Activity Director Resources

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

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eHow

Activity directors are responsible for planning, organizing and implementing individual and group activities to meet the social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs of the residents they serve. To do this, they must think up things to do that involve the residents. They communicate this to them by making a monthly activity calendar. Activity resources offer the activity professionals tools and ideas to make a great activity calendar and run great activities.
Books
There are several books that serve as good resources for the activity director. The first book is "Long Term Care for Activity Professionals and Recreational Therapists, Fifth Edition" by Elizabeth Best Martini, Mary Anne Weeks, and Priscilla Wirth, 2008. This book is an easy to understand and thorough explanation of the workings and day-to-day operations of an activity department. It answers many questions that an activity director may have. It discusses different kinds of group activities and the appropriate resident mix that should be involved. Activity department standards are also discussed. Talking to family members can be difficult. This book gives you pointers on how to do this effectively. Managing your activity department is also explained.

A book specifically for those with memory impairments, including Alzheimer's disease and related dementia, is "Adorable Photographs of Our Baby Book," by Susan Berg, 2006. This book discusses and demonstrates meaningful, mind-stimulating activities for this population of residents that activity directors serve. Using baby pictures is the focus of the book. These baby photographs and the suggested visual conversation-stimulating exercises provide the activity director and his staff with many ideas to have great interactions with all levels of residents with dementia. Even residents who do not have a memory problem enjoy looking at the photographs because they are big and make the residents smile.

"The Positive Interactions Program Of Activities For People With Alzheimer's Disease," by Sylvia Nissenboim, 1998, is a time-saver because this book lays out pre-planned programs for groups and individuals. Even though this book is....read all of Activity Director Resources