Days to celebrate in January

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

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

Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two

Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

Base activities around them

January days There is something in everyday of January to celebrate. In fact, most days there is more than one thing, so pick and choose to your heart’s content and make every day a special one. Here are a few left over from yesterday’s post - Prune Breakfast Month, National Book Blitz Month, Bread Machine Baking Month, Egg Month, Reaching Your Potential Month, Senior Woman’s Travel Month.

January 1

New Years Day
Betsy Ross’s Birthday (1752)
French New Year (Le Jour de l’an)
Ellis Island Anniversary (opened 1892)
Paul Revere’s Birthday (1735)
Income Tax (the first U.S. income tax in effect, 1862)
Panama Canal (beginning of building it in 1880)
1st Tournament of Roses (Pasadena, CA, 1886)
Chattananooga Choo Choo #1 Song (Glenn Miller,1942)
Sixteen Tons #1 Song (Tennessee Ernie Ford, 1956)
The Sounds of Silence #1 Song (Simon & Garfunkel, 1966)
Time in a Bottle #1 Song (Jim Croce, 1974)

January 2

Drinking Straw was Patented (1888)
Boo Boo Bears Birthday (Yogi’s Buddy)
Run It up the Flagpole and See if Anybody Salutes (throw an idea out and see what people think)
Brooklyn Bridge Construction (1870)
First Picture of the Moon (1839 by Louis Daguerre, France)
First Female White House Staffer (Alice Sanger, 1890)
Oil Reached $100 a Barrel (2008)
Let Me Call You Sweetheart #1 Song (Columbia Male Quartet, 1912)
The Tennessee Waltz #1 Song (Patti Page, 1951)
Are You Lonesome Tonight #1 Song (Elvis Presley, 1961)

January 3

Fruitcake Toss Day (do we need an explanation for this one?)
Festival of Sleep Day (catch a few extra winks)
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Birthday (1892)
Mel Gibson’s Birthday (1956)
First U.S. Free Kindergarten (1876)
“Dragnet” Premiered (1952, TV with Jack Webb)
Alaska Admitted to U.S. (49th state, 1959)
I’m Always Chasing Rainbows #1 Song (Charles Harrison, 1919)
June in January #1 Song (Bing Crosby, 1935)
Your So Vain #1 Song (Carly Simon, 1973)

January 4

Isaac Newton’s Birthday (1642)
Trivia Day
Louis Braille’s Birthday (1809 - the Braille System)
Jakob Grimm’s Birthday (1785 - Grimm’s Fairy Tales)
Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes #1 Song (Perry Como, 1953)
I Heard it Through the Grapevine #1 Song (Marvin Gaye, 1969)

January 5

National Bird Day
Diane Keaton’s Birthday (1946)
Robert Duvall’s Birthday (1931)
First Woman Governor Inaugurated (Wyoming - Nellie Ross - 1925)
Golden Gate Bridge (started in 1933)
“Mr. Ed” Debuts (1961)
“All My Children” Debuts (1970)
“The Wiz” Broadway (opened 1975)
Reggie Jackson Hall of Fame (1993)
The Lion Sleeps Tonight #1 Song (The Tokens, 1962)
Mr. Sandman #1 Song (The Chordettes, 1955)

January 6

Bean Day (make some 15 bean soup - yum)
Cuddle Up Day
Dia de Reyes (Mexican holiday)
Sherlock Holmes Birthday (1887 - author Arthur Conan Doyle)
Joan of Arc’s Birthday (1412)
New Mexico 47th U.S. State (1912)
Tiger Rag #1 Song (Mills Brothers, 1932)
At the Hop #1 Song (Danny & the Juniors, 1958)

January 7

Old Rock Day (time to make your own Pet Rock while listening to “old“ rock n roll music)
Kenny Loggin’s Brithday (1948)
Millard Filmore’s Birthday (1800)
“Flash Gordon” Comic Strip Debut (1934)
First Class U.S. Postage Raised to 5 Cents (1963)
I Will Always Love You #1 Song (Whitney Houston, 1993)
How Deep is Your Love #1 Song (Bee Gees, 1978)

January 8

Bubble Bath Day
Clean Off Your Desk Day
Elvis Presley’s Birthday (1935) (this one’s for you Susan)
David Bowie’s Birthday (1947)
National Man Watcher’s Day
Bobby Fisher Wins U.S. Chess Championship (at age 14, 1958)
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head #1 Song (B.J. Thomas, 1970)
Hello Goodbye #1 Song (Beetles, 1968)

January 9

National Apricot Day
National Static Electricity Day
Crystal Gayle’s Birthday (1951)
Bob Denver’s Birthday (1935)
Richard Nixon’s Birthday (1913)
Isle of Capri #1 Song (Ray Noble, 1935)
The Chipmunk Song #1 Song (Ray Seville, 1959)

