Happy Older Americans Month! I get asked quite often “why geriatrics?”, “Why do you love OLD people so much?”. I don’t really have one specific answer but what I can tell you is that I have always been drawn to people, their stories, and how I can be of the most service. I think from…
Understanding Our Grief: Death & Loss in Geriatric Healthcare
All healthcare professionals understand the concept and undeniable knowledge that death is inevitable. But, it is something on the forefront of understanding for more people than others. As professionals that work in the geriatric healthcare field, death and loss of various levels are something we deal with quite possibly on a regular basis. This doesn’t…
10 Certifications You Can Add To Your Recreation Therapy Skillset
Recreation Therapists are expected to be a Jack (or Jill) of all trades. We need to have an understanding of a variety of leisure pursuits, to ensure our clients’ needs are being met in the best way possible. I have been asked so many times and have seen on many sites ‘What certifications can I…
Adult Day Care: What is it and why is it important for our senior population?
I recently moved to Philadelphia Pennsylvania, and accepted a position as a Recreation Director for a geriatric daycare program. I have a strong passion for older adults, and took this opportunity to expand my scope of practice, able to be a department head, and really dig my heels into recreation management in a geriatric setting….
Preparing for your future in Recreation Therapy the ‘SMART’ way
By Tina Watson, CTRS When the new year arrives many of us reevaluate our lives and our careers. We make goals or New Year’s Resolutions. For me this included finding a way to make my work and home life more streamlined and organized. So, I bought a new planner that has daily, monthly and weekly…
Work Smarter Not Harder with The Activity Professionals Workbook
Take a peek into this months guest blog entry from Shelley Evans from Dementia Resources of the Fingerlakes LLC Shelley Evans is the Founder and CEO of Dementia Resources of the Finger Lakes, LLC. She has 29 years of experience working with adults with mental health and dementia-related diagnosis. A Board-Certified Music Therapist, Board-Certified Activity…
Caring for Ourselves: How to Combat Caregiver Burnout
Tips, suggestions, and a cool new service in California aiming to curb the stresses of caring for others through the love of leisure and recreational pursuits. The demand put on caregivers – whether it is your career, family obligation or otherwise is a tiresome task, and can be burdensome at times. As front line healthcare…
Budget Friendly Programming Purchases
As we can all attest to, budgets are always tight and programming ideas are forever in need. I compiled a few of my favorite budget friendly programming “must-haves” recreation/activity related books that have aided me through my work in long term care on a meager budget. 1. Scratch and Solve Hangman – $5.56Get it HereFor a…
Volunteer Management 101: What you need for successful volunteer services
Whether you have 1, 10, or 500 volunteers for your organization, you need to know the ins and outs of how to manage unpaid staff. Here are the top 5 things you’ll need, to excel at volunteer services. 1. Actively understand the definition of a volunteer! This might seem simple and already implied, but for organizations…
On your mark, get set…Go for Gold with the Geri Olympics
When you think of geriatrics the first thing you think of is athletics, right? Well for Ted Muilenburg that’s exactly what he envisioned over 30 years ago. I had the incredible opportunity to pick the brain of the Executive Director for the Institute of Geri Olympics and Active Living. This organization is one a kind,…