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
·
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.
·
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.
can you tell me how to get the resident to do this, my residents will only attend activities if I am there, they refuse to organise anything themselves and refuse to show any initiative, they're VERY set in their comfort zone and don't come out!!!
ReplyDeletethanks Justine
Hi Justine,
ReplyDeleteI am not really sure why some residents take it upon themselves to start a program. I know with one of the games, Scattergories, I ran the first few programs and then suggested to the group that maybe there was some there who could follow my lead and run it. In that case, it worked. With other programs, I let the person who may not really want to "lead" the program that (s)he has suggested to be included on our campus know that I would support them 110% - and yes, that might mean being there a few times to get things rolling. Some of the programs are sigificant to the person suggesting it to me for our community's calendar, and I tell them that I need them to lend their expertise to bring it to life. I guess it is a lot of encouragment and support. Also, you might want to find other residents who would enjoy the progam to speak to a person who might be on the fence re: volunteering for a leadeship role. If their peers want them and you want them that is encouraging. Good Luck!