Pennie

That depends on you. Are you ready to carry on with more work or feel you need a break. Varies from person to person. Do what makes you comfortable. As for me I would take them back to back because I am already in the mind frame of working from the part 1 and if I put it off it would make it hard for me to start up again.

Hello & welcome to the world of activities. You are asking about transportation do you mean to & from activities or actual driving residents to doctor appointments etc.? The first one is everyone's job to get residents to & from activities. The second trans usually the family responsible or Social Worker. But you need to check the policy manual for your facility on this. There is a great book all about policy & procedure for a activity department. Lots of forms, information and training in it. The Activity Directors Bible: A Policy & Procedure Manual http://www.activitydirector.net/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=285 Check with the Administrator you should a budget that will pay for this. Best of luck to you.

Hello All Best luck on your test, if you haven't already taken & passed them.

National Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped can provide books and audio, along with adaptive equipment. I don't know about the TB shot, never had that one told to me. Contact churches seem if they have a members or know of someone. Google this you be surprised what comes up that you may find useful. There are lots ways to communicate, use flash cards, pencil & papers, laptop etc. Best of luck

Hello Everyone. Just wanted to take a min. to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you.

Who's job is it to mark the clothes for residents? How do they get marked at your facility? With Christmas this week there will be lots of new items coming in for residents.

Something I learned from giving out monopoly money was that the residents would save it up and then would try to spend it all at once. This would wipe me out on supplies and the budget would take a big hit. To help stop this I started putting expration dates on the money. This helped so much! Some of may also want to check into this. You usually have a seperate budget with Dietary. I was surpried to learn of this. This can be used for parties, one-on-one visits, etc but I also started using it to purchase bingo prizes.I made up a bingo cart that we take to bing everytime we play. At the end of the games residents could come use their money at that time if they wanted to. You can buy items like: chips, cookies, cokes etc. The dietary manage can give you a order sheet and you can see what is availabe and your stuff wil be billed seperatly from the kitche stuff. Staff started coming to activites asking for chips, sodas etc. At first we said no but they never gave up. What we came up with was we allowed them to purchase items from the cart. This money was then put into the activity funds. USe it for dollar store or something that is being saved up for like a popcorn machine etc.

Hi everyone. Hope you all had nice weekend and that this week will be a great one!

Happy National Assisted Living Week Sept 13 - 19 The theme is Nourishing Life: Mind, Body, Spirit How does your home plan to celebrate this week? Need some ideals? Check out NAL.org for some also get some free print outs etc.

I was reading NCCAP message board. A AD was asking how her resiednts could help other seniors out during the holiday season. When someone told her about this place. "Be A Santa To A Senior" What a great way for residents to sponsor other seniors. Check out the website: http://www.beasantatoasenior.com/

I understand the importance of making the residents life at a nursing facility as comfortable as possible but sometimes it is hard for all departments to get on board about this. Nursing has the most to do with this and I am finding it difficult sometimes to have the residents up to participate in those chosen activities of interest. I have talked to the DON the ADON and the floor nurses and also the GNA's. This has to do with the long time problem of staffing issues, myself and my staff can not get residents out of bed but can put shoes on them and sweaters and comb hair and things of that nature but it seems like this is a on going situation were we have to adjust our times for certain activities and make the planning of such difficult. I am hoping soon that this is corrected and all departments can work for the good well being of all our residents. Re: Working with Nursing to enhance the Culture change. by Pennie Bacon - Friday, September 4, 2015, 11:28 AM Hi Tracey This I think is a universal problem. Why can't others respect us the Activity Dept like we do them. If a resident is in a activity then it is 1 less person for them to deal with. Now that being said it may be time to ask for you to do a in-service with the staff and have the Admin & DON there to show they support you. 1. Activities is not our responsible only. It is all staff members responsible. We have a form that we use on .com website that staff is to use when they do a activity with residents. It is called a Multi-Dept Part Form. The guidelines require all staff members to do activities. 2. Residents have a right to attend any and all activities f their choice. This is Care Planned and part of their legal records on the residents chart. 2. Staff is to be sure that they get to these activities. IE. Reminded about activity, gotten out of bed, dressed, assisted to and from activity as needed. 3. If a resident wants to attend a morning activity and their shower schedule is set for that time then the shower time is to be adjusted not the activity. 4. State look sat the activity calendar and they check that scheduled activities happen and on time. They will check with the residents. 5. Actives can not be interrupted. So no staff member can come in to give residents meds, take them out for ADL's etc. They must also respect the rights of residents and be quiet when come into a activity. 6. You should be part of the team that when new hires are doing a orientation meeting. You need to be one of the department heads that goes in and talks to them and explain how important activities are to the residents and the that all staff is involved in this. 7. It is a proven fact that residents who are involved in the facility/activities Activities can bring enjoyment and pleasure. By remaining involved and active, a person with dementia can maintain their skills and independence for longer. Activities can help people to express how they are feeling and relieve the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Activities can increase social interaction and reduce isolation. Sharing an activity with others may promote shared interests, increased interactions and understanding. An activity may help a person feel important and valued because it relates to past roles and experiences, such as raising children or helping around the home. Shared activity can promote a sense of belonging. Leading a physically active lifestyle can have a significant impact on wellbeing. Exercise is beneficial for physical and mental health and can improve the quality of life for people at all stages of dementia. Take less medication plus so much more! So maybe some other AD's will reply to your post and offer some advise as well as some in-service hand outs etc. Keep us updated on your progress.

