Storage Room Solutions

One of the common problems with being an activities director in a retirement community is the lack of storage for all of our goodies! I am lucky in the fact that I do have a large closet that I keep my theme party, special events, and holiday decorations (besides Christmas). Christmas is in another separate storage area. If you do not have a storage area, maybe now, with the housing market being slow, is a good time to discuss this with your administrator.

Once you have a storage area, what is the best way to make the most out of it? Here area a few pointers that I use:
    

• Buy clear plastic bins that are large enough to hold a specific subject's items. I try to pick up one or two when I find them on sale. Keep in mind the largest item and buy accordingly.
• You may also find that when residents leave their home that there are storage pieces that you may be able to use
• Use clean and dry boxes from your kitchen and housekeeping departments
• Label the box well.
•  I use a simple piece of typing paper and write in a black marker what is inside (St Patrick's, Back to School, etc) and put it where it can be seen from the outside
• You may find tape that you can write on to be helpful also. I don't like to label a box in a permanent way so that I can reuse it in the future.
• Use a black thick marker on a cardboard box
• Dates do not usually matter.... it is content that matters
• Keep like items together
• Have shelving added if necessary.
• Keep the items that you use on a regular basis nearest to the door.
• Keep the items that you use less frequently in the back of the room
• Break the room into sections within your mind.
•  At the front are the theme boxes, holiday boxes and silk flowers & vases.
• Towards the back are Fall, Thanksgiving and Halloween
• In the far corner are sports items, wrapping supplies for Christmas and past gift items
• Throw away items that you haven't used in a while, a not in perfect shape, are dated or that you've inherited and don't like.
• Always look to raise the quality level of your decorations! If you are not excited to put it out, go shopping or ask your crafty residents to assist you! Look at Pinterest for cool ideas. (I have a page there also so after joining (free) look for Recharging Retirees!)
• If you need to replace old items, shop "off-season" for your best deals - which means you have to know what you will need in advance...... so keep a list handy and get stuff when you see it during the year, not when you need it.
• If something does not fit in a box, keep it as close to the appropriate box. You might even put a note in the box to remind you, or whoever, to look for the larger piece.
• Keep it clean

It will make you so happy to have nice things and most importantly, knew where they are! I promise you it will make your job more pleasant and effective. Don't hesitate, start with one box at a time!

 

Activities Director Title

I saw this link for an article regarding the job title and perception of activities directors in long term care on the UK Geractive Facebook page. The article is titled 

Let's Change 'Activity Director' to 'Chief Experience Officer' and although it was written almost a year ago, still holds a lot of truth and value. The article is from McKnight's which is a long-term care and assisted living newspaper.

After reading the article, take the poll at the top of my blog and let everyone know what real activities directors think about it. Then, check back and see how your opinion compared to others who respond by clicking the link that says poll results at the bottom of the poll!

Public OpinionPoll Results

National Breast Cancer Awareness Activities for Senior Adults

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and at my retirement community we as staff and residents walk in the local Susan G Komen "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" Walk. It has become an annual event that is spearheaded by our Fitness Director and raises money for this worthy cause. It also shows the community at large that the residents and staff within the retirement community where we work and live cares!

I was searching the web to find some other ideas that would help raise awareness and funds for this cause. If you go on-line, there are a lot of ideas. Some bigger, some smaller. Some are practical for our population and some are not. You can get lost in reading them all. It is fantastic that they are so available. Below are a few thoughts that I believe are the best choices for you, as activities director to review and include on your calendar for October. 

• Have a Doctor or Nurse come in and give your female residents free breast exams and show them how to do an self-exam.

• You can have volunteers make pink bow pins to sell for breast cancer.You will need pin backings, pink ribbon and glue. I like to use the hot glue gun, but crafts clue would be fine. Sell them for $1.00 each and give the proceeds to your local breast cancer organization or hospital.

• Have a day at your community where everyone wears Pink .Those who wish to participate must donate $1.00 to get to wear the pink clothes to work. Give the proceeds to your local breast cancer organization or hospital.

• Hold a Raffle. Get pink raffle tickets and have local stores and businesses donate items to raffle off. Have a table set up in the front lobby with the raffle items so that everyone can view the prizes. Give the proceeds to your local breast cancer organization or hospital.