January 10

First Meeting of the United Nations (London 1946)
Peculiar People Day (I knew they had a day for me)
Pat Benatar’s Birthday (1953)
George Foreman’s Birthday (1949)
Rod Stewart’s Birthday (1945)
You Make Me Feel Like Dancing #1 Song (Leo Sayer, 1977)
I’m a Believer #1 Song (Monkeys, 1967)

Continued in another post

January 4 is trivia day

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


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


Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire




Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be




Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two



Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

To all the readers of this blog who are eager to learn more about dementia, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy new year

Use this trivia as part of an activity


There are loads of sites on the internet where you can access trivia games for almost any subject you can think of by just Googling “Trivia.” However, I’ve come up with my own trivia questions. This is a great idea for a party game or for a “girls” lunch. Print these questions (and any you would like to add), make copies for everyone ahead of time with no name at the top. Cut them into strips and place them in a container. At the party or get-to-gather, for each question pulled have one person guess who’s answer it is. Keep score and have a prize for the person guessing the most correct answers.


(1) Where were you born?


(2) What is your favorite color?


(3) Do you have any tattoos? How many?


(4) What is your favorite all-time book?


(5) What is your favorite all-time movie?


(6) How many piercings do you have?


(7) What is your favorite TV Show?


(8) What is your favorite Dessert?


(9) Where did you do on your last vacation?


(10) What is the most obscure job you’ve ever had?


(11) Where have you lived that most don’t know about?


(12) If you had to choose one favorite food, what would it be?


(13) Where do you dream of going some day?


(14) What food do you hate the most?


(15) What is your favorite song of all times? Why?

Nursing Home occupancy is extremely low

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

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

Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two

Follow alzheimersideas on twitter
The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

By Maggie Flynn |

Skilled nursing occupancy reached a new low in the third quarter at 81.6%, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care’s (NIC) new report on skilled nursing occupancy and revenue trends.

Downward pressure on occupancy has been steady since May 2015, and the decline for this year—quarterly occupancy fell 29 basis points from the second quarter—is likely not a seasonal trend, according to NIC. On a year-over-year basis, occupancy declined by 167 basis points, for the second-largest decline for the third quarter in the past five years.

Medicaid patients represented a significant portion of nursing home residents last quarter, with a Medicaid patient day mix of 66.8% — the highest in five years. Year-over-year, Medicaid mix was up 112 basis points. Over the course of the last five years, this mix has increased 422 basis points.

Other measurements showed a rash of new lows, however.

Medicare patient day mix reached a new low of 12.2%, while Medicare revenue per patient day also reached its lowest level yet at $510, declining 2% from $521 in October 2016. Managed Medicare revenue per patient day came in at $431, for a total decline of 13.2% from five years ago.

Patient day mix for managed Medicare also declined, down from its five-year high of 6.7% in February to 6.2%. However, managed Medicare mix appears to be growing generally, since it stood at 5.1% at the beginning of 2012.

Private patient day mix matched its lowest point at 9.1%, and the lowest private patient day mixes have occurred in 10 of the past 12 months, NIC noted. At the same time, however, private revenue per patient day rose to $266, its highest amount, and each of the past 10 months has seen the highest private revenue per patient day amounts in five years. The 2.9% year-over-year increase for the third quarter was the highest in five years.

A creative activity for those with dementia

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

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

Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two

Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

Engaging in creative endeavors is vital for long term care residents. It is an important
way to keep them thinking. It keeps their minds working and raises self esteem.

One such activity that easily encourages creativity, I call, A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

This is an easy activity to do as long as you have the right picture for participants to describe and the right frame of mind to facilitate the discussion of the picture. As with any activity you need to adapt and modify it so that it is success oriented and failure free.

Use a picture that is colorful with large, easy to describe items, that interests your audience.

Baby photographs are one type of picture that seems to have universal appeal for nursing home residents especially those with dementia. an ideal book and flash cards Adorable Photographs of Our Baby
You act as the facilitator in some cases. Be ready to help the participants with discussion questions

Before you show the person(s) the picture, tell them you are going to help them write a
story about a picture because you know they are smart and have good ideas.

Now you are ready to show the picture(s) to the members of the group. As you ask the
questions, make sure you show the picture to the participant(s) that you are directing
the questions to. You or someone in the group can be the eyes for visually impaired
participants. However, you will see that the discussion may take on a life of its own
where the picture may not even be needed. Think of the picture as a story starter
You might begin with the question, “Do you like this picture?”

If the majority of the audience says, “No”, use a different one. It is important to have at
least two pictures available in case this happens.

Now that you have a picture most group members like, you want to ask a series of
questions about it.

As you ask the questions about the picture, note any remarkable responses. That is,
statements about the picture that will make the story interesting. Remember to assist
members of the audience with answers to questions by providing the help they may
need.

For example, if they are having trouble deciding what season is shown in the picture,
talk about the seasons of the year, by asking them to name the seasons. If they are
having trouble, give them a choice of two. If there is still some confusion, say that the
baby and the lady are wearing swimsuits. Ask about the season that swimsuits are
worn in etc.

