You're in charge of arranging activities for residents in a care home. What are you going to plan? Unusual ideas welcomed

[AlpacaAPicnic]

This is a private retirement village with a very healthy budget for activities. They do all the usual things you might imagine - flower arranging, crafting, baking, rambling for those who are able, various talks arranged and various evening dos

But what can I suggest that's outside the box? They're very good at having some excellent ideas and have recently had therapy penguins (yes really), Caribbean evenings, barbershop quartets etc

It's my new role and I wondered if you could suggest something that might work. Of course I've got my own ideas but wondered if there was anything you'd like an older relative to experience

A mix of independent folk, those with dementia and those with care needs. We can do individual activities and tailor them to all residents

Invite a local nursery in for visits.

My grandads care home does lots of things like they have birds of prey days, seasonal planting (sunflower competitions, pumpkins).

They also will do adhoc local drives with the residents where they will take them to places they used to know for a little ride out.

My grandmas care home had a piper in once which was lovely.

You could invite some kids in from a local nursery for a multi generational play session. Lots of research on the benefits of this which I'm sure you're aware of.

Does the home use doll therapy for any of the dementia patients? You could do something with that.

Haha same!

Make your own gin evenings
Cocktail making workshops
Whiskey tasting

Please don't worry! Nobody is forcing any residents to participate in jolly and wacky non stop fun!

As I said in an earlier post, every single resident is sat with and a personalised plan is devised. We do not have Tom, who enjoys bird watching, forced into disco dancing etc etc. it won't happen.

Nobody is overlooked or discounted. Emphasis is on personalised activities.

A big thank you to you all! Such amazing ideas and I have a long list now up my sleeve

I'll keep you posted !

• Gameshows - re-enact blankety blank
• Pottery painting - find a company who will bring stuff in then take it away and fire it
• bake off - Do a version of this - could do heats over several weeks
• Macrame (can be done in small groups)
• see if the local library does evening talks and arrange a minibus / taxis
• bridge club
• whist drive
• card making

If they want to have a kip during these activities, best plan is to enjoy an undisturbed sleep in a comfy chair!

I don't mean to be rude @Bignanna but that comment isn't great.

I've had several decades more than I'd like , of visiting close relatives in care homes. There is a real disability awareness issue at play.

My mother could never snooze in the 'residents' lounge' ( God help us all) because she didn't like being around people she didn't know and hated noise, above all the tv blaring out daytime nonsense.

Believe you me, if you are an introvert, possibly on the spectrum, these sort of well meant jolly activities would drive you wild.

I wish homes would recognise this. It caused my elderly mother extreme distress as the tv in her room was always switched on full volume In the morning and she was constantly chivvied into various ghastly 'crafting' activities or meeting local school children or listening to the most excruciatingly dire performances from local pub performers, supposedly aimed at their age group. None of which she enjoyed any more than I would.

She wanted peace. Nice food, the odd glass of wine, her wireless, her books a room with a view, and her ear plugs.

Yes I told and told them, but it made little difference. I even considered cutting the plug off the tv cable.

Please remember , that people , yes even old ones, have very different needs.

I agree with you. I’d be the one snoozing in the lounge, or I’d be off to my bed to read or listen to the radio. There seems to be a belief that old people need to be constantly stimulated and entertained, and speaking as an old’un myself I can tell you I don’t. Obviously there is a place for activities, without going overboard. A nice afternoon is a cup of tea while watching TV and a nice biscuit or chocolates!

Introverts are not well cateted for in care home activity plans. Being bored but not liking group activities is a real issue, particularly for men - few elderly men will want to go back to knitting or sewing or cake decorating or beauty parlour. Perhaps.fly-tying and a fishing lesson would be better for fine-motor skills.
Low-mobility residents who love the outdoors could be outside, near the lake or bird feeder with a call-button AND someone available to answer it promptly.
Ipads with the Merlin app for recognising bird songs, a pergola near a bird feeder. Ask someone like Pondlife or Froglife to do a fortnightly session to set up a bog-garden or whatever, have residents plan which plants where. Make bug and bird boxes.
Tropical fish tank with fish that have interesting behaviour.

Oh yes, and 'personalised activity/care plans'

The underpaid staff in these places whether LA or private are the unfortunate ones that get to run these one off various idealistic activities , generally used ( in private homes at least) as jolly photo opportunities for the newsletter or website.

For the rest of the time, it's telly blaring in your room or in the shared spaces. I have dementia on both sides - both mother and father- and am seriously scared about the blaring telly/ felting/crafting/ cutting and sticking fate that might befall me in one of these places.

I used to hope I would be too senile to care, but my experiences have demonstrated otherwise.

For those who are up to it, transport to a concert (classical music) or the lunchtime organ recitals city churches often put on, or a soloist or small chamber recital in the home would be nice for introverts. Make it a proper “grown up” occasion - dress up a bit, drinks reception before or interval drinks so there is a bit of mingling and small talk but no need to be “interactive” or participate more than that.

