How to Make Your Care Home Fun
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How to Make Your Care Home Fun
Simple Activities for People of All Abilities
K ENNETH A GAR
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia
The author and publishers are grateful to the proprietor below for permission to quote the following material: Extract from It Was Long Ago by E. Farjeon. From Blackbird Has Spoken by E. Farjeon (1999). Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates.
First published in 2009
by Jessica Kingsley Publishers
73 Collier Street
London N1 9BE, UK
and
400 Market Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
www.jkp.com
Copyright Sue Rolfe 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owners written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher.
Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Agar, Kenneth.
How to make your care home fun : simple activities for people of all abilities / Kenneth Agar.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-84310-952-5 (pb : alk. paper)
1. Nursing homes--Recreational activities. 2. Older people--Recreation. I. Title. RA999.R42A43 2009 362.16--dc22
2008024248
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 84310 952 5
eISBN 978 1 84642 881 4
I undertook the editing
of this book with my daughter,
geriatrician Dr Katherine Wright,
when my father, Kenneth Agar,
died in 2006.
It is dedicated to the memory
of my mother Daphne Agar,
who died of Alzheimers.
Sue Rolfe
Kenneth Agar was chairman of the Exmouth Alzheimers Society for 13 years until his death in December 2006. During that time he campaigned actively to improve the care and welfare of those suffering from the disease. He organised many activities for local groups, including outings and regular tea dances. He also worked for some years as a lay inspector for care homes in Devon for the local authority. What he witnessed inspired him to write this book. Running through it, however, is also a lifetime of creativity based on his work as a poet and writer of education school books. He was headmaster of Newham Primary School before he retired to Devon in 1978.
Contents
Foreword
In our care homes for older people live some of the most interesting and wisest people you could ever hope to meet. They are a tremendous mix of personalities, abilities and interests, coming from a rich variety of social and cultural backgrounds. For various reasons they have reached a stage when they need to live in a care home where care staff can help them to meet their needs. At long last there is growing recognition that these needs consist of more than just physical care, and that we all need to be engaged in activities from time to time that enable us to meet our social, psychological, creative and cultural needs. It is through these activities that we find meaning in life and we express who we are to the world. This may be particularly important for people who have had to leave their own home to move into a care home.
Kenneth Agars book makes a very strong case for activity programmes in care homes. It describes in helpful detail how activity organisers can develop a myriad of different kinds of creative, interesting and participatory activities for the residents in their care. Offering variety and choice is the stimulus to finding the right activity for each individual. These activities are the best way to provide person-centred care for people with many needs and with many assets.
Person Centred Care means listening to people to find out what is most important to them. Assumptions are not made. Care is holistic and centres on the whole person: who they are, their life before, and how they currently feel. Care planning and assessment include the strengths, abilities and preferences of the individual. The emphasis is on what they can do, rather than what they cannot do. (Listen to What Im Saying, a DVD by Age Exchange)
We heartily recommend this book to everyone with an interest in care homes for older people. We want to work towards a society in which every community knows about and is proud of its local care homes for older people. This book has a big part to play in making this happen.
Bernie Arigho and David Savill Age Exchange
Introduction
What do they do all day?
This book examines the need for, and offers a practical programme of, activities for older people in nursing and residential homes, day centres, rehabilitation centres and hospices. Even at home.
Why activities? If the word suggests energetic action, being very busy, or entering wheelchair races, that is not the intention. Activities can mean everyday occupations, interests, hobbies, pastimes, and all the myriad of things that older people might have been undertaking in the past.
This book is about how the residents in care homes for older people might spend their time. It will:
