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Saw this on pinterest & liked it: Training and consulting in behavior management & dementia care. Life Story Questionnaire By Kim Warchol, OTR/L | July 27, 2012 Professional Care Partners: Use this questionnaire to learn about the clients you work with. Complete one questionnaire with each client and/or the client’s loved ones. This great resource will provide you with helpful information as you get to know your clients and encourage their interests and abilities. Family Care Partners: Use this questionnaire to help others learn about your loved one. Complete this questionnaire with your family member or on her behalf. With this valuable tool in hand, everyone who cares for your loved one will have the information they need to engage her likes and interests. Download a PDF of this questionnaire. Background Full name Does your name have a special significance? Do you have a nickname? Where did your nickname come from? Where were you born? When were you born? What was your father’s name? Please describe your father. What was your mother’s name? Please describe your mother. Do you have brothers and/or sisters? If yes, please describe your siblings. Did you know your grandparents? If yes, please describe your grandparents. Where did you grow up? Please describe the house you lived in. What was your neighborhood like? Who were your neighbors? What games did you play? Are/were you married? If yes, please describe your spouse. Do you have children and grandchildren? If yes, please describe your children and grandchildren. Daily Routine What time do you like to get up in the morning? Do you prefer to stay in your pajamas for a while? Describe your routine after waking (e.g., brushing your teeth, doing your hair, dressing). Do you prefer showers or baths? At what time of day do you take a shower/bath? Do you eat breakfast? If yes, what do you like to eat for breakfast? What’s your typical lunch and afternoon routine? Do you like to take naps? Do you like a big meal at noon or in the evening? Please describe your typical evening routine. What time do you like to go to bed? What hygiene products do you prefer? EducationWhere did you go to school? How did you get there? What did you like about school? Also ask questions about high school and college, if appropriate. Work What was your first paid job? What kind of job was it? What were your duties/responsibilities? What were your accomplishments? LeisureWhat are your hobbies/interests? What are your favorite movies/books? Do you enjoy music? If yes, what kind? Did you have pets? If so, what kind, and what were their names? Are you afraid of or allergic to any pets? Did you travel, and if so, where did you go? What have been some special events in your life? What’s your favorite time of year? Do you prefer solitary activities, small groups, or large groups? Religion/Faith Did you attend a place of worship? Did you have a role in the services? If so, please describe. How did you spend your day of worship? Do you have a prayer book? Emotional Needs What makes you feel happy? What makes you feel safe? What makes you feel sad? Is there anything that helps you alleviate this feeling? What makes you feel anxious, angry, or frustrated? Is there anything that helps you alleviate these feelings? Please describe your bedroom at home. Please describe the room in your home where you relaxed. Additional Information Please note other important likes and interests.

Final Chat schedule posted. National Activity Professionals Week 1/18…Kathy Hughes: - Sensory Programs 1/19…Cindy Bradshaw:- Streamlining NCCAP applications/processes 1/20…Debbie Hommel: - The ABC's of Understanding the Cause of Dementia Driven Behaviors 1/21…Mury Delpino: - Activity Supplies on a Dime - Resources that can help stretch your Department budget Dollars ! 1/22...Sulekha Zaug: - Personality Conflicts-Tips for Managing Behaviors During Activities 1/23…Sherry Barzak: - Strategies for Dealing with Mental Illness as a 1:1 1/24…Ruth Roach Martanis: - Keeping Your Patients Motivated in Rehab with Activities 1/25…Kathy Hughes: - Themed Events

Happy New Year!!!!! Jan. 18th-25th is National Activity Professionals Week! Celebrate in Style! NCCAP is offering FREE Continuing Education Chats 8:00PM EST (7:00M CST) In the NCCAP Chat room hosted by the Activity Directors Network! http://www.nccap./chat/ Register and copy off this form NCCAP Application for CE_Form Fill it in once you have attended the entire chat and then send it to NCCAP for your free continuing education. Each chat is for one clock hour. You can attend one or all of them. Here is the schedule: Here is the NCCAP schedule for next week all at 8pm EST-in honor of National Activity Professionals Week, all of the chats will be free! Get ready for Sunday .. Final Chat Schedule .. National Activity Professionals Week 1/18…Kathy Hughes: - Sensory Programs 1/19…Cindy Bradshaw:- Streamlining NCCAP applications/processes 1/20…Debbie Hommel: - The ABC's of Understanding the Cause of Dementia Driven Behaviors 1/21…Mury Delpino: - Activity Supplies on a Dime - Resources that can help stretch your Department budget Dollars ! 1/22...Sulekha Zaug: - Personality Conflicts-Tips for Managing Behaviors During Activities 1/23…Sherry Barzak: - Strategies for Dealing with Mental Illness as a 1:1 1/24…Ruth Roach Martanis: - Keeping Your Patients Motivated in Rehab with Activities 1/25…Kathy Hughes: - Themed Events As you can see there are many topics to choose from! A total of 8 clock hours (FREE) are avaialble! Hope to see you there! Happy NAPW! Kathy