The care home my father, with advanced alzheimer's, was in had an Elvis impersonator once a month. The other 15 residents absolutely loved him but Dad detested him so they always just took him to his room and put Radio 3 on for him with one of the staff.

Alphabet Belching (by the inmates)

Armpit Farting Orchestra (by the inmates)

Blindfold Tattooing (by an apprentice tattooist )

Also, dont underestimate intelligence or existing skills. Know your audience. Music is great but someone who loved to play classical music will not necessarily gain much from being bunged a triangle and told to play along to the Beatles. Others have already pointed out that ww1 and 2 songs are well past their sell by date for most current care home residents. Even contemporary music can be a challenge. My MIL’s otherwise exemplary care home inflicted death by tedium with Daniel o‘Donnell videos on a loop. The grimness cannot be overstated.

What would you like? What was popular when the residents were the age you are now? Extrapolate and improvise!

I think by the time you're consigned to care, that sort of thing - travelling to a venue, marshalling in, dealing with it all- is pretty impossible.

Also consider the overall demographics. Live classical music is, like shot putting , a minority interest. So everything tends to revolve around the lowest common denominator.

Blankety Blank! Blankety Blank!

I read recently of a care home having a tattooist visit!

It's so interesting to me that the current trend is to avoid offending people at all costs. But what about older people?

So much of this activity stuff aimed at aged people is well meant and some of it is backed up by research -value of social interaction, maintenance of fine motor skills and so on.

It does our aged relatives no justice to infantilise them. I mean no disrespect to a pp who suggested residents dress up 'like grown ups' I understand it was meant kindly, but they are more grown up than we are.

These people may be reduced to various states of humiliating physical helplessness, but I think much more needs to be done to understand dementia. In the first few stages it is not in my experience a total disintegration of the personality, in fact some intellectual preferences can become more solidified and acute.

Ballet - Silver Swans is a programme for older people, and a good teacher should be able to adapt for all mental and physical abilities.

Choir

Have visits from local schools, nurseries and youth groups.

Book club

Also consider the overall demographics. Live classical music is, like shot putting , a minority interest. So everything tends to revolve around the lowest common denominator.

There needs to be several public spaces. Colleges/Halls of Residences always have multiple communal spaces, even bigger houses have more than one sitting room, and a care home should as well. Not just one residents lounge. If there was even just a library quiet room that would make a massive difference. One room for noisy activities and the television, one for reading and board games. We have that on our house and there's just 5 of us.

I go in a lot of different residential homes of varying degrees of quality - but I am seriously impressed by the penguins!

One I visit has a pub setup within the home - with alcoholic tipples of choice (in moderation - they're not getting Great Aunt Ethel off her tits on sherry).
The day services I go in often sound like they're having an all-day rave with the music blasting! Think they were having an outdoor seaside festival the other week - with things like hook a duck and coconut shy etc all out in the garden.
Even things like getting your hands on a Wii can lead to some Mario Kart grudge matches!

Different areas and accepting not everyone wants to be sociable in the same lounge and that not everyone wants to be in a room with the TV blaring (or agree on the same channel - I've worked with people over some bitter all out brawls over the TV remote in homes) is important though - I get so sick of homes where everyone is plonked in the lounge with This Morning whacked on full volume and only interrupted for bloody Vera Lynn songs being blared on the radio.

There's a Facebook group called postcards of kindness. People write postcards to care homes - just general chitchat (although some end up being penpals). Maybe some of your residents could write postcards to other care homes (anyone can add their home to the list btw!) and maybe end up being regular correspondents. Apparently the postcards can be great at opening conversations about holidays/ places people have lived/ adventures/ hobbies etc. I love settling down and writing a little pile of cards!

Organise an exhibition.
Invite the residents to create work for it.
You could have a theme or it could be freestyle.
It could be one art style or mixed media.
Dedicate maybe 1-2 art sessions per week to create the work.
Have the exhibition either in the home or an outside venue
They could have a 'private view' before the opening day, to invite friends and relatives to.
Inform the press - who may want to interview residents - radio or tv.
Items can be sold if desired.
If residents have never done this before it's a wild roller coaster ride, and gives a great buzz factor feeling.

My mum's care home brought the beach to them! They had sand delivered which they put into various paddling pools so residents could sit with their feet in it. They had parasols up, an ice cream van, Punch & Judy. The whole thing. It was funny as they're only about 4 miles from a huge Blue Flag beach (but of course many residents can't make even that short trip).

Because the care home is mixed need (with some warden assisted accommodation) they also do day trips and go to the pantomine at Christmas.

Yours probably do this already, but they have a singing group that come in and sing the oldies (and encourage everyone to join in). Sing-a-long style. Group singing is very good for mental health.

I will say again- please consider the minority of residents who will be introverts, or extreme introverts.

To them, these group activities will be stressful and beyond appalling , however well meant.

I think I would go on hunger strike rather than do felting or cutting and sticking, or singing with local infants.

The nadir of this sort of thing came on Christmas Day 2011 when a local pub singer visited the home my father was imprisoned in. The details are too painful to recall.