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AggieTiff

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Posts posted by AggieTiff
 
 
  1. Last year was my first Volunteer Appreciation so I have just that experience to share.... I went to the dollar store and found some very nice crystal frames ..each a dollar. I then found a poem that I printed out in nice font on linen paper and framed it. They loved the message / poem/...it really hit on what we think of our volunteers and how much they are appreciated. We have a lot of teen volunteers so we presented the gifts at a pizza party. It was fun and the residetns enjoyed it, too.

     

    Tiff

  2. The residents that are in chairs need assistance, for the most part, so someone was always with them durring the short parade. Really the parade did not last long or go far...just around the hall in each "Neighborhood". Short stramers around the front of the walkers and on the "handle bars" and arms of the chairs....maybd some baloons on the ""Handle bars" and then the resident will have thier hands free to hold the masks.

     

    Tiff

  3. Last year we had a Parade. We made masks, decorated walkers and chairs and had a lot of fun. We alswo had a social with king cake (talked about the history) and beads and really hamed it up. This year we are doing all the usual but we have started doing "themed" dinner parties once a month or so...so we are doing a Mardi Gras Dinner Party with creol and cajun dishes. We will do a social, as well, with the king cake and hurricanes (real and mock). Mardi Gras has always been real big in my family and social circle so I always go all out with decorations and traditions.

     

    We used to keep two christmas trees up in our Alzheimers Neighborhood that we decorated with each season. They were a big hit. They got taken down this year, I think by mistake, and put in storage....I kind of miss them. I think that is a fun idea.

     

    "Laissez les bon temps rouler!"

     

     

    Tiff

  4. Do not forget to put a baby in your cake so someone will find it. There is even a story behind the history of the cake to share with your residents. I am sure you can find teh history by doing a search or looking on nola.com.

     

    Tiff

  5. We have BINGO scheduled only 3 times a week. We probably play more than that in an average week. We have to have so many other things on our schedule that BINGO more than this will not fit. Our corporation has guidelines set that have to be followed, we have the room to be creative but we have to have so many cooking activities, cultural, outings, religious, and so on. We try to go beyond bingo but the residents love it so much that we do sneak in an extra game or two if we have nothing else going on....but they have to agree that we might be just playing for fun and just a few games, as time permits. For our scheduled bingo games the prizes include snacks, candy, dollar bin items, donated items such as lotions and powders. I think we all seem t have the same items for prizes and for the most part the residents like this. I ask at the activity committee and residents council meetings for suggestions and I rarely get them. I am in an ALF now but when I was in a IL/Retirement community we had BINGO only 2 times a month and it was always a big deal with as many as 30 or more showing up....the prizes were really good. Each game won a set that cost about 5 dollars that included the makings of a spegetti dinner (dried pasta, sauce, canned veggies, etc), paper goods (kleenex, toilet paper, paper towels), cleaning supplies or laundry supplies....things that were needed. They did not like knick knacks and brick bracks. The grand prize was always wine, if I did not get wine I would hear about it until the next game. We had a great time playing and everyone really got into it...but that was a retirement community and they were VERY independant with thier own apts w/ kitchens.

     

    Tiff

  6. I would highly suggest having a consent signed by the power of attorney for photos and names being used....just to cover your self. We just had a memorial for a group of residents who have passed over teh last few months, one of the hospice providers arranged this and we did have some photos and "in memory" listings. The families really liked this and it gave the care staff a bit of closure....but you never know who you are going to upset so get it in writing. Better safe than sorry.

     

    Tiff

  7. I do not know much about the law to it all but there is a little note under the calendar that mentions copywrite. Along with that little note is an email and a telephone number. Call that number and see what they say about it. Maybe if you give credit to the source....I dont know. Let us know what you find out, please.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Tiff

  8. I see what you are talking about, now. It amazes me how many families do not change these addresses themselves. If my loved one was not able to take care of his own affairs I would make sure everything came to my home so I would not miss anything. Some families need a lesson is responsibility.

     

    Tiff

  9. At my community the mail man passes the mail. well, he puts it in the residents box. I am at an AL community. The concierge (reception) sorts the Dept heads mail and places in our box, which really is not that much and she can do this in between calls and such.