I got a email from a social media site asking about: High in the Nursing Home The question was: Dear Dr. Jeff: Our state is considering legalizing marijuana. Clearly, we will be admitting residents who are already using marijuana and some others for whom it might be recommended. I know that the details vary from state to state, but do you have any general or specific recommendations for our nursing home? This got to me to wondering if any of you have ran up against this yet? If so how do you & your facility handle this? Very intersting question I think. Share with us your thoughts, pro & cons. How it will be handled where you are. I feel like it will on be a matter of time before we have to deal with this issue, if we aren't yet, due to the amount of Baby Boomers.

Hi Stephanie Depending on the type of facility you work for will depend on how much paperwork will be involved. A Long Term Care Facility that is funded by CMS will require lots of paperwork & meetings. Usually a Adult Day Care or Assisted Living requires less paperwork so you could have the balance of what your wanting. Hope this helps you. Good Luck

Sounds like you wil lmake a winderful AD. We need folks like you in the field. You can not be a good AD if your just in it for a pay check. I mean resally we don't get paid very well anyway so it has to be a passion for all of us lol. Merry Christmas.

Hi Teresa Did you sign up with us, ADN, to take the course? If yes please email Kathy Hughes the Instructor. She will be more that happy to answer your question. Her email address is found in the enrollment packet. Thank you Merry Christmas

This brings a intersting topic: What 50 &/or 60 songs would be good for sing alongs? Songs like: Walk The Line, Let it Be, 3 Times A Lady, Artist: The Monkey's, Donny Osmond, Conway Twitty?? What songs would make a good DVD & Sing a long list for your facility. Vendors in our store should take notice of this new requirement needed by AD's. AD's post what you would like to see in a sing along book. Great topic Joyce

Activity Director Needed Family Health West - West Colorado Family Health West is looking for a Dynamic Activity Department Director for our Long Term Care Facility. Excellent Health & Dental Benefits ~ Matching Retirement Plan ~ New PTO Availability, to name just a few of the great benefits offered to our employees at Family Health West located in beautiful Western Colorado. Full-time position oversees the activity department to include staff management. This position will be responsible for assessment and implementation of group and individual activities based on each elder’s history, interests, abilities, physical limitations and needs. Other duties include but are not limited to defining short and long term goals with observable objectives and measurable limits; incorporating goals into the Care Plan, representing the elder’s interests at the care conference, etc. This position is responsible for ensuring that all federal and state regulations are met with regard to resident activities. Two-years long-term care experience required, dementia training strongly preferred. Must have a current Activities Director certification in the state of Colorado or must be willing to obtain within six months. If interested, please apply online at www.familyhealthwest.org.

ActivityDirectorJobs.com Featured Jobs Full-Time 11 Sep 2014 Life Enrichment Wellness Director Needed – San Angelo, Texas Senior Care Centers – San Angelo Texas, United States Full-Time 11 Sep 2014 Wellness / Activity Director Needed – Rowlett, Texas Senior Care Centers – Rowlett Texas, United States Full-Time 5 Sep 2014 Activity Director/Life Enrichment Coordinator – Navasota Texas Lifetime Wellness – Navasota Texas, United States Full-Time 5 Sep 2014 Wellness Director / Recreation Therapist – Tyler Texas Lifetime Wellness – Tyler Texas, United States Full-Time Recreation Coordinator Needed Mechanicsburg, PA Susan Crossley/Bethany village -

