Josephine

Hi Jennifer, depending on where you are living, but Holmesglen TAFE run a very good course.

Have just seen this - thanks for the recipes and will try.

Hi Deborah - unfortunately there isn't - but then again that would not help you in learning too. For each unit just have a look at your world wide library - Mr Google. Amazing information there.

Must give this a try - will try and incorporate this into an activity with low care residents too !

Hi Margaret

If you have a list of music and songs that your residents love then have a look at Youtube - and put in karaoke with music and words to search. You can download and then burn onto a DVD. If you are unable to do this yourself see if a school child will do this for you. We are doing this not only for Karaoke but creating some visual sensory DVD's that are proving to be quite good for our residents. You can have different level of DVD's e.g. High Dementia area sensory dvd's of flowers opening slowly to classical music. We downloaded half hour of hymns and this has been very successful for the more religious and spiritual residents. We put this on prior to our bible discussion group.

We permit the serving of alcohol and currently Best Practice is now not a diabetic diet for those in Aged Care which was highlighted by our geriatric dietition. Regarding dietary requirements we have a list that is computer generated of foods that people may be allergic to, what they like or dislike to eat. This includes any changes to dietary requirements and we can see the dates that this has been changed - then we print this out. This is looked into each time we hold any activities that include foods. We do not have a mobile trolley in our High Dementia area as most residents have particular food consistency needs. However we hold something specific in that area in collaboration with our chef and head nurse. Hence this means we hold our happy hour twice (not on the same day) to cater for the different needs of residents.

Some great ideas that I will be using - thanks !!

HI All we have several major luncheons each year which takes in 2 Christmas Parties now since these luncheons have become so popular. These luncheons are themed e.g. Valentine's Day; Mothers Day; Fathers Day; AFL Grand Final; Oaks Day etc I work well with our chef and we devise a menu. Finger Food & Drinks (includes red & white wine - sometimes champagne - beer, softdrinks) on arrival and then lunch and dessert plus Tea & Coffee included. I use my budget in hiring an entertainer and let them know what theme we have. I put up posters 6 weeks prior to the day and send out a mass email invitation. I have devised a booking form with details. For numbers family/friends need to book themselves in and I charge a small amount per person to cover the above. We are finding that we now need to cap numbers as they are so popular hence it is first in best dressed !!
Charging an amount helps to not only cover my costs but leave a little extra for Lifestyle too. We also have a monthly Classical Music Appreciation afternoon with wine/sherry plus cheese/crackers/fruit. No charge for this one. This is proving to be an excellent activity - we play a Classical CD and research the composer for information to commence discussions. I now have a volunteer that has taken this activity on board which is a bonus and since she plays the piano will give a live performance every 3 months.
For other themes we had a Chocolate Tasting day that went over extremely well and that included some history of Australian Chocolate companies. We also had a retro afternoon - flashback to 40's 50's & 60's - we made fruit punch too. That was a winner as we reminisced about fashion, movie stars, popular advertising posters etc.
We hold a monthly theme day - and research what is happening in the world PLUS use the suggestions that this site outlines too. Currently we are gearing up for Queens 90th birthday and will hold a special afternoon, complete with a " visit' by the Queen (guess I will be dressing up). We have a clever resident who was an artist so we are making cardboard cut out of a Guard and The Queen together to use as a photo booth, residents just need to put their face in the hole for a photo opportunity and then we will reminisce. Also in May we are holding a Movie Night - with family & friends invited to watch Oddball with us. Residents will help make some sandwiches & muffins for intermission (coincide with supper) with Tea/Coffee. Hope this helps. A big thank you for others who have come up with some great ideas that I will capitalise on too !!! Just love this site and how we all support one another.

Hi All, we have put up high those automatic air fresheners around the place, this works very well indeed. Obviously in good weather it is opening up windows - bring in flowers that we use for floral arranging activity. Sensory activity - we mix some lavender oil in sorbolene (ensure that you use a plastic spoon so that you do not cross contaminate the moisturiser) and then massage hand & arm. This helps enormously.

Hi Kimberley, just on the query of volunteers. As long as their police check comes through clean & an agreement signed, a hand book given of expectations, then they are able to be left alone with Elders. This was recently reconfirmed with an unannounced visit by the Quality Agency (I am in Melbourne). Training and being clear of what you seek, I go through orientation with the volunteer - I usually find out what a volunteer is good at and go from there. I will supervise the volunteer and give tips on how to handle a situation for a few weeks, then once they feel confident in undertaking the activity by themselves, I ensure that I assist setting everything up for them and do not leave alot of people with them. e.g. We recently commenced a book reading club and this has no more than 8 people there of high functioning Elders - our volunteer is great, she selects short stories of books that is sourced from the local library or an autobiography of interest in relation to Elders background - this leaves me to then undertake an activity with a different group of Elders.