Search the Community

Celebrate Capture the Sunset Week Third Full Week in July The third full week in July is Capture the Sunset Week. We all love a great sunset and July is the perfect month to honor them. Invite your residents and co-workers to participate by capturing the sunset in any medium they are comfortable working in. Have participants turn them in throughout the month and place on display all around the facility with credit given. Below are some examples of different artistic mediums to consider: Watercolor Pastels Ink/Pencil Photography Collage Pressed Flowers Share Tweet Share Pin Forward Celebrate Embrace Your Geekness Day July 13th, 2021 In this day in age, we are all a little geeky. It's just the nature of the times. There are certain gadgets that are more well suited to some. Today we will look at some gadgets geared towards seniors. There may even be some that you could incorporate into your department. Try and get at least one of them on hand to celebrate this holiday and to discuss other gadgets that your residents may enjoy having in the facility. Sock Aid SpillNot Cup Holder Uccello Electric Safety Kettle Digital Clocks for Dementia/Impaired Vision Sony Wireless TV Handy Speaker Share Tweet Share Pin Forward July is National Watermelon Month! Celebrate by carving a watermelon into a fruit bowl and filling it with delicious summer fruit for your residents. Buy Now $19.95 Share Tweet Share Pin Forward Share Tweet Share Pin Forward Activity Directors Network was founded in 1996 on the idea that we could help create elderly care that dramatically improved the lives of those we all serve. We envision facilities that feel like homes and that celebrate our resident’s individuality and allows them to live with dignity, purpose and joy. We believe the exchange of education and wisdom between the most talented teachers and passionate students is the way to make an impact. Each and every single one of you are the revolution that is changing everything. Thanks for being a part of The Network. Copyright © 2021 Activity Directors Network, LLC All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 2010 US HWY 190 W Ste 120 Livingston, Texas 77351

Celebrate Mother's Day on May 9th! Mother's Day is coming up quick! Pass this fun Mother's Day Quiz out to your residents to test their Mother's Day knowledge. Answer sheet included. Click Below for a FREE Mother's Day Pop Quiz! Free Mother's Day Pop Quiz Printable Share Tweet Share Pin Forward Celebrate Internat'l Hummus Day on May 13th! Crostini with Balsamic Strawberries and Ricotta Makes 12 appetizers by SheKeepsaLovelyHome.com Ingredients ½ cup strawberries, chopped ¼ cup balsamic vinegar 1 tsp. lemon zest 2 tsp. brown sugar 5 tbsp. ricotta ½ baguette Steps 1. Slice the baguette into 12 ½ inch slices. Toast them at 350 F. for 5 minutes or until nicely toasted. 2. While your tiny toasts are toasting... Click Below for Full Recipe! Get Recipe Share Tweet Share Pin Forward Share Tweet Share Pin Forward Activity Directors Network was founded in 1996 on the idea that we could help create elderly care that dramatically improved the lives of those we all serve. We envision facilities that feel like homes and that celebrate our resident’s individuality and allows them to live with dignity, purpose and joy. We believe the exchange of education and wisdom between the most talented teachers and passionate students is the way to make an impact. Each and every single one of you are the revolution that is changing everything. Thanks for being a part of The Network. Copyright © 2021 Activity Directors Network, LLC All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 2010 US HWY 190 W Ste 120 Livingston, Texas 77351

Celebrate Cartoonist Day on May 5th! There just may be a hidden cartoonist in us all! To celebrate Cartoonist Day we have created a FREE set of 4 blank cartoon pages for your residents to utilize. Invite your residents to create a comic or graphic shorts of any kind. It doesn't have to be superheroes and villains or Sunday morning funny.... everyday scenes can be depicted. This opens the door for more creative and varied stories to come forth in the work. Display the stories with permission. Click Below for a FREE Cartoonist Day Activity Pack! Free Cartoonist Day Pack May is Mystery Month! I love a good mystery! Chance are many of your residents do too! In honor of this month's theme, setup a Top Sleuth Contest utilizing the fantastic interactive website www.5minutemystery.com. How it Works: Setup a free account on www.5minutemystery.com. Select 31 different mysteries from the mystery archives and create a list for each participant. These are to be attempted in order, on a daily basis throughout the month of May. Print out the mystery for the day and hand it out to each resident. Instruct