Hi Dani Many years ago I developed the system using calendars. I use to use something like you are speaking about but it was so time consuming & we would catch our self’s getting behind on the paper work etc. What I did was take the month calendar, make a copy of it. Then using the copy move the date to the left side. On the right side make spaces for Residents Name & CP Goals. Then make a copy for each resident in the facility plus a few extra for any new residents that may come in. Place each residents name on the calendar & write the CP Goal on it. (This will help your staff know what you are & the resident are among for. Then using a highlighted system on the calendar: Yellow - active, Green - passive. Orange -refused, Blue - Not OOB, OOP, @ Drs etc & Pink - Read Notes If a resident attends activity & they participate then you would high light that activity in yellow, if came & watched then it would be green for passive etc.. If there is a place on front of calendar make a box that says notes otherwise use the back. This would be where you would high light something that you felt would need to be know at a later time. Example Ms Smith was at church services on Sunday. She was upset because they placed Ms. Jones beside her. She refused to calm down even after Ms Jones was moved. Ms. Smith had to be removed from the active. So you would high light the Church Service pink & the notes back up your story. Your staff can take names during activities or use any system that is quick for them until they have a chance to chart. Be sure you allow time everyday for them to chart. You may use this as activity time. Example: 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm Staff Charting time. Hope this helps you out. Also when State came in for survey they loved this system. They could see at a glance who was doing what.

CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid) requires a qualified activity director in all facilities that accept Medicaid. (FTag 249). If a facility does accept Medicaid then it is inspected by the state and or federal regulators. This regulation was developed in 1976 for all skilled nursing facilities. Each state, at that time, decided other regulations for the activities department. For example, in NY it is required that a calendar for the month be posted in an area accessible to all of the residents. There are many states that did not accept that particular part of the regulation. So in a Skilled Nursing Facility they must have a qualified activity director.In Assisted Living Facilities, each state has its regulation for what a qualified activity director is. As each state has developed its own regulations it is difficult to answer your question. You would have to look up the Assisted Living Facility regulations for your state. An example would be that in NY the activity director has to have an associate’s degree and it can be in anything. So looking up the Assisted Living Facility regulations will assist you. Here is a link to assist you: http://www.alfa.org/alfa/State_Regulations_and_Licensing_Informat.aspThere is no regulation in either setting that requires a four-year degree in gerontology for an activity director. Perhaps this person is thinking about a consultant, which there are no regulations currently that state what or who can consult a qualified activity director. Couple of Links Surveyor Guide for CMS State by State Regs for Activity Directors

New CE Workshop is available at ActivityDirector.org online classroom, Creativity! Activities that Inspire Pre-Approved by NCCAP for 5 Credit Hours Activities inherently taps into the “potential and creativity” of the participants. This Online study program will encourage you as the activity professional to explore various ways to awaken the potential and creativity in your residents. This will assist you in developing programs that can be used to unlock the creativity in your residents.

You can place several items in a bag & residents reach in & try guess what it is they are feeling You can have several things in bottles & have residents smell them guess what it is they are smelling IE use spices from kitchen, oils, wax candles etc Get a activity apron (google this & will see several kinds) There are several games you can play for sensory Do a search for sensory items for adults to see a wide range of things that you can purchase or make yourself. We have lots of activities for Sensory at http://activitydirector.com

In LTC there is a lot more paperwork! The best thing I can advise is that you use your monthly calendar as your attendance sheets for the activities. Make a copy of each month calendar, one for every resident. Place these in a binder. Using a hi-light system to keep track of who did what. IE yellow active (participated in it), Green passive (came & watched) Orange refused (refused to attend) blue not OOB, OOP etc. Pink read notes (these are notes you write on the resident’s calendar for whatever reason) When you hold the activity jot down on a piece paper or whatever way you find works best for you all the residents that attend or asked to attend & didn't etc. Later in the day when you do your paperwork pull list out & mark residents calendars. This will help you so much when you have to do progress notes every 3 months on the resident(s). Plus you can also see at a glance if there has been a change in the resident’s attendance, which you should look into as something may be going on. This may not make sense to you yet but once you get in there & start working you will have a better understanding. Good luck

