Common sense tells you that someone who sits around not using their limbs is going to rapidly become physically weaker and eventually lose their ability to stand or walk or even use knife and fork. Sadly I’ve seen this happen with elderly people n nursing and care homes all too often. Not having any mental stimulus doesn’t help brain function or memory.
Increasingly care homes are hiring people to manage activities bringing in people to provide musical entertainment, singalongs, crafting, gardening.
If you need to provide activities for an elderly person there are a lot of good resources:
Active Minds (www.active-minds.co.uk) offer activity products for people with dementia: painting, jigsaw puzzles, reminiscence products, exercises, singalongs, memory cards, quizzes. The company was founded in 2009 by Ben Atkinson-Willes whose grandfather developed Alzheimer’s disease. He found that there was a lack of suitable activities available for people and carers living with dementia. So Ben, who was a design student at Kingston University, created a range of activities as part of a University project for adults living with dementia. He was then offered funding by the University to turn it into a business venture – at just age 23. Active Minds was born.
The Daily Sparkle (www.dailysparkle.co.uk) is a subscription publication full of articles, quizzes, old news stories, gossip, puzzles, singalongs and entertainment geared towards stimulating the mind and improving memory. It targets care homes and it can be branded to a specific care home. The Daily Sparkle is a 3 page daily edition and costs £59 per month. The Weekly Sparkle is a 10 page weekly edition costing £49 per month. Care homes are able to have a free trial for 21 days.
Elderly Activities (www.elderlyactivities.co.uk) offers blog posts on a lot of activities that can be fun and stimulating for the elderly and for those suffering from dementia. The categories are as follows:
Art and Craft Activities – Dementia Activities – Eating and Drinking Activities – Elderly Exercises Activities
Entertainment and Parties Activities – Gardening Activities – Indoor Games Activities
Musical Activities – Outdoor Games Activities – Reading and Writing Activities – Sensory Therapy Activities
Golden Carers (www.goldencarers.com/activities) have a lot of suggestions for activities for the elderly. These are available on a subscription basis – a mere £25 a year. You can check out their articles and free samples to see whether it suits you before signing up.