Does anyone work as an Activities Co-ordinator please? or know someone who does?

[toostrongdilutingjuice]

Posting for traffic, sorry. In need of help with this.

I am returning to work after a long time as a SAHM. With the cost of living we really, really need the money.

I absolutely love the sound of this job. I have previous experience of working with elderly people as a care assistant.

However I have now got a prolapse and been told absolutely no lifting over 5kg and to avoid pushing / pulling heavy objects regularly.

I know caring is out, but I am am wondering if the Activities roles (in care homes) have lifting as part of the job? Do you have to assist residents in transferring from wheelchairs for example? or carry heavy equipment?

I'm just wondering if there is any point applying and I can't find much online.

Would be really grateful for any help.

In the home I worked in where they had an AC, they didnt do any caring, thier role was purely activities.

If you make it clear in your application and interview it shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks @TravellingSpoon . I probably could have asked anyone who works in a care home lol.

Pre pandemic I did pet therapy in care homes and it varied from home to home, it should be in the job/person description if they expect you to do care work as well.

Sorry I was self employed but liaised with activity Co-ordinaries and some had to combine roles others didn’t

Two of my friends were activities coordinators and neither did any care work at all. They literally organised all activities and made cups of tea.

In regards to your concerns, the activities coordinator at my work regularly needs to push people in wheelchairs as they may transfer to different rooms for entertainment or activities, and they will help push everyone to the dining room for lunch. Yes the care staff need to help, but there's so many residents to transfer so it means everyone generally pitches in and helps.

They also have an activities trolley they push around, and once a day push a snacks trolley and a drinks trolley (for a pub style 'happy hour' activity, not regular meals).

In terms of lifting/transferring residents, well, safe manual handling practices means you shouldn't be lifting anyone 😉but yes you will likely be helping transferring and repositioning, and yes this is care staff's role, but if you are running an activity and a resident is trying to get up/down from a chair and there's no care staff around and the resident has a cognitive impairment and won't listen when you tell them to wait, then you've got no choice but to help them. Another regular thing would be a resident who is sliding down in their chair, you would grab the first other staff member you see so that the 2 of you can reposition them before the resident slides to the floor.

Then there'd also be boxes of activity stuff to get out, though I don't really know how heavy they are. I'd imagine they'd be fairly manageable, seeing as though they're accessing them all the time. I know for big jobs like Christmas, the handyman gets all that out of storage for her, but you've got your everyday stuff like an aromatherapy box, a bingo box, nail polish box, etc etc.

Hope that helps.

Thanks everyone.

@wandawaves Thanks. I'm not really sure how that would pan out for me. I am really down about this, I feel as if my body has failed me . Just once heavy lifting could make it worse, it's already bad enough just doing basic housework. How other women work with this I don't know. I guess Activities Co-ordinator role is not as physically demanding as Care Assistant, but still could be an issue for me given what you describe re pushing wheelchairs and assisting transfers.

I'll continue to look into it, and grateful if anyone else has any input xx

I did this and it involved taking people out for lunch and shopping. I had to push them in wheelchairs, and yes helping them into and out of the chairs.

Does anyone else have any experience? What about working in the kitchen in a Care Home?