Miguel

Well I like to have my Acitivities staff deliver the mail only because we can utilize that contact time to see how they are doing for those who do not participate in Activities. Sometimes also with some residents you need to either open the mail or they may need the staff to read it. This can be good for a 1:1 Time, sit and discuss who the person is that sent the mail. If you merely have the receptionist forward the mail it may just get thrown in the residents room and not read.... ~`Miguel`~

Also California only requires 36 hours of Course work for the Activity Profession. It is recommended that you take that course work and while you work strive to complete the ADC certification thru NCCAP. Depending where you live Norhtern or Southern California I can get you the informaiton.

Spencer Gifts can donate up to 25.00 a month from their Clearance rack.. Hit them up!!!!

Hi, I am also from California, (Southern California) Feel free to contact me at (909) 766-5116 ask for Miguel. The only location that I know of in California is Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga and American River College in Sacramento California. I am a member of the Southern California Associaiton of Activity Professionals and can locate certification courses near you. Either E-Mail me or call me. ~`MIguel`~

Woo Hoo we now have over 300 members.. Awesome! Keep inviting people.

Hey all although easter is tomorrow I thought I would post what we did for easter, as well as get people to post what they did for easter. We started our day out as usual with morning exercise, My Assisted living residents did there friday weight workout. At 10 we had some children come from a local school and decorate easter eggs with those residents who were interested. We had so many neat eggs and even had one young man about the age of 8 or so play the piano which my residents loved. After all 5 dozen eggs were decorated we had some kida make some easter cupcakes in our kitchen and others sat and talked with residents, They ended there visit by passing out cookies that they had brought. It was very nice, and the residents enjoyed seeing them. Much discussion on what they were wearing, how our eggs turned out, and what easters where like when they were children. Then at 2 we had our Easter party, we had an entertainer come out and play, (she is one of our resident favorites) we served the cupcakes and punch, I made it a point to make all of my lady residents to get up and dance one dance with me, (new tradition, I get to dance with all of them) It was awesome!!!

Ooops just read the others posts you and Gina had and realized that you already have this information.... A good idea is to contact facilities in your area and speak with other activity directors. Ask them what they had to do to become certified. Beings that you have an Bachelors Degree you should be fine.. JUst ask around..

Hi Hi.. Hey Lynn I located the Indiana Activity Professionals web site.. You should contact the rep for your district.. I am sure they will have information for ya.. Hope this helps.. http://members.aol.com/iadassoc ~`MIguel`~

Welcome Randy... Hmm Newsletters can be fun, Go wild, be creative. I have put together a few in my short life.... Hmm I would suggest an area of Resident spotlight.. A place where you can have your resident council vote on a resident who stands out.. In a good way of course lol.. Alos a staff spot light, have residents choose a staff member they really appriciate.. Creates a better working environment between activites and other departments, Inform residnets of Mens/Womens groups, Spotlight outings tha may be coming up, Spotlight recent outings get resident feed back, The idea Gina had about Admin/Director section is great to, Put a section where you can let the facility know what new things you and resident council have decided on doing.. Make them fun.. As for money.. This can be a touchy subject... Depending on Admin. If you have an admin who does not mind you seeking donations I would suggest contacting local high school groups and church. An idea I plan to use is have them sponsor a holiday or theme, Get your local high school Key club to sponsor your birthday parties, have your local Kiwanis sponsor one of your monthly themes, High school kids are willing to help if informed properly on what to do, Clubs are always willing to help, when I was in High school and president of my Key Club we would always fundraise for different things, I dont see how hosting a birthday party would hurt.. Seek donations from the community, Flower shops, Goodwills are sometimes willing to help,, Closed mouths dont get fed.. I think thats how that saying goes.. lol If your facility cannot afford many of the extras you wish to provide to enrich the lives of residents.. Get it from your community.. The one thing I suggest is if your director has a problem with seeking donations, kinda keep it on the down low.. 8-) I hope I have been able to help Randy...

Wish I was in Texas!! lol

I have noticed that e-mail sent from my facility have a little box at the bottom that explains if there is any information in the e mail being sent regarding a resident or is not supposed to be sent with the e mail to please contact a number they have and a report is filed, I think in any case e mail/Instant messaging need not be used when dealing with resident confidentiality, and if you are going to use it BE VERY CAUTIOUS AND KNOW WHERE YOU ARE SENDING THE INFORMATION!!!