• Have a Think Pink Bake Sale.  Have a bake sale with the requirement that each item have some type of pink on them, such as pink sprinkles,pink frosting, pink candies, etc...

• If you have a chorus group, arrange for them to be a part of you areas local walk. Usually there is entertainment before and after the walk. Make sure they are dressed in pink and that those who hear them know that they are senior adults from your community.

• Put pink candies in a jar and residents can pay to place their guess of how many pieces there are in the jar. Winner takes the jar of candy home, and the funds go towards the breast cancer organization or hospital. (Sometimes buying pink candy goes towards the candy company's donation at the corporate level.... so you are helping there also.)

• Check out this amazing collection of photos for more ideas from a Pinetrest collector. (Click on the pictures to get more details.)

Here is a link to the other article that I wrote about this event. . . .  Cancer Walk with Residents

Fashion Show Lunch

Residents as stars of the show, great food in a country club environment makes for a wonderful afternoon in my retirement community. Once a year, I host a fashion show in my auditorium. It is a "free" program to put together and the interest to attend is always high. Here is my action plan for success.

6 - 8 weeks ahead:

• Contact a local boutique and ask if they will host a fashion show at your community.
• Models provided by the store or by the community?
• If they are to be residents, how many and what sizes?
• Determine if  model's fittings will take place at the store in advance or in the community the day of the show.
• Will resident models get any discount the day of the show?
• What kind of microphone is best for the Master of Ceremonies providing the show?
• Podium or lectern?
• Sale of clothes after the show and the requirements for that?
• Lunch before, during or after the style show?
• When will the staff from the boutique arrive on show day?
• When should the models arrive on show day?
• Discuss the date, menu and cost with the Culinary department in your community

3 - 4 weeks ahead:

• Add the style show to your monthly calendar
• Consider set up time required and determine if any programs need to be moved or canceled
• Promote the fashion show
• Residents sign up for the activity
• Select resident models based upon criteria of the store
• Make or buy centerpieces for the tables
• Determine and Reserve a dressing room area, if necessary
• Discuss the set-up requirements with the department in charge (Maintenance/Security)

1 week ahead:

• Contact resident models to confirm fitting appointment
• Give Culinary a final count of those signed up including the models

2 Days Before the Show

• Contact Models
• See how fittings went, if done in advance
• Remind them of arrival time for the day of the show
• Remind them about the schedule for the show (when and  where do they eat?)
• Update numbers with Culinary and Maintenance if necessary

Day of Fashion Show:

• Arrange the dressing room area as requested by the store (include a place for models to hang clothes, and a chair to sit on, as well as a full length mirror for all to see on their way out)
• Verify the room for the show is set up properly
• Decorate the tables/room
• Welcome guests and introduce the boutique representative hosting the show
• Assist Culinary if necessary
• Assist models in dressing room if necessary

This day is the most successful when I've selected models who are attractive on the inside and out and when they get fitted in advance. The residents attending the show like to have the food pre-plated and on the table when they walk into the event - and Culinary likes that too. I even have the dessert preset. Once the lunch plates are cleared, the fashion show starts. Make sure the models go close to as many tables as possible while showing off the clothing. Models eat after the show. Resident models do not pay for their lunch as my way of saying thank you for being in the show. Residents attending the show are billed for the food cost of the even and are given time to shop in the store that the boutique sets up after the show.

Resident Run Programs for Success

I love when a resident comes to me and says that they want to provide a program to those they live within our retirement community. The positives usually outweigh the negatives in these kind of programs. I have residents in my CCRC who have presented the following:

·         "Getting to Know" you shows with fellow residents. Here they interview a resident and develop a program to showcase their story so that it fits into an one hour format on our stage

·         Teach backgammon, Bunco, etc and then continue to meet on a regular basis

·         Recognize that it is a special day or month in the year and host a program to recognize it. For example, September was National Sewing Month, and there was a gathering to discuss the resident's past and present successes and also determine if there is an interest for future gatherings.