     

    Unless we are all misunderstanding your vent...of course. But if you are refering to the residents mail, do they not have thier own boxes? Every place I have worked the residents have thier own boxes and it really was an activity in itself for them all to meet down and wait for the mail man everyday after lunch. The comments when he was not there on THIER time were very funny.

     

    If you are passing the mail to residents make it an activity where they all meet for "mail call" and coffee....or use it as a 1:1 activity for those who can not come out of thier rooms. Help them open and read if needed. This would be a great way to visit with individuals who are hard to talk to. I know this must get very time consuming for a larger community.

     

    Tiff

  10. This is the best job I have ever had. Sure sometimes it gets stressful and overwhelming, but if you keep yourself organised that should not happen often. What other job can you plan parties, sit and gossip (that is what one of my reisdents call our 1;1 chats), go out for coffee and lunch with really cool people, play games, sing sogs and dance like crazy, and wear silly red hats (just to name a few fun things we do)?

     

    Use your creativity (or sites like this to get ideas from others) and have a blast...I know I do. :lol:

     

    Tiff

  11. We have invited a group of highschoolers in that volunteer all year round. They are a young men's group. We will have pizza and all the usual snacks and beer and such. I am in an assisted living and the ones who are on special diets are considered,,...the pizza can be pureed (we have pizza night once a month and it is a huge success). This will act as our super bowl party as well as a volunteer appreciation for the boys. I thihk it will be fun.

     

    We have a ladies group coming in that day as well, for the ladies who are not interested in football. They are going to do a craft for valentines day.

     

    Tiff

  12. There is no way to think of everything you will need. Something will always "come up". The best advice I can give you is to sit down with your exec director or whoever knows what goes to whos budget and make sure you do not pay for things that others should be paying for. Examples....business supplies (office supplies, postage, etc) might be handled by an office supplies acct. Snacks and food for socials and happy hours might be handled by the dinning services dept. When I first started I just assumed everything that to do with an activity came from my budget, I was wrong and was spending money that I should not have been spending. Of course every company is different so you should have a sit down with your exec to get an idea of what is what. :-)

     

    Tiff

  13. I highly reccomend activityconection.com for communities with dementia residents. I have had a membership to the site for sometime now for the puzzles and everyday "fillers" to my program...but I just did my febuary calendar and used their special events and other things...and I did my calendar in half the time. We have an assisted living and an Alzheimers neighborhood, with seperate calendars...so this site is a big help and worth the 14.95 a month.

     

    I have been using all of the online sites such as this one and activityconnection more and more and it really helps when I get a creative block.

     

    Congrats on the new position. I hope you love being an AD as much as I (and I am sure most of us) do. It is a great way to spend the day.

     

    Tiff

  14. I dress for the occasion. I am pretty unpredictable at other times... :lol:

     

    Example, for New Years Eve and the day of our Christmas Parties I wore shiney dressy outfits to get the residents and staff excited. I always get complimented when I dress up and the residents love it, esp the Alzheimer's residents. They seem to like the "flash".

     

    Most of the time it is business casual unless there is a call for more professional attire. If I am out in the community with marketing or volunteer recruiting, I dress as the people at the meeting would. In the summer I tend to be more casual with capris and tastful sundresses.

     

    In my last job, it was very casual....I even wore PJ bottom styled pants. That group was a very hip retirement community.

     

    I dress respectful to the population.

     

    We are not allowed to wear scrubs, at all. Big NO NO.

     

    I hardly ever wear makeup anymore. I used to wear alot of makeup but the residents seem to like me without...,and that is OK by me...LOL.

     

    Tiff

  15. Halmark has these neat ornaments that shine like stars and other shapes on the ceiling. These are good for the residents in gerry chairs to watch while they are reclining. They move around and create a very relaxing scene. You might have seen the comercial for them?

     

    Pet therapy is good for all levels. There is a nice lady here that does not respond to much at all...but everytime we have animals around her, we get a reaction.

     

    Laughter therapy is good for all levels, as well.

     

    Tiff

  16. Hey, I am just now getting my certification. I have a Bachalors degree in Science in Elementary Education. I taught many years.......Now I am going to help the elderly. I love it.