Hey All come join me and others this Tuesday March 23, at 9:30 EST to discuss paperwork and what is all required, Also we will be talking about easter programing and discuss future topics for Tuesday Night Chat.. See you there.. ~`Miguel`~ :-x

Welcome Ladies to the Forum, I hope that this forum provides you both with valuable information and ideas as it has for me.. Look forward to talking with you.. 8-) ~`Miguel`~

Hey all how was your St. Patricks Days? Well we had 2 partys all in the same day.. It was awesome. First we had a potluck, We made Corn Beef and cabbage for our residents and staff and had staff bring in other foods, We had our unit decorared in St. Patrick stuff, We hired a Irish story teller to come out and sing and tell Irish Stories. Our admin and and Director of SNF all pitched in with the clean up and cooking... Than an hour and a half later we had another entertainer come in and sing some music, we passed out cake I had to resolve fights on who can dance with me.. Little old ladies can be very possesive.. 8-) It was AWESOME!!!!

Hya Lea, In my experiences in supervising I have learned that its better to get to know your employees and really get to know them. I have had employees of mine who were 3 times older than me and I would really get to know them, of course they knew I ment business and I never hesitated to write them up if they messed up, Its really good to be very open and communicate with your employees. If they know your truthful about working as a team you should not have any problem. If you have employees who are not in the "team" you really need to weed them out, they need to understand that you have your position and they have theirs and there is no reason as to why you all 3 cannot communicate properly and reach the goal of providing excellent services to your residents. I do understand that tiffs do arise, as the manager you need to resolve them 8-)~

Well I dont know how well the chat info got off the ground so I think as a moderator I am going to go ahead and choose days to go ahead and run the chat board. I will be doing a chat time on Tuesdays at 9:30pm EST, I live in California so it is 6:30pm my time. Anyone is welcome to join me.. Other wise I will just sit in the room by myself :-x Activity Leadership for Seniors has its chats on Mondays at 9 est California Activity Professionals has its chats on Thursdays at 9 pst Senior ACT has chats on Sunday nights as well as 2 other nights out of the week. CHECK THEM OUT!! LETS GET TOGETHER ON ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS!!! All Directors are welcome to join me... ~`Miguel`~ :-D

Hey all... My name is Miguel, I live in Southern California, Just moved here from Nothern Cali..(which I miss :cry: ) I am a certified Activity Director currently working as an assistant. Have been in this field for about a year now and I know this is what god has sent me to do. Enjoy being a male working in a female dominated work force, (plus I can get alot of my female residents to do what nursing struggle with, just bat the eyes and tell them how beautiful they are.. WORKS FOR ME)I run the California Yahoo group and am hoping to increase communication in California between Directors. I look forward to working on this site with Pennie and helping this profession get the recognition it deserves.. :-D

A part time activity assistant is open with my facility, in our Alzheimers/Special Care. Must be flexible with schedule. If interested e-mail me at Sarasa_miguel@hotmail.com. Position is in Riverside, California at a very prestiges facility.

Hey an idea that I have recieved is to contact local funeral homes, It kinda sounds bad but, Alot of family's do not take flowers home after a funeral. Ask if you can have them. of course you should take off the added stuff that comes with the flowers. But these flowers would be great for flower arrangements. Residents love them :-x

I learned that the minimum time you need to spend on 1:1 is 15 minutes 3 times a week for every resident. Of course this is going to vary with each facility. At some facility's you will be able to spend more time, in others your lucky if you can do 10 minutes. And also each state has their own laws, this is what we use in California. ~`Miguel`~

Hey Gina this subject all depends on the amount of residents a facility has.. What I learned is that in order to determine how much time to spend on your paper work u need to Take the # or residents you have divide them by 3 months= number of Progress notes that need to be completed every month. Break that up into 4 weeks and that will tell you how many need to be completed each week. Than you break that up into how many you would do daily.. FOR EXAMPLE.... YOu have 50 residents, 50/3=16.67 Round up to 17. YOu would have 17 assesments to do every month. 17/4=4.25 round up to 5 YOu would have approx. 1 Progress note to do every day to stay on top of all 50 resident progress notes. I hope I did this right, Just learned it yesterday and I have to be honest but Math is my most hated subject.. ~`Miguel`~

Well what I do is build model airplanes and cars 1:1 with my male residents, you have to watch the glue, We also do wood working projects. Other ideas include... Sports Trivia Mens Luncheon Beer and Chips (check resident diet order) Watch sports and discuss them. Hope this helps.. ~`Miguel`~

Hey All.. The following are some places where you can recieve your certification in California.. Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga California American River College in Sacramento California Millers Place in Modesto California