·         Host a poetry reading program that features a resident presenting his or her favorites

·         Arts and Crafts programs including a beginners painting class where the resident in charge provided all the supplies to the group

·         Host a Tea Party. This is something that I usually do once or twice a year, so I invited the resident to co-host with me. I ran it as I usually do (sign up, and charge the residents afterwards) and she provided the program that was a lesson on tea, which added a nice touch

There are many more that I could share with you, but I will stop here because the fact is that what might work for me, might not work for you. It all depends on who is living in your community and who wants to share their time and talents.

 

What I’ve learned about having a very successful resident driven program is I can run a better overall activities program if I do not try to control every part of it. What a great feeling it is to see, that with my support behind the scenes, including proper advertising for the resident generated program, that my community gets to have another quality program. I like when programs are "win-win" programs. This concept is more than that because the resident who gives the community the program wins, those who attend it are winners and I am a winner too because it has enhanced my activities calendar. Get to know your residents and don't be afraid to ask them to provide a program for you. If you get a "no," at least the resident knows that you value them and that is a just another plus.

Senior Needs at Stadium

A new university football stadium opened recently and it is about 15 minutes from my retirement community. I've taken my residents to college basketball games and to professional baseball games in the past, and I know there is an interest for such outings with my sports minded residents.

I contacted the group representative at the university and selected out tickets based upon a few important facts; that the bus drop off location should be close to our seats and that there would be limited steps to our seats.  I explained that this was a group of senior adults and that it was very important for their safety and piece of mind. The rep seemed to understand and our transaction was completed. What follows are the details of a stressful outing and the lessons that I learned.

When I got to the stadium, I told the driver to go to Gate 5 as I was instructed. When we got there, the staff told us that we needed to go to Gate 6 instead. Right away, I started worrying if it was going to be closer to our seats or further away.... and of course it was further away. Once we were in, I asked for directions to our section and was sent on my way with the residents following close behind me. I quickly realized that the only way to our section was going to be by going up stairs, and was thrilled to locate the elevator on our way to our section. But, it was not meant to be because the elevator was broken! 

Thank goodness I did have a small group with me. Most of them were fine going up the approx. 30 steps that were involved. I had one resident who was very upset, but with the support and encouragment of her husband and me, she got up the stairs. My group waited for our arrival at the top of the stairs and I'm glad that they did. Our seats were in a section that was another 5 steps up to get into the section and then another 7 steps up to our row. Well, of course I moved quickly to Plan B, and decided that we are going to sit in seats that we do not have tickets for - which usually work out fine at the other venues that we've been to. We selected the section below us and prayed every time someone came into the section. I even asked if people would mind sitting in different seats so that we could stay in "ours" - since we are seniors that can't handle the steps easily. Everyone was great about it and we were able to stay seated. This is not something I am proud of, but felt like I needed to do for the safety and happiness of my group.

This stadium was very strange to me. There were no ramps to get up and down anywhere in the stadium and there were no trash cans or rest rooms upstairs. When the woman who had a hard time with the steps needed to go to the restroom, she and her husband went down stairs. When I realized they were gone, I went down stairs to find her very upset about having to go back up again. I asked the staff at the stadium if there was anywhere that they could sit without steps and they told me about the end zone area... but the resident would not walk there (even after I explained that it was half way back to the bus).  She ended up sitting in a chair that we received from a booth nearby in an area where they could not see the game. I continued to check on them throughout the game, and 15 minute after leaving them, I found them with the paramedics and the husband saying that they would call a taxi to go home.

I called our bus driver on his cell phone and he came back to get the woman and her husband. After taking them home, he came back and got us. I did find another elevator that was on the other side of the field that took us down and closer to Gate 6.

I share this with you so that you can learn by my experience. What I learned is that the next time I go to a place, especially a stadium, I should have assumed the worse, and promoted it to the residents by saying that they "must be a good walker, and stair climber" to prevent the situation that I had. I also made notes about this on my program worksheet in the evaluation section, so that I would remember the pros and cons of the outing. And of course, I made a note about what section number we did like instead of the section that we had tickets for.  These are good thoughts to keep in mind for other outings you may go on. All and all, the residents who stayed for the whole game really enjoyed their evening at a college football game, and I will say that they were thankful for the extra running around that I did to make the night safe and enjoyable.