lisafm

Our ombudsman is always super responsive! She's in Durham, NC

Teresat18, I am sorry I did not see your post. I did set up a chat through the Class Forum for the MEPAP1-5 class that started in May. Three of us then got together in the LiveChatRoom last Saturday (Aug 8). If you are still looking to chat with a classmate, you could announce that on your Class Forum and also set up a LiveChat date. Sorry I didn't see this soon enough to invite you from this forum! -lisafm

Hi, My name is Lisa and I work as Activity Assistant at a skilled nursing facility in North Carolina. I posted to two threads here about men's activities, and about lower cognitive activities. I see a few classmates of mine from MEPAP1 have been wanting to chat as part of our final practicum. I am going to go on our class forum and try to set something up, in case others want to join in too.

I am new in the activities field but I recently had a success with one of our dementia residents. We were watching the Ziegfeld Follies on youtube (we have a really big screen in our Activity Room), then moved on to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, all short clips. I was commenting on the beautiful and glamorous costumes, and the dancing. It really caught her attention, and she began commenting on what she was watching, with very appropriate commentary, like really tuned in - which is unusual for her. It somehow grabbed her, she latched on and could really talk about it on a reality level, and she thoroughly enjoyed it and told me afterwards it really brought back some old "friends" (I think she meant to say memories).

Hi all, these are all great ideas but I feel challenged in implementing them. We have about 8 men in our 100-bed skilled nursing facility. They do not seem in the least interested in socializing with other men. Some of them have lived in this area a very long time and already have strong social networks - family and church groups mainly - so I guess they just don't need to make friends. The others seem to want to keep to themselves. My sense with some of them is that they seem a little embarrassed about the loss of past strengths and capabilities, whether physical or cognitive, and this is getting in the way of their "putting themselves out there." Any thoughts on this? As I think more about this, It is becoming clear to me that maybe we (Activity Dept) need to do more for them before we expect them to do things together. I'm still a new Activity Assistant, but I don't think there has been something like a Men's Breakfast before. Maybe something like that would break the ice...