Just a FYI be sure that when activies are held and your not there that someone writes down the names of those who attened it. If it's not written/charted then it didn't happen. Maybe you have a resident that you know who attends these evening/weekend activies and they are able of take down names of eveyone who comes. Make them a resident volunteer. Then you can collec the names from him/her or they could put them in your box etc.

Welcome to the world of AD's.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published its proposed revisions to the current regulations for nursing homes participating in the Medicare and/or Medicaid programs. This proposed rule is available to view at the Federal Register website. Activity professionals, state/local activity associations along with other healthcare professional, will be able to submit formal comments on the rule from now until September 14, 2015 through the Federal Register site. You can submit electronic comments on this regulation to http://www.regulations.gov please refer to file code CMS-3260-P You may want o checkout what http://NCCAP.org has proposed as the changes they think should be made to the regulations.

Shonna be sure to read the section under "Shared Activities" There ia a men sections that been going on for few years and several pages of replies/suggestions.

Men like to garden. Also if you have alert men and enough of them maybe a small repair shop where they can fix things for other residents. You could also have broken bikes, trickes etc donated to facility men can fix these up and at Xmas donate them to a place that will give them kids that maynot otherwise get gifts.

teresat18 -- Thank you so much. I wish every facility had CNA's like you to work with. CNA's and Activities can make one great team when they work together and the benefits our residents get are Amazing!

Salita Dean is one of our students and she gave us this very insightful info. I think it might help some of the AD's who struggle with getting some residents to attend activites. To encourage or motivate residents in activities participation it is important that you identify any barriers. Try to engage a family member to attend a couple of sessions. Try to bargain with the resident; invite him/her to 'watch' the program and later encourage them to give it a go for 10 minutes. Pair up the resident with another who attends activities regularly and invite both to attend the next session. Don't give up. Negotiate without coersion. Deep down everybody seems to enjoy cooperation and your gentle persistence will be rewarded.

You could also have a resident that is very reliable do a couple of the activites, example Bingo, take names of resident that attend any activis. Ask them to set up for the Church Services etc. I would also place this in the newsletter (as well as the bulletin boards) the month prior to your vacation that you need volunteers, ie family members, chuchr groups etc. to come in and do activies. Find out what they can do and when. Then if supplies are needed you can make a cart/basket or something with the suplies in it. Place it in your office for them so all they need to do is grab it and go. (Be sure you have them take names of residents in attendance). If your office is locked be sure that you have a key left with staff member/ station or resident.that can let them in to get the supplies needed.

Would love to see replies to this question also. What are you AD's seeing in your State Surveys? What about the Care Plans?

No but please let us know how it goes. Would love the details and residents reactions.

Conflict is always going to be part of any job. What kind of conflict do you face at your place of employment? How do you handle it? Are you able to speak to other department heads abou this?

Here are some links that may help you when trying to do fundraisers for your department. These are provided by some of our MEPAP students: http://www.dojiggy.com------ they have lot's of ideas on how to http://eldercaresolve.com------ great ideas for the seniors http://www.giveforward.com/p/q/fundraising-site? http://www.gofundme.com/ http://www.youcaring.com/ http://www.razoo.com/start-fundraiser? https://www.yankeecandlefundraising.com/profitcalc.htm? http://www.forbes.com/sites/chancebarnett/2013/05/08/top-10-crowdfunding-sites-for-fundraising/ https://www.indiegogo.com/ https://www.kickstarter.com/ https://fundrazr.com/

