Recharging Retirees in Retirement Communities

Opera appreciation is an activity in my retirement community that has been handled on a few different levels. The independent living residents in my continuing care retirement community love music and I'd bet yours do too. For this post, I am going to speak about the love of opera, but the same thoughts could be applied to any variety of music that your residents enjoy. First, is the most obvious way to reach your audience of opera buffs, bring in an opera singer to perform on your stage. I have been fortunate enough to have talented men and women contact me to perform. I've also gone to our local university to find very talented music students. Look at your community's university and see what they have to offer. Next, you may have a speaker come to the community and share facts about opera. This person may be a hired professional that comes from the university, as mentioned above, or someone from your local library, or a resident living in your community that is...

You have a resident in your retirement community who has been a professional singer in the past. You've heard her and she still is talented. The residents in your community know she is good also. What do you do when they ask you to hire her? I just had this happen to me...... In the past, I've stayed true to my policy of not hiring a resident to perform for the community. The reason I've had this policy is that if I hire the resident, I believe that even if they are not good, that her friends will feel obligated to attend the show and to say that she was good. But, since I've heard this particular singer, I knew that logically, I did not have a real reason to say no.  After explaining that I was not able to pay a resident, my resident-singer said that it would be alright to make the check payable to her band that she would need to hire. OK, another hurdle easily jumped. Yeah. We set the first available date I had, which was Valentine's Day and she left...

As the resident population changes in my retirement community, I have noticed as the activities director that certain programs seem to die a natural death. Of course as the activities director, I think that if it is a program that has been successful in my community in the past, that I should do everything in my power to keep it going. Over the course of time, I have learned that this is flawed thinking. Sadly, I find that bridge, bingo and crafts seem to be headed in that direction. Don't get me wrong, there are still people participating in these activities, but the group members are doing exactly what is happening in the entire community - aging in place and the activities need to change along with those who are participating in them. I have a very small group of ladies who participate in the crafts program . No one wants to be in charge of it, no one wants to say they like or dislike a suggestion from the woman who has stepped into the leader's role, and they each ha...

A dinner theater in your retirement community? Yes! With a little bit of work, your independent living residents can have a unique dining experience right in their own community. You can make this a stand alone event or include it as a part of a theme night or week of themed events. There are many different sources  that can present the show for you. Take a look on the Internet, with local talent agents, or in your local college's theater departments for possible performers. You may even have a troupe of residents who can put on one terrific show for the rest of your retirement community. I selected a professional company to bring our first dinner theater to our community. They were a fun group and the residents enjoyed their performance. I opted for a western themed show, it was called "Yer Cheatin' Heart... Just Stopped Beatin." I decorated the auditorium using the western theme and asked the servers to wear their jeans and bandannas. The residents also cou...