heavenstar

Wii just finished our bowling tournament through the National Senior League (www.NSLgames.com). It was so much fun and the residents really got into it. Here is a clip from our local TV station featuring us http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=7164831 With the league, you play your game at your facility and keep score--- how many strikes and spares each person got and their personal score. Afterwards, you upload their scores to the nslgames website. Then after the 5 weeks of play, the playoffs begin. Sometimes in the playoffs, you have to play twice a week. We made it to round 4 before getting knocked out. For those that play bowling or golf already, this is a great league to join (it is expensive tho!). It provides your team with a goal and promotes team building, plus some people really like being competitive! Just thought I'd share!

we always make fresh wreaths to hang on our doors. I go to Home Depot where they are cutting the trees and they let me get as much of the trimmings as I want for free. I buy some florist wire and we use some donated xmas ornaments and ribbon ( I have enough to last me the next 10 years!). We take wire coat hangers and shape them into a circle and begin wrapping the trimmings around the hanger and securing them with wire. At the end, we hot glue the ornaments and ribbon. The room and hallways always smell great and they last for a few weeks.

you can also go to pumpkinmasters.com/freepatterns. They are a little more difficult, but different options.

Perfect! Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks so much!

Does anyone have a cute-- and very INexpensive idea for table decorations for a breast cancer lecture? Thanks!

What an eye-opener! I have done sensitivity training before-- but it is almost always with only ONE of those items-- not all at once! Having seen this video, I am convinced that all staff should go through this training yearly-- including bosses and admins! Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

ok-- we just had a staff meeting and this is what we came up with: Hurricane Ike Breakfast Fruity FEMA Salad Category 3 Eggs (scrambled) Windblown Breezy Biscuits Hunker Down Turkey Bacon Power Outage Potatoes Generator Jam Wind Whipped Butter Community Partner Coffee Liquid Thunder (Juice)

Finally, we are about to be finished with the repairs from Hurricane Ike last September. We had to displace 80 apartments and the last ones will be back the first week of Sept. We will be celebrating by having a breakfast-- and it just happens to fall one day short of the anniversary of the storm last year-- so we are theme-ing it Hurricane Breakfast. We haven't decided on a menu yet, but traditional breakfast foods-- and this is where I need your help! What can we call the food??? Windy Eggs, stormy bacon, etc!! I would like stuff to be funny and cute, and we will be having hurricanes to drink (non-alcholic) Here are some catch words-- but feel free to use your imagination and creativity! Hurricane Typhoon Category 3 Tropical Storm Wind Shore Flood Rain Storm Surge Power Outage Generator Heat Thanks! Angie

I feel your pain everyday. I work in a facility where most people speak either Russian or Chinese. I have been here over 9 years and these are some of the things that I have found: 1. Music speaks everyones' language. 2. Art/Painting/Crafts-- stuff that is "hands-on" where you can show them what to do and not speak. 3. English Classes-- Conversational English-- teach them how to say hi to each other and to you. 4. Trips-- cultural trips to the museums, ballets, symphonies and anywhere near water work best. 5. Exercise 6. If you show movies, have the English sub-titles on. They can often read and comprehend English better than hearing it. 7. Food-- do an International Pot Luck dinner, have arm chair travel with food from that region and my favorite, a vegetable garden. You can find seeds in a feed store that will represent more countries and regions than you will at a Walmart. Have the residents plant and raise the veggies and then serve them in a meal prepared traditionally or sold as a fundraiser. 8. Photography- Give them a camera and see what developes! Then have a slide show or calendar printed. These are just a few, but maybe a start for you. What I love best about having residents who don't speak English is that if they like what you are doing, they smile. If they don't, then they can't complain because you can't understand them! Good luck!

No, but I am really interested in it! What about bathroom breaks? lol

No gambling--we are just using the theme. All of our casino gambling tables were ruined in a flood, and there has been no money or time to replace them. The sign was made by me-- from scratch! lol. It started as a cardboard box. I had twinkle lights and pingpong balls around the edge. Everything else is done with glitter and glue! I am def getting balloons-- probably red, white and black. I will post pics of everthing afterwards! Thanks!

Here is a link to the entrance sign: http://picasaweb.google.com/angie.futch/Ex...136836740024674[/img]

Hi all! I have a party coming up this Thursday with ExxonMobil and the theme is Chance to Dance. I am really excited about it. I finished the entrance sign and have already started on the table decorations, but would like some more input. What other ideas can you come up with for table decorations? This is what I have so far: White table cloth with black dots cut out to make the square tables look like dice. Same with red table clothes. For centerpeices: Black box with playing cards glued to the outside. Inside, a peice of foam will hold a dowel rod. On top of the rod, a white styrofoam cube. The cube has dots on it to make it look like a die. Sparkle red crinkle paper is in the bottom of the box. Thanks in advance for your help!

that sounds like fun! What other activities will you do while they are rockin?