    I have met quiet a few ADs that started out as teachers. I taught in a private school as a sub and was working on my teaching cert (all I have left is student teaching). I find it interesting to see who al has an education background.

     

    Tiff

  17. I am in Assisted Living and Memory Care. I do not do much with paper work for individual residents, the AL coordinator and Memory Care Coordinator do these and dept heads (incl activities) have to sign off on them. This takes forever so I can imagine what hours are put into the actual paper work. I have quiet a bit of paper work to document the actual activity program for corporate. And then the volunteer records take a bit of time. What drags my day down is the meetings, phone calls, orienting volunteers / documenting thier hours, and with Christmas (or any holiday), decorating the building. I am not going t do much else with decorating as I came in today and a few things I did were done over, so I guess my job in that was not satifactory...LOL. Whatever, right? :roll: My favortie part of the job, with the exclusion of actually getting to do an activity with the residents, is the event planning. I love creating parties for the residents and thier families.

     

    Tiff

  18. We are required as a "Best Practice" to have a social everyday (7 days a week) where alcohol is offered. I feel a bit strange and get strange looks when I offer someone a glass of wine at our Ice Cream Social. Even at our weekly happy hour there are not many who want beer or wine but we must offer it as it is an adult appropriate quality of life issue. We also must have it on our menus and meal displays as an option. Of course we know who can and can not have it. When we go out a few will order a drink and it gets charged to them as does the meal with their monthly bill.

     

    Tiff

  19. I used to be the AD at an Independant Living (very independant)/ Retirement community. I LOVED it. I really miss how they are able to do more outside activities than my group. We had a lot of fun going to museums, tours, shopping, dinning out, concerts, we even went to a Jazz Club and I was the designated driver. we did not offer rides to appointments, but we would help them find the resources they needed for that. We did a grocery store shuttle every friday and went to Walmart and Target regularly for their supplies. We had a few trips planned but I took another position before we went.

     

    Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

     

    Tiff

  20. I think all of the department heads kind of pitch in for family council. I send out the notices and make sure it is on the calendar and newsletter.... The ED leads it. I arranged for a speaker last time and we had a great turn out. We ran out of room for everyone. It is funny because before this last one we might have 1 or 2 family members show up. I think the key to this was that we had a speaker that was interesting, had an agenda, and did not have one last month. LOL. We have changed from every month to every other month and from 6:00pm to 10:30 am and things are going well. I would think that having it at night would be better but more come in the morning.

     

    I am going to try to keep on having speakers so maybe the attendance will stay up.

     

    Tiff

  21. I hated to drive the bus! Once I hit a hospital's carport when I was picking up one of my residents. I cried all day!

     

    Karen

    So far at this community I have only really had one incident...I, too, got stuck under a car port at a hospital / rehab place. It was embarrassing. Another time I got stuck in the ER ambulance bay....but that was not my fault. the ER was being redecorated and there was only one way in and out. I got up to the front and could not see to back up. Now the ER is redone and it is very accomodating to my needs...LOL.

     

    At the last community I had a few problems.... I side swiped the UPS man. He was so mad and ran out screaming that I knocked him all over his truck and all of the packages fell on him... my boss bursted out laughing at him. All it did was scratch his truck and they got like 1500 from our insurance...and never fixed the truck, you can see where they just painted brown over it. Out bus was not hurt either. I felt bad but he made it a bigger deal than it was.

     

    I was also rear ended in the smaller bus at my last community. That is a sore subject with me. they did not have worker comp and I am still in dispute about that. My lawyer is handleing it. Thank God the residents were not with me when it happened. I was hurt but if they were in teh bus it would have been very bad. This one was not my fault and the driver of the other car admitted it. Her car was totaled but she was not hurt, just shaken up and scared.

     

    Tiffany

  22. We have our transportation problems worked out, I hope. I was able to hire a driver, part time. I am so happy about that. He finsihed his training and started driving on his own today. What is funny is I am the one who trained him and he has so much more experience driving buses than I. We now have 3 people who CAN drive (and our beautician but she is on meds that prevent it now). I am not getting hardly any overtime, THANK GOODNESS and am much happier with my job. I do not mind driving to activities, that is my job, but the Dr appts were getting to be too much.

     

    Tiff

 
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