hpt0413

I work at an Adult Day Care Center. We are just opening. I have my first participant coming tomorrow for about four hours. He doesn't communicate well and he is in the further stages of dementia. His wife says that he is really depressed and all he does all day is watches t.v. and shuffle papers...( he likes to shuffle papers) My question to you all....with it only being him and I for four hours....what are some good activities for us to do? PLEASE PLEASE send me some suggestions, advice and recommendations!! I would really appreciate it!!

The cost of adult day care depends on the services offered. In my area daily fees range anywhere from $40-80 per day. Again, the services offered differ from facility to facility. I work in a facility that has a RN, LPN, CNA, contracted social workers, Activitiy director and assistant, and a dietary consultant on staff. We offer a wide range of activities to our participants. Wii, music, card, community service project, pet therapy and memory enhancememtn programs. Adult Day Care is a wonderful concept. Every center that I have toured has a different speciality about it.

I have ordered two books from this site. The first was Mothballs In My Attic and the other was Activities for the Mind. Both books have interesting and creative ideas for dementia patients. They have activities that can be tailored depending on the degree of the dementia. You should check them out.

I interviewed two Activity Directors last week. That same issue came up and I asked them how they handled it. Both had similar replies. They divide the Participants into groups. When dividing they group similar impairments together. Sometimes she has three or four groups at once. She recruits volunteers and other facility members when they need more one on one help. Smaller groups with more individual help will probably work.

I have found some resourceful tools through this website. The book store has two books that I recommend ordering. #1 Activities For The Mind. #2 Mothballs In My Attic. Both are great books and you will find more than enough activities to help with the different stages of Alzheimers.

April is also "Keep America Beautiful Month". I am starting a recycling center here. We are going to decorate different buckets. One for cans, paper and plastics. We are also playing Earth Bingo and centering all the activies around the Earth Day theme. Maybe everyone could dress up for the carnival.

I would get a cart that has room for a variety of activities. I would decorate the cart like a float in a parade. The cart itself would draw attention to the members who aren't interested in partcipating. Fill the cart with a veriety of different activities such as: knitting items, painting, drawing, books, beading, bingo, board games, etc. Ask the members to show you what stands out and maybe you can go from there. Hope that helps a little.