Hi Nita One thing you need to do when you are having a fundraiser is to tell everyone why your raising the money! Some of the things I have success with are: Purchase some Bingo Sheets Like these (check Ebay) & sell them for a $1 for 4 Bingo Cards to staff, residents & family members. Every day Mon - Fri in the am call out 1 number. Post this number on your bulletin board for everyone to see. Keep these numbers up until someone bingos. The money you collect will be divided between activity department & winner. If you have 2 winners then split it 3 ways. Be sure to post winning card for everyone to see and be sure when someone wins that you don't give out the money until next day. This will give staff from night shift a chance to check their cards. This is a hugh hit at the facility & raises quite a bit money. Another way to raise money is to put together baskets & sell tickets for it. This can be done during holidays. IE Easter, Mother's Day etc. Sell food: It is best to do this on a pay day or day after. Sell hotdogs, potato chips & sodas to anyone who wants to buy them. Have residents help serve this. During summer ice cream cones &/or sundaes are hugh hit too. Another way to raise money is fix up 3 or 4 baskets & hold a raffle. People purchase raffle tickets & place it in a box in front of the basket they want to buy. Sell tickets for several days to collect more money. Do a search for raffle ticket. Purchase the double row kind. That way they can place 1 in the item they want & keep the other end: Just a few ideals.

Hi ladies. Welcome to th wonderful world of activities. As far as Easter Egg Hunt get as many volunteers as you can to help. I had a hugh volunteer program when I ran activities & it made my job much easier but most improtantly the residents enjoy having other people to interact with.

If you haven't checked out Alzheimer's Reading Room The Alzheimer's Reading Room is the number one source of life news for the entire Alzheimer's Community. http://www.alzheimersreadingroom.com/ You should. It has such great stories & suggestions.

Dana post this in the forum in the classroom area. If you can it is good ideal to email all of them & set up a specif date, time to do this. Good luck

Dana I use to also use the same type cart for movie night. If a resident was bedfast for whatever reason. I would get a movie & fix snacks with drinks & then invite a couple of resdients to join the bedfast resident in their room to watch the movie. This was usually done prior to me leaving for the day. I enlisted the help of the CNA to check on them & help out as needed. It bacame a very popular things & the residents formed a great friendship during the process.

Blood Clots/Stroke - They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, the Tongue STROKE:Remember the 1st Three Letters..... S. T. R. STROKE IDENTIFICATION: During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) ...she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Jane's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 PM Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this. A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough. RECOGNIZING A STROKE Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR. Read and Learn! Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions: S *Ask the individual to SMILE. T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. Chicken Soup) R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher. New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue! NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke. Print this out & post in your facility. Make copies & hand them out. Post it in your facility newsletter.

Hydration is the activity! People are always asking us about "How to get our residents to attend hydration related activities. So 1 of the things that I thought would be fun & get residents out, would be something along the lines of a "Mixology" type activity. I like this name, it would bring me out to see what's going on. Imagine the benefits of a activity that not only provides hydration, to keep your residents alert but also provides beneficial vitiams from the juices you choose. This would be a activity that residents would attend. They would create a signature drink to compete for the most exciting mixology drink of the day. Samples would be served & judged by those in attendance They would vote on their most favorite mix & the winner would be come the drink of the week and named for the resident who created it. If you did this daily, and then did a recap at the end of the week to narrow it down to 1 weekly winner and the 4 weekly winners could compete for a spot in the monthly newsletter. If nothing else you would have residents out getting hydrated. As the AD you would pick they daily themes or weekly. Example you could have tea & then have things to mix in with the tea come up with a half and half concoction. IE. The new lemonade teas. (Checkout Sonic) Even throw a twist have a sandwich artist contest.

"MEPAP 1 & 2" come in 2 formats, either in a weekly format structured so that the entire class can move and share through the course as a team ~OR~ MEPAP 1 & 2 "At Your Own Pace" .. where you work when you want, with the ability to join the weekly discussions in the chat room with the instructor and her consultants. **We also have New for this Year the NCCAP HCC Certification (Home Care Certification) The regulations are stiffening up as the Affordable Healthcare Act moves through each branch of the system enforcing the changes.

Happy National Activity Professional Week From ADN January 19-24, 2014 This years theme is: “Gateway to Activities”.

There is great confusion about the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's. The confusion is felt on the part of patients, family members, the media, and even healthcare providers. This article provides information to reduce the confusion by defining and describing these two common and often poorly understood terms. I would even print it out or parts of it & have it on hand for family members. http://www.alzheimersreadingroom.com/2010/06/whats-difference-between-alzheimers-and.html