Best of the Boomers --- Movies have been an important part of American culture for as long as you can remember. As part of the Baby Boomers generation, you grew up with movies. You may have even been the part of the first generation to have movies come into your home. The evolution of the film industry has been nothing short of spectacular and you've been apart of a generation that has witnesses that first hand - from rapid growth and development in the 50's and 60's to where it is today. Looking back, you might recall some of the movies you would consider popular or influential for the Boomers generation. So hers's a "Best of the Boomers" Top Ten Movies list, including old favorites. Some you remember and maybe some you have forgotten about. 1. The Graduate 1967 2. Easy Rider 1969 3 A Clockwork Orange 1971 4. The Godfather 1972 & Part II 1974 5 Jaws 1975 6 All The President's Men 1976 7. Annie Hall 1977 8. Apocalypse Now 1979 Kramer vs Kramer 1979 Reds 1981 Source: AARP Newsletter What other things have you noticed with the Boomers as far as activities? Music? What are they listening to now? What type group activities? More In-Room or One-on-Ones? Please share your input. I have been told that this has started effecting the Assisted Living.

Activity Professionals – Where are we going? – NCCAP Activity Professionals – Where are we going? – NCCAP . Recently, a car company used a famous actor to sell cars. The commercials were interesting, to say the least and became the butt of jokes and parodies. However, the actor said something in one of the commercials that was rather profound. He said “Sometimes you got to go back to move forward. Need to go back to see where you came from; where you’ve been, how you got here; to see where you’re going.” The activity professional’s look back period is a short one. The Federal regulations defined our profession as a requirement in 1974 although the healing power of recreation and leisure is documented well before that. In our early years, we were known as the “Three B’s- Bingo, Bible Study and Birthday Parties”. The success of our programs was measured by how many people we could gather up for the program, not so much whether individual needs were being met. The activity class which trained us varied from state to state and was at most – 36 hours long. Residents with dementia were considered “senile” and often spent much of their day in restraints (to keep them safe) and medicated (to keep them calm). Looking back, it was not a pretty sight. Today, the activity professional is just that – a trained professional. Education requirements have increased and national certification through National Certification Council for Activity Professionals is the standard most individuals strive for. NCCAP certification may not be the “easy” road but our job is not easy either. Today, our care facilities are based on person directed care, rather than the medical model from years ago. The activity professional is a leader in developing person directed programs, both individual and group. The activity professional is an advocate for the elder, assisting the resident to make their own choices and to continue living life as best they can for as long as they reside in our care facilities. Becoming nationally certified through the NCCAP provides the activity professional with knowledge as well as a national credential which is respected by state and federal agencies. Today, the trained and certified activity professional has earned their position as a vital, equal member of the care team. Where do we go from here? What will tomorrow bring for the activity profession? We need to be mindful of three major areas of change !. the populations served, the care settings in which we work, and available resources. -We are already aware of the changing population 2. the arrival of the Baby Boomers. The age wave of independent minded, individual loving, health conscious people are already peeking in our door. We have begun to adjust our programs and approaches to focus on the new perspective and very individualized needs of this next generation of residents. -Interestingly enough – this new generation of “elders” (don’t call baby boomers elder) will re-shape how we care for people as they do age. Nursing homes will focus more on sub-acute care and rehab while long term care options will segue into smaller communities. We are already seeing new care facilities adopt the Greenhouse Model which are smaller homes for less than 12-15 people. There will be a growth in the “Niche Care” or “Affinity Retirement” communities. These communities cater to the shared interests of a group. Burbank Artists’ Colony in California caters to creative arts of all kinds; Rainbow Vision in New Mexico caters to the LGBT community; and Lakeview Ranch in Minnesota which is specialized dementia care for those who have farmed their whole lives are just a few examples. There will be a return of multi-generational communities; communities where people of all ages reside together but in a supportive way. The Treehouse Foundation is an example of structured multigenerational living. In the Treehouse Communities, older people live in cottages, next door to families who are caring for foster children. Both groups benefit from the support systems in place as well as opportunities to build meaningful relationships. Lastly, remaining in the home will become easier with the increase in home care services. Visit Activitydirector.org for more info on the Home Care Certification Course 3. Adaptive tools will be readily available to all and using them will become the norm rather than the exception. Independence, individuality and living life to the fullest will be a standard for all and who better to guide them through the process – than the Activity Professional. So, as that famous actor said in the commercial – looking back can be helpful and can guide us in making decisions for our future. The future is bright and quite exciting for the activity profession.