it. Last year we purchased blow up horses, dressed the staff up in jockey silks and held our own Melbourne Cup. The residents again chose the name for their horse and the winner received a gold cup and prize. Everyone had a great time.....

A new activity has been posted by a Golden Carers member: Masquerade Ball