residents to circle the main clues in the story and then write their primary suspect down before turning it in to you at the end of each day. Check the answers through 5 Minute Mystery and keep a tally of each resident's progress. Optional- Create a public bulletin board with each resident and their ranking throughout the month. Throw a mystery themed party for the top 3 Sleuths and award them with a Top Sleuth award and gift. NOTE: If your residents have access to the internet, they can create their own accounts and attempt it online. By doing it this way, they can note their completion time as an added component of the competition. Simply have them attempt it once and mark their suspect and time. Check out the story below to get a feel for how it works. Check your answer by clicking the link below the story. Department Store Murder Written by Tom Fowler Source: www.5minutemystery.com Leon Adams clocked in a few minutes before 10:00 a.m. on a very mild and sunny Tuesday in April, as he was supposed to. It took only a few minutes to open the cash registers in the men’s department. Leon was a suit salesman and he knew from experience that the first couple of hours on a weekday would be very slow. Slow to the point of boredom. So, he was surprised when customers began to show up shortly after opening. The first to arrive was Ed Puckett, (Leon would introduce himself to all of the morning customers and learn their names). Leon greeted Ed as he entered the men’s area. Ed looked around and picked out a few suits to try on in the fitting room. Ed had not been back there long when Leon’s second customer, Louis Murphy, showed up at the cash register asking about a good deal on a sport coat and pair of slacks. Leon helped Louis in finding them and led him back to the fitting room. Meanwhile, Ed was still in the dressing room. Leon was pleased that he had two customers in his area so early -- it was only 10:20. Leon spotted Gene Roberts browsing the edge of the men’s area at 10:25, just after noticing that Ed had left the dressing room. What a busy day! It was difficult to keep track of so many customers. Leon could see Ed wandering in the shoe department, so he moved on to his next sale, greeting Gene and escorting him to the dress shirt table, all the while Louis examined himself in the fitting room’s full length mirror. He hoped Louis would like the sport coat and slacks he was trying on. Although he was some distance away from him, the garments appeared to be a good fit. Justin Tanner came in at 10:30 and asked Leon where the men’s sweaters were. Leon walked Justin over to the sweater table. Justin thanked him and said he wanted to pick one out to try on in the fitting room. As Justin was browsing the sweaters, Leon decided to check on Louis. As he walked back toward the fitting room, he saw Louis walk away from the mirror and return to his dressing room. It was only 10:36 and Leon was having an uncharacteristically busy weekday. At 10:45, Leon saw Justin enter the fitting room with a green sweater and Leon noticed that Louis was still in his dressing room. At 10:50 George Whitley walked over to Leon from the shoe department and asked about a catalog order. Leon placed the order for him at the cash register, but it took a few minutes and he did not finish with it until after 11:00. George paid for the order, which was a pair of dress slacks, and left. At 11:04, Leon noticed Justin leaving the men’s department. He had not purchased the sweater. At 11:10, Leon knew that Louis had never left his dressing room and went to check on him. When he found him, he received the shock of his life. Louis was dead on the floor with a knife wound in his heart. Blood covered the carpeting of the small fitting room. Mercifully, there were now no customers in the men’s department as Gene Roberts had left without trying anything on. Leon held on to his composure long enough to return to the cashier station and call the store security officer, Ronald Clay. Leon’s mouth was hot and dry as Ronald answered his phone, saying simply, “Clay speaking.” Leon stammered, “Ron, get over to the suit fitting room. A customer has been murdered.” Ronald was the retired detective Lieutenant Ronald Clay of the city police department. He came to work at the store after retiring from a 25-year career as a law enforcement officer. There wasn’t much that went on in the store that escaped his attention. Leon was grateful he was on duty and available to handle this nightmare. Clay quickly found the shocked Leon still standing at the cash register. Firmly, but gently, Ronald had Leon lead him to the deceased customer. As soon as Clay saw him he knew who it was. He said, “I know this guy. He’s Louis Murphy. I dealt with him and his friends quite a bit when I was on the Force. He’s known as ‘Louie the Lip’ and is a career mobster.” Weakly, Leon asked, “So you think another crook got to him?” “Yeah,’ Ron replied. “It’s too much of a coincidence for it not to be mob related.” Dryly, he added, “I’ve never seen a person murdered in a department store dressing room before, and I’ve seen a lot.” Within minutes, the store closed and a dozen police officers appeared on the scene. Clay knew that the key to solving the murder quickly rested with Leon, who always knew where men’s department customers were at any given time. Ronald led him back to his office for a quiet visit. He wanted to speak with him before his former associates did. After determining Leon was recovered sufficiently from the shock, he asked him to relate all of the morning’s activities he could remember. Leon remembered everything and relayed the activities and movements of the five customers in detail. Clay listened intently. After considering what he had been told, they went to the video room and reviewed the security tapes. After watching it a couple of times, Ronald told Leon, “This is the murderer.” Check Your Answer Share Tweet Share Pin Forward Celebrate Internat'l Hummus Day on May 13th! Hummus Cucumber Cups Makes 24 appetizers Written by AlwaysOrderDessert.Com Ingredients 2 English Cucumbers, cut into 1 1/2" thick rounds Kosher salt 1 10oz container hummus (or about 1 1/2 cups of your favorite homemade hummus) 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted Finely minced parsley, for garnish Steps Use a melon baller or round measuring spoon... Get Full Recipe Below! Get Recipe Share Tweet Share Pin Forward Share Tweet Share Pin Forward Activity Directors Network was founded in 1996 on the idea that we could help create elderly care that dramatically improved the lives of those we all serve. We envision facilities that feel like homes and that celebrate our resident’s individuality and allows them to live with dignity, purpose and joy. We believe the exchange of education and wisdom between the most talented teachers and passionate students is the way to make an impact. Each and every single one of you are the revolution that is changing everything. Thanks for being a part of The Network. Copyright © 2021 Activity Directors Network, LLC All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 2010 US HWY 190 W Ste 120 Livingston, Texas 77351

The time we have all been waiting for has finally arrived…..I Love Lucy Day is near. October 15th is a time for Lucy lovers everywhere to come together and show their appreciation for the original queen of comedy, the glass ceiling shattering, the studio owning, the great, the one and the only Lucille Ball! This Activity Corner is dedicated to all things Lucy. Prepare events to accompany an I Love Lucy Watch-A-Thon at your facility. Each activity suggestion can be incorporated throughout the day. If you really wanted to sell it, you could wear a Lucy costume. It will be Halloween time after all. 1" Bottlecap Template Printable Crossword Theme Music Which of your residents are Lucy’s #1 Fan? Many of us have seen the episodes so many times we could recite the script word for word. couldn’t we? Below is the actual script from Season 1, Episode 1 - The Girls Want to Go to the Nightclub. You use this script in a couple of ways. You can either print it out and mark out some of the lines and hand copies out to your residents. Allow them time to fill in what lines they think are missing. The one with the most correct/closest answers wins! Or you could re-enact a scene over the loudspeaker radio show style, in honor of I Love Lucy’s roots. Below is the beginning of the script. Click the button below to see the full script. (I Love Lucy theme music plays) (theme song ending) Here, you missed something on this one. That's the design. It is? Sure, can't you see? Flowers against a background of...gravy. I've been meaning to talk to you about Monday night. We want you and Ricky to help us celebrate. It's our wedding anniversary. Oh, yours and Fred's? No, me and Gregory Peck. We've been married for 18 years and I vowed that at least once before I died, Fred was going to take me to a nightclub on our wedding anniversary. Well, that sounds reasonable. Now, this is my plan. We'll go in there and I'll say: "I know what let's do next Monday night. Let's go to a nightclub." And you second the motion. Then Ricky will bound to his feet and say "That's great." Then Fred will have to take me because if... Ricky bounds to his feet and says, "That's great"? Right. Wrong. Ricky hates nightclubs. But he works in one. Your life should be just one gay round of nightclubs. Yeah, that's what I thought when I married a bandleader, but ever since we said "I do", there are so many things we don't. Full Script Fill your cart up with Cuban specialties