Help me help a nursing home

April 2, 2009 7:00 PM

I'm looking for a way to help local nursing homes. Any ideas about activities I alone, or 2 or 3 of us together, could do to help a nursing home. I'm looking for something unique and fun. Bingo and karaoke are already taken.
posted by Jandasmo to human relations (17 comments total)

If you have access to a Wii, organize a Wii Bowling Night. We did one for a class service project, and it went over really well. The nursing home may even have one - a lot of them do these days.
posted by honeybee413 at 7:05 PM on April 2

Bring in some animals. Interacting with cats and dogs is great for the soul and good for the blood pressure too. Of course, who knows what kinds of regulations are in place regarding animals and nursing homes...
posted by octojon at 7:14 PM on April 2

Yeah, I was going to say, if you or your friends have a friendly dog, you'd be amazed at how much pleasure you can bring people just by letting them pet the hound.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:24 PM on April 2

Call them. Most of them have active volunteer programs already in place. It'd be a lot easier to show up and help with an existing program than trying to come up with an entirely new one on your own, in that you wouldn't be wholly responsible for the activity, that you wouldn't need to convince anyone to come to something new, and you could get used to the environment without having to worry much about logistics. I'm sure they'd be delighted for you to participate.

If, on the other hand, you're already participating in such a program and they've asked you to come up with something, I'd second honeybee413 on Wii Sports: it's a huge hit at nursing homes nationwide.

You might be surprised, but one of the best things you can do for nursing home residents is just showing up and visiting with them. A lot of them are more or less abandoned their by their families and desperate for the kind of company that their fellow residents are incapable of providing. Anyone from the "outside world" showing an interest of them can mean all the world to them.

This isn't glamorous by any means, but if your interest is truly in helping out rather than just doing something cool and sexy, it's worth considering.
posted by valkyryn at 7:27 PM on April 2 [1 favorite]

At my grandmother-in-law's nursing home they taught everyone how to make ice cream. It was a hot summer day. People seemed to like it, the ice cream turned out well.

I think anything involving something good to eat would go over nicely.

People like well-behaved animals, too.
posted by sickinthehead at 7:34 PM on April 2

Do you play an instrument? If your friends play too, so much the better.
posted by lakeroon at 8:21 PM on April 2

A slideshow of vacation photos. Seriously. Accompany it with some relevant denture friendly treats and you're set.
posted by fermezporte at 8:44 PM on April 2

Music, light exercise, flower arranging, manicures for the women, visiting, reading, crafts, card games.
posted by cranberrymonger at 8:54 PM on April 2

Oh and scrapbooking might be cool, if they have their own photos.
posted by cranberrymonger at 8:55 PM on April 2

How about recording interviews with residents for an oral history project?
posted by scody at 9:20 PM on April 2

An oral history project might be fun. Gather a bunch of questions about what it was like to be a kid, a teenager, a young adult during the times when these people would have been young, record them, put together a little documentary or a book of their reflections.

I did this with my grandparents and ended up with crazy stories about the time my grandma rolled the Model T and what silly fashion fads were going on when she was in high school in the early 30s, hilarious stories of my grandpa's boyhood hijinks...it would be really fun to get a larger cross section of experiences from people who grew up in different places.

It may be that some of the residents have memory problems, but it's surprising how much of the distant past sticks when the more recent past doesn't anymore.
posted by padraigin at 9:22 PM on April 2

I like the oral history idea. They'll love it and you can offer them dvds. What an amazing gift for their children and grandchildren down the line. My grandma's been dead for 15 years and I know lots of her stories. I'd give anything to have recorded her telling them, though. Do it. Seriously. It's a Good idea.
posted by dchrssyr at 10:44 PM on April 2

Remember that some facilties provide care for both elderly and disabled folks. Many people in care facilities don't get to do things like they used to. One such thing that's missed by many is gardening or contact with plants and nature.

Oftentimes, something as simple as planting seeds or small plants in pots is a great activity since it continues after you're gone. The plants/seeds will need watering; plus, watching new growth is a great boost to the spirit. You can even structure your activity along the concept of horticultural therapy. Description of one at an arboretum here.
posted by mightshould at 5:52 AM on April 3

Oh another thing: ALL care facilties have bingo night. Often some nominal prize is given. One activity is to gather donations of those little hotel soap, lotion, bottles-of-whatnot and have a group of crafters bundle up a few in paper tied w/ ribbon. They make great little surprises. It's another thing that continues after you leave since the prizes are given out by the staff at a later time.

The activity directors are great resources for lots of additional ideas.
posted by mightshould at 5:58 AM on April 3

While I love the idea of animals at nursing homes, many facilities will only work with properly trained and certified animals. Just make sure you know the rules before you take in Fluffy or Fido.

I think the Wii bowling is great, as is the planting idea given by mightshould.
posted by cooker girl at 6:45 AM on April 3

For a semester in high school, I ran the arts and crafts program for a local nursing home. The residents really enjoyed making simple things with their hands and they displayed them in their rooms. I found that the projects had to be extremely simple, though. For the most part, it was the interaction that was the most rewarding part for them. Some of them never ever got visitors.

I also love the Wii, oral history and planting ideas.
posted by bristolcat at 7:33 AM on April 3

If you are crafty you could offer to make decorations with the residents. There's a zillion HallMark and religious holidays and IIRC gammy Gungho liked to put up decorations.
posted by Gungho at 7:45 AM on April 3