Keeping Fun Alive – Brandywine Living at Dresher Estates
We are all hopeful for this pandemic to be over soon, but it has been wonderful to see the tremendous efforts recreation staff have been making to create fulfilling lives for the residents in their communities. News reports of those efforts continue to surface, and we are happy to see how recreation professionals have adapted […]
Bringing the Community to Long Term Care During COVID Times
It’s nice to see and share some heartwarming, uplifting stories during this unprecedented time. Last week the inaugural Village Fair visited the Hoosier Christian Village in Brownstown Indiana. During a typical year, residents are taken to the nearby fairgrounds to enjoy the annual fair but it was cancelled this year due to COVID-19. The assisted […]
Creating Excitement and Memories in Challenging Times
As the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading across North America it’s becoming more of a priority to protect our vulnerable residents that live in elder care homes. Most homes have implemented strict no visitor, lockdown policies to keep residents safe and healthy. Part of this new normal is the implementation of social distancing measures which includes […]
Physical activity may stop aging brains from shrinking, study shows
This article looks at the importance of being physically active, which may keep your brain four years younger than the rest of you. This might help prevent or slow the progression of dementias like Alzheimer’s disease, researchers say. “We recently published a paper using information of both current and past physical activity and found they […]
Assisted Living Keeping Up with Changing Population Needs
This article explores how assisted living senior facilities are keeping up with the changing population needs as the aging baby boomers begin to need an increase with supportive living needs. The aging population is living longer, are more physically able, and more connected with technology than ever before. With the changing needs of our aging […]
February is Therapeutic Recreation Awareness Month
ActivityPro would like to recognize the hard work of the thousands of Recreation Therapists across North America that use our tool to improve the lives and well-being of their residents/clients. The Recreation Therapists that use ActivityPro every day to track, manage, and improve their programs will be the first to tell you how valuable it […]
Canadian WW II vets to visit Italy to commemorate the Italian Campaign
This CBC article details how Edmond Arsenault, 97, will be visiting Italy for the first time since WW II. Next week, he and 14 others will fly to Italy as part of an official Canadian delegation to participate in several ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the Italian Campaign. Click here to read the full […]
How Urban Design Can Help People with Dementia
As waitlists for care facilities grow longer and more people with dementia are choosing to live within their own communities, urban planning and design will play an increasingly important role in helping them live safe, comfortable and independent lives. Exercise and social interaction are “incredibly important” for people living with dementia, says Samantha Biglieri, an […]
August is National Family Fun Month!
In the spirit of “National Family Fun Month” we wanted to share some ideas of activities that can be done with older, and sometimes less mobile, members of your family. We get so caught up in our day-to-day busyness that sometimes we forget to carve out quality time with those we love the most. The […]
The Cruelty Of Calling Older Adults ‘Sweetie’ Or ‘Honey’
This article looks at how we can sometimes use age to define people and our tendency to associate stereotypes of incompetence, debilitation, and dependency. This can lead to one of the most damaging of the discriminating behaviors of ageism — we start treating older adults like children. One of the examples they use is calling […]
The promise and pitfalls of using robots to care for the elderly
The following article discusses an ad for France’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul charity, which questions whether technology can substitute real human contact and caregiving? The ad follows a long term care resident, Claudine, throughout her day while the robot (B.E.N.) prepares her meals, provides her medications, and entertains her. The article looks at […]
Canada’s first ‘dementia village’ set to open its doors
Inspired by a Dutch housing project known as Hogewyk, which is the world’s first “dementia village”, Canada’s first dementia village project is opening in Langley this July. These dementia villages create a safe, secure environment for wandering seniors that reduce their chance of becoming confused and overwhelmed. Seniors can move around freely, visit stores, neighbors, […]
Expanding Your Community – From the Inside Out
In our previous post, we commented on how we, as recreationists, can become totally absorbed in programming for our immediate community of residents or clients. Just as we must challenge ourselves to bring the community into our homes, we must look for ways to immerse our residents in their broader community beyond our walls. The […]
Expanding Your Community – From the Outside In
As recreationists working it various care and service settings, we can become totally absorbed in programming for our immediate community of residents or clients. As advocates for engagement and normalization, we must challenge ourselves to look beyond our organizations, and recognize that we, and our residents, are part of a larger community beyond the walls […]
Guest Blogger – Activity Director Shares a Success Story about Pet Therapy in her Home
I am the Activity Director in a small Skilled Nursing Facility in Texas. We have many Alzheimer’s and Dementia residents, in varying stages. We recently had the privilege of having a beautiful 3-year-old beagle in our facility named Rudy. This was the first time we have had a large therapy animal come to us. We […]
National Puzzle Day: January 29th
Celebrate with your residents this January 29th by bringing out the jigsaw puzzle collection and engaging in a Puzzle Party! We know that putting together puzzles, whether on your own or with a friend or two is fun, but did you also know that it is great for your brain! Puzzles are especially beneficial to […]
Testimonials from the Field
Written By: April Lawson, Recreation Manager, Bay Haven ActivityPro is a vital tool in our Recreation Department here at Bay Haven. How anyone in a Recreation position runs without ActivityPro is beyond me? ActivityPro gives us the facts about residents, we do not need to guess, all the information is there ready for us, with […]
Follow Us
Here at ActivityPro we are always looking for more ways to stay connected with our clients and connect with prospects that would benefit from our recreation software solutions. With that goal in mind we are expanding our social media presence and encourage you to follow us! If you have any ideas, suggestions, or feedback on […]
True Recreation Stories: Tips For Your Next Department Review
The other week I received a support call from Julia* who had started working in her new role as Activities Director a few months ago. Prior to her placement at this particular home Julia hadn’t used ActivityPro before, but the staff at the new home had fully embraced the program and Julia fell in love […]