We have had teas around the world series where each month, we would feature one tea from a country and then have several tea bags of regular or flavored tea for different options. The ginger tea from India was the biggest success. Also, we have had a High Tea for our Volunteer Appreciation, Women's Luncheon and Tea for talks on women's issues, and a Tea and Bingo Party-- the prizes for bingo are speciality teas wrapped up pretty. I have been to garage sales and bought pretty tea cups and saucers for $0.50 (and tea pots) and stuck some flowers in them and use that for centerpeices. Also, you can give away a Tea-Shirt as a mock prize too! Cover a plain white T in tea bags. It will be good for a laugh!

you can google free guided meditation and it will come up with some... I didn't find anything dealing with pain management. Try also to call a holistic health center in your area or even a psychologist. Also, you can try calling a training center--- people who will come to your company and host training sessions. I have done this before and they have done stress sessions for us-- where they guided us through. This is a video of meditation and a free website for many different free meditation videos http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2007/12/29/aum-...ird-eye-chakra/ I know what type of guided meditation you are talking about and I don't think this is it, but it is a starting point.

It sounds to me like he should either go back home with a caregiver or move to an assisted living. Sounds like he shouldn't be there-- and honestly, if I were stuck somewhere I didn't belong-- and then feel like no one wanted me back (where I want to be) then I would sleep all day too. I know this doesn't help you any, but it is frustrating when family members don't take care of their own. I am in a retirement home and way too often, we have residents that cannot take care of themselves, are bedridden, alzheimers and a wanderer, and the family will refuse to see anything wrong! They just leave them here and forget them (but yet, won't sign over guardianship to a social service that can get them where they need to be.)

Great Idea! I went to a murder mystery dessert play at a local community theater last year and it was fantastic! They had very little audience participation... they played out the play and then during the dessert break, you had an envelope taped to the bottom of your chair with clues and a piece of paper that you fillled out-- who did it and where the murder weapon or money was hiding. Then after they finished the play, the person with the correct information won season tickets.

I always have a couple of kids working on their bar/bat mitzvah here during the summer. That would make them about 12yrs old. I never have a problem with them. The parent drops them off for their scheduled time and picks them up later. Some of the projects they have done is computer classes-- one on one in our computer center. This really teaches them patience! Skits -- directing and building props Working in the garden-- a resident is assigned to them Buildng a butterfly garden (did have parent's supervision!) parties, crafts, scrapbooking, games and lifestories, wii bowling They are usually one at a time, so I am close by and check on them frequently. I don't see it as a babysitting service, I see it as them learning important skills for life..... and even if the parent is using it as a babysitting---it is still an opportunity for me to teach the importance of learning from elders, how to talk to them, and how to value them! It would not be possible for me to do this with more than a couple of kids at a time without some type of adult supervision-- i like working with seniors, not kids! lol

Well well well... strippers, naked pictures and erotica----- very interesting topic indeed! I think I am going to try to set up a seperate account like those who suggested-- also, since we are a non-profit, I wonder if we could set up as a cause and feature stuff on there instead-- I will have to look into that. Since my mom and my son also joined me on facebook, I have edited a lot of stuff from my profile and it is really G-rated right now. I agree that it is a little weird for people who have not been in my life for 17 years to now know everything I am doing during the day, but the benefits outweigh the cons-- so I am still FB-ing away. Thanks for the great advice!

Here is my dilemma: do you add the residents as your friends on your facebook? One resident sent some of us in the office a friend request. Honestly, I have a problem with it... I don't want some of them to know everything about my life-- or the results of some of those stupid quizes! lol. I know that it is a very public place and I keep that in mind, but there are some things they just don't need to know! For example: My stripper name is Heidi Moonhooter. I know it is from a stupid quiz and you may know-- but they may think I am really a stripper! lol I would love to teach them facebook, but I know that more of them will find me there. What to do?

Here are some of my quick answers: Depression: getting people out of their rooms and socializing, exercising, engaging in activities will prevent depression Isolation: having activities that people are interested in will encourage them to socialize and interact with others therefore preventing isolation. wounds and falls: regular exercise such as tai chi, chair, yoga will aid in preventing falls. The activity department is a major factor in preventing many ailments of the seniors in our homes. We have many different programs that are beneficial to our residents and is it our job to make them fun so that the residents will attend and benefit from them!

We do the same thing-- only for adult cancer patients. Our residents love this group! In fact, when one of them gets their citizenship, they spend their money on yarn and donate it to the group. The community also donates yarn for the project as well. When we did baby caps and booties for the hospital, the hospital would donate the yarn.

I agree! The staff are great and are some of the most suportive people I know! They are always there to help me out when I ask. I would have been lost without this site and the staff! Double Kudos! Angie

I agree with the others-- you look too expensive for our group (low income, independent living) BUT... that has never stopped me from asking if you would do a special program for a smaller budget-- like community service. My residents appreciate professionals only and have no patience for small town musicians- unless it is their grandchildren, so I am constantly trying to get high quality music for free or very cheap (around $100). I wish you lived in Houston-- I would love to have you here! It would definitely be right up their alley-- andl also I really appreciate you going out of your way to contact the AD's and listen to their opinions! It shows that you love what you are doing, you are considerate and you care. I also like the fact that you make contact with each resident before and after your show. I am sure you get invited back to those facilities because the residents remember you and remember how you made them feel. It probably sets you apart from the others. Good Luck!