Understand that you can ask any question that you want to, which will help facilitate the
discussion.

You may have to give two choices for an answer to a question if you do not get any
response from an open ended question. An example to the question, “How is he
feeling”, might be: “Is he happy or sad?” If you still don’t get a response, then say, “I
think he is happy because he is smiling. Do you agree (say the participant’s name)?”
Then you might extend the thought by asking about the baby’s face. There is a good
chance a participant may say that the baby is smiling. You could ask what kind of smile
he has etc... You can include these facts in the story when you write it.

Emphasize that there are really no right or wrong answers to any of the questions. Tell
them that it is just what they think the answer is. Again stress that you know how smart
and creative everyone is.

Thus this is a good creative outlet for long term care residents even if they have
limitations.

You may want to have the group members suggest an opening line to the story such
as: “Once upon a time”, “One sunny day”, “A few days ago” or whatever works.
After you have compiled all the answers to the questions, write a simple story about the
picture using all or some of the answers given.

Then, later on, show the picture and read the story perhaps noting some great remarks
of those that participated. Of course, be complimentary. You may want to post the story
or create a short story book. Sometimes I share ideas that were expressed in this
group to family members.

Adorable Photographs of Our Baby, flash cards, are ideal for this activity

As with any activity, a sure way to guarantee success is for you or the group leader to be
animated and excited about doing the activity. Praising the participants for their efforts is
key to a positive outcome as well

 

Secret society of happy people holiday gift

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

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

Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be


Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two


Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

Use now and save for next year

sshp

Simplify the Holidays Get Happier  Hello   Here are worksheets that Pam tweaked to create a holiday gift foe you: 5 Ways to Simplify Your Holidays e-Workbook. It's full of ideals and tips to help get organized so you'll have more time for holiday happy. Use the sheets that are pirtinent to you and ignore the rest. Also, they have great ideas on their  Pinterest Boards . Enjoy. Here's to a fun and happy holiday!!! 

You Can Also Connect With them! Pamela Gail Johnson Founder Secret Society of Happy People

Secret Society of Happy People, 425 Busher Drive, Lewisville, TX 75067, USA

Your Christmas Poem

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

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

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

To all the readers of this blog who are eager to learn more about dementia, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very merry Christmas.

Your Christmas Poem

Sandy's Christmas Poem

Christmas Is All About Love

Silver Strands

Christmas Spirit

My Christmas Tree

Family Christmas

Star of Hope

Sitting on Top Of The Christmas Tree

Christmas Senses

I Have Not A Penny

Sounds of Christmas

Christmas Season

Shopping Centre Christmas

December Remembrances

A Christmas Time of Year

Throw Away Christmas

Tinsel Truth

A Christmas Wish

I Was Just A Little Star

Christmas Used To Mean A Lot

A Christmas Angel

What's Happened To Christmas?

Christmas In The Air

The Old Man

His Regret

Jesus Is More Than Just Christmas

A Man For All Seasons

Seasons Greetings

The Not So Great War

Shhhh, Silently They Fall

Cherish His Christmas

Christmas Angel (The)

Christmas In Edinburgh

Whisper of Wings

Christmas Jamming

Holiday movies

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

To all the readers of this blog who are eager to learn more about dementia, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very merry Christmas.

K. Ellis

Favorite Christmas Movies
Published by kyellis at 1:19 pm under Handmade Gifts, Holiday Edit This

I’ve always dreamed of an “old fashioned” Christmas with popcorn and cranberry strings on the tree. One when all the gifts under the tree were handmade by the giver and I made all the pies and Christmas cookies. In fact, I’ve had close as I could get to that experience. It was wonderful, except for my total exhaustion. You see, it was my dream, but no one else’s. And, I was the only one making all my gifts and food and tree strings.

Anyway, I haven’t given up completely on an “old fashioned” Christmas. I do something every year that makes me feel like I still have a connection to that dream. I always try to make a gift or two and I usually make the Christmas dinner, especially if it’s just my husband and myself. However, years ago I added my own more modern holiday tradition.

There are certain Christmas movies I watch every year in the days leading up to Christmas. I watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Miracle on 34th Street” even though there are two versions now. I like both. If I can find the modern version of “Little Women” I add that to the list. And if there is a new one out that I think I might like, I try it and see if it needs to be added to the list. I saw “Polar Express” and am seriously considering adding it to the list.

Famous and Popular Christmas Movies

It’s a Wonderful Life
Miracle on 34th Street
Little Women (Is this a Christmas movie? There’s Christmas in it)
The Polar Express
The Bishop’s Wife (Cary Grant)
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Santa Clause is Coming to Town
A Christmas Carol
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
The Year Without a Santa Clause
White Christmas
Frosty the Snowman
Scrooged (with Bill Murray)
Elf
Babes in Toyland

Which one’s of your favorites did I miss?