Andrea

Hi Wendy,
Working in a Memory Unit is tough and exhausting. There should be 2 CNA's with you. Help them learn to engage. Some preferred doing nothing but others were awesome and would color or build things. Doing things that people have always done is a good start. IE. keep a basket of laundry handy, socks to sort, towels to fold. find old or cheap calendars to make picture books. Find out what their favorite music is. Family photo albums are good for 1:1's. I like to have plenty of sponge brushes, painters tape, watercolors and paper or canvases handy. Sorting activities can be fun. I really enjoyed one volunteer who would do a few activities for an hour and she brought her preschoolers with her. If you have outdoor space spend time outside, Watering and garden work are familiar to many people.
One caution is about keeping unsafe items away, I had a resident eat a styrofoam Easter Egg. Another drank the blue non-toxic dye. No scissors. Etc.
Get creative- I used to sing and dance with a resident on our way to the toilet. (she was mostly uncooperative otherwise). You are my Sunshine really can be a dance song, lol.
If you want help with motivation and behavior challenges, look up Teepa Snow podcasts.
See if anyone close is presenting Dementia Dialogues. Education and reminders are great.
PS. We loved bus rides. I drove along a lake and one resident talked about taking his family waterskiing. When we got back he told his family that he had been waterskiing. He passed the next week. So glad I could take him on one last ride.

Last year we had a Witches Hat decorating contest. Wow! Amazing creations. Then we displayed them for Halloween.