in honor of the main fella in Lucy’s life, Ricky Ricardo. These appetizers are simple and easy to serve in disposable containers. Serve along with Mariquitas, plantain chips, a Cuban tradition. Cuban Sandwich On A Stick Appetizer Total Time: 10 minutes Servings: 24 Author: Katie Crenshaw Ingredients 6 slices of ham 24 swiss cheese cubes 24 mini dill pickles or cornichons 2 tbs whole grain mustard 24 to toothpicks Get Full Recipe HERE Circa 1950's Second Honeymoon Enroll Now Over a 100 Students graduating this session. Come Join In., It Starts Tomorrow. NAPT Activity Training Course for NAAPCC National Association of Activity Professionals Credentialing Center is the Most Highly Respected Certifying Body in the United States. Members in Good Standing with the NCCA "National Commission for Certifying Agencies" since 2011 View the requirements , NAAPCC Certification Standards Activity Directors Network was founded in 1996 on the idea that we could help create elderly care that dramatically improved the lives of those we all serve. We envision facilities that feel like homes and that celebrate our resident’s individuality and allows them to live with dignity, purpose and joy. We believe the exchange of education and wisdom between the most talented teachers and passionate students is the way to make an impact. Each and every single one of you are the revolution that is changing everything. Thanks for being a part of The Network. Copyright © 2020 Activity Directors Network, LLC All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 2010 US HWY 190 W Ste 120 Livingston, Texas 77351

As you review the care plan history, take note on how care plan documentation lends itself towards an integrated team care approach. While history shows that fundamental care plans were initially used as care guidelines for volunteers without medical experience or training; you will see that it later develops into one of today’s most valuable instruments for quality measures, nursing home payment, and state inspections. Let’s take a look at the historical care plan development over the centuries and its relevance in supporting continuity of care. 31st BC (3100 BC to 3001 BC) -15th Century Historically speaking, medical oversight was primarily focused in reactive care mode; treatment was rendered based on symptoms without much thought to taking preventative measures for the individual’s future health. The middle ages brought about explanations that the medical phenomenon was connected to spirituality and religious belief systems. Preceding modern medicine, most of the care regimens provided to patients were focused on either external symptoms, or a spiritual or magical basis. 16th-19th Century The 16th through the 19th century brought about a period of heavy scientific discovery, leading to the transition of supernatural explanations to natural explanations for disease and illness. People began to see illness as something that could eventually be eradicated, and saw health as a natural state of the body that should be maintained and protected, further stepping away from traditional notions of supernatural explanations or divine punishment. 1930s The 1930s marked the entry of clinically driven” care plans” into focus for nursing professionals. When the length of hospital stays increased, there was time due to the length of stays to implement written plans. (Nursing team leads would often use care plans as a guide for the less-educated members of the team). 1970s The emergence of “life care planning” involved many industry professionals during this time. The converging principles of the fields of “Experimental Analysis of Behavior” (EAB), development psychology, and case management established “life care planning” factors: a summartive statement, communication tool, preventative planning, basic components, individualized plans, and needs come first ideology. 1980s In the 1980s and the following decades; “life care planners” were involved in consultations with insurance carriers and also with attorneys involved in litigation. “Life care planning” played a large initial role in the field of litigation. It has since expanded into elder care, chronic illness and discharge planning. It has also expanded the number and types of professions who can each be involved in a part of care planning. 2000s The extent of professionals and care providers expanded with individual cases coming from rehabilitation counseling, rehabilitation nursing, physciatrist, and case management professions. Both paper based and digital technology based “care plans” were regularly being used by patients and their care providers. A proliferation of digital technology based care plans also began to take hold in later years. Current Day Today, nursing home care plan data is used for quality measures, nursing home payment, and state inspections. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) transitioned Medicare to the more quality-based practice of reimbursing for care management of eligible patients. Other private insurance companies are beginning to follow suit to prioritize consistent, preventative care facilitated by patient-accessible care plans. Excerpt from The Care Plan- A Road Map CE Course by M. Celeste Chase This course takes you through the Activity Departments required documentation process from the Baseline Care Plan through the final creation of the Comprehensive Care Plan. Particularly focus is tailored to the individuality of the resident and that care plans are in no way intended to be “cookie cutter” care plans. An appropriate and useful care plan begins with an effective and complete individualized assessment. When designing a care plan for each resident the professional must ensure that multiple sources within the Interdisciplinary Team assessments are considered to address the resident’s specific needs. The care plan you write must address these issues. The care plan is a representation of the accumulation of the facility’s assessment process. It is the final compilation of the individual resident’s problems, needs, and strengths. The care plan definitively scopes the resident’s care treatment process, describing conditions to be treated, expected outcomes, and the specific customized care services to be rendered. This course is intended to help you to become more proficient and savvy when it comes to realistic and relevant care plan development. Workshop Objectives: Understand care plan relevance relating to resident treatment Learn how care plans have evolved historically Understand the development process leading to the care plan creation Understand how to implement SMART care plan goals Utilizing IDT assessment tools data for care planning Understanding resident rights in care planning participation Recognize the progress notes and care plan relationship Recognize the initial assessment and monthly calendar relationship Revising the care plan – why or why not Merging care plans – consolidate IDT members contributions When to use short term care plans Understand Rehabilitation care plans Workshop Content: Care Plan Overview – What is this document? The History of Care Plan Development Understanding SMART Goals The Process – Baseline Care Plan to Comprehensive Care Planning Reporting Timeliness Common Care Plan Mistakes Care Plan Examples General Documentation Principles Documentation Corrections About Your Instructor Celeste was involved in the startup of a medical adult day center in the role of Activity Director and worked closely with the Alzheimer’s Association, Massachusetts Chapter during to develop program modules to serve the Alzheimer’s diagnosed participants. She was exclusively instrumental in the successfully implementation of the center’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); working with the state to create the centers reporting structure and standards for compliance to state specified regulations. Celeste was recognized for her business development contributions and was became the Centers’ Program Director. Celeste has served as consultant and “Guest Instructor” for Activity Directors Network since 2011- supporting the student educational experience in pursuit of Activity Director Certification. She is currently lead instructor for Activity Directors Network and author of the National Activity Professional Training Course (NAPT). Celeste continues to support educational opportunities as the author of The Activity Consultant’s Help Desk since its inception in 2018. This Activity Directors Network newsletter reaches a readership with interest in further developing of their professional knowledge base as senior care industry professionals. She has also written Continuing Education (CEU) courses and has authored the “Behavioral Health Programming Guide for Skilled Nursing Facilities”. Have a topic request or question for Celeste? Send them over to celestechase@activitydirector.org Activity Directors Network was founded in 1996 on the idea that we could help create elderly care that dramatically improved the lives of those we all serve. We envision facilities that feel like homes and that celebrate our resident’s individuality and allows them to live with dignity, purpose and joy. We believe the exchange of education and wisdom between the most talented teachers and passionate students is the way to make an impact. Each and every single one of you are the revolution that is changing everything. Thanks for being a part of The Network. Copyright © 2020 Activity Directors Network, LLC All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 2010 US HWY 190 W Ste 120 Livingston, Texas 77351