Summer has a way of flying by. One minute you’re planning your first patio social, and the next you’re looking at September calendars wondering where the season went. Before everyone starts thinking about pumpkin spice, fall festivals, and harvest themes, August gives Activity Directors, Life Enrichment Professionals, Recreation Therapists, and Activities Assistants one last opportunity […]
I have been thinking about what it means when an industry starts questioning the standard its best people have spent years fighting to establish. Whether the weight of individualization is too heavy for life enrichment professionals who are already carrying too much. Whether a community-centered model might be more honest, more achievable, and more fair. […]
We have been reviewing CMS Tag 741 and its long list of examples of individualized, non-pharmacological approaches to help meet behavioral health needs. In the last article we reviewed Adjusting the environment to be more individually preferred and homelike. The CMS definition of homelike is incredible from CMS Tag F584 Safe, Clean, Comfortable Homelike Environment: […]
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By Brooke DeNisco For years, person-centered care has been the gold standard. Expressing anything other than a total commitment to person-centered care is practically heresy. Of course, I think everyone would agree that all care should be centered around people. But person-centered care goes further, claiming that, for a good quality of life in, say, […]
CMS Tag 741 includes a long list of examples of individualized, non-pharmacological approaches to help meet behavioral health needs. We will be reviewing all of them. Food preferences, exercise, pain relief, individualizing sleep, dining, bathroom routines, preferred lighting and comfortable sound levels have been discussed in previous articles and now we highlight: Adjusting the environment […]
Walk into any senior living community, assisted living residence, memory care neighborhood, or skilled nursing facility and ask residents what they look forward to most each day. Chances are, they will mention an activity, a special event, an outing, a favorite volunteer, or simply spending time with the Life Enrichment Professional who brightens their days. […]
The role nobody sees clearly The life enrichment director is one of the most misunderstood roles in senior living. From the outside, it looks like event planning. Put together a calendar. Run the programs. Decorate the bulletin board. Take photos for the families. Make sure there is something happening every hour so the building feels […]
As soon as the weather starts getting warmer, there is a big shift in senior living communities. Residents want fresh air, sunshine, movement, and a change of scenery. Staff start planning patio socials, outdoor concerts, gardening groups, and walks around the building. The calendar suddenly fills with “outside time.” But simply bringing residents outdoors does […]
Once upon a time, nurses were on the bottom of the ladder among the medical professions. Not treated with respect, self-trained or facility-apprenticed, sometimes paying for their own supplies, and not expected to question how things were done. Eventually pushing for a standardized curriculum and state registration. As an Activity Professional, does all this sound […]
