Ideas to Keep Residents Engaged in a Residential Care Home

Ideas to Keep Residents Engaged in a Residential Care Home

When the Pandemic hit in 2020 and social distancing guidelines were put in place, it had an impact on everyone.

Care homes, in particular, were badly hit, with visits from families being heavily restricted or banned altogether, and resident’s movements in the home limited.

We created this little list of ideas at the height of the pandemic to give our fantastic Homes some ideas to keep the gloom at bay. Thank goodness, we seem to be through the worst of it now, but our list is still here if you need some quick ideas for getting your residents involved!

Why It’s Important To Keep Residents Engaged With New Ideas

Before we delve into the ideas, why is it important to always implement new ideas to engage your residents with?

Well, engaging residents even by the simple things (talking, joking, singing and just being together) can make people feel valued and wanted.

It’s a good way to keep morale boosted for both the person in care and the carer themselves, and keeping it new and fresh never hurt anyone.

Whilst this blog will mainly focus on residents, if you are a carer or nurse who’s struggling a bit at the moment, we have written a helpful guide on how to alleviate with this.

On to the fun activity ideas!

Keeping in Touch With Family

When residents are unable to see their loved ones in person, it doesn’t mean they can’t contact them in other ways.

If you have an iPad, tablet or laptop, you can video call using Zoom, FaceTime, Hangouts, Skype and allow your residents the family time that they need the most.

While it may not be the real thing, it will certainly put a smile on their face. Sure, there may be a few classic “can you hear me?”, and talking over each other, but it’ll create some good laughs for everyone.

Doing Routine Tasks

Sometimes the days go by really slowly and group tasks might not be something the residents want to do.

One thing which they can do is helping with home tasks, such as dusting, hoovering, or just general tidying of their personal or communal rooms.

It helps keep them engaged, and also benefits the home and other residents, with the home being a tidier place.

When you can break up a day, as we all know, it makes it much more interesting than waking up, going to sleep, with no real objective in-between!

Listening To Music, TV, Or Films Together

Group activities such a gathering to listen to music, or watching a film or television show together is a fantastic way to keep people engaged – especially if it is a classic! When your residents see actors and actresses they loved to watch on the screen, memories will come flooding back, and conversations will flow.

Is there anyone who doesn’t love a Carry On Film?

Let residents suggest films, shows or albums to watch or listen to, and then draw one from out of a hat. You can even make it a regular occurrence. Monday Movie Night, Tuesday Tunes Night – the possibilities are endless.

On top of this, it may be an idea to provide classic cinema snacks to help make it truly a special occasion for residents to look forward to (just don’t blame us if you find bits of popcorn on the floor and down the sofa)!

Wake-Up, Shake-Up

This is used up and down the country and helps to keep people active and have a healthy mind.

A quick ten-minute exercise session on a morning is enough to get everyone prepared for the day and gives them something to look forward to each day.

Don’t worry if you have some less mobile residents – there are exercises that they can do as well!

Quizzes

Staying on the group theme, hosting quizzes are a great way to get people involved, talking and keep them entertained.

Whether it’s in teams or by themselves, having residents participate in quiz days will keep their mind active and helps to pass the time!

You could even integrate the prize into other things on this list. Monday’s film could be chosen by the quiz winner, so there is something to play for.

The quizzes can follow themes, such as ’60s, ’70s, classic films, music etc. The possibilities are endless, and having a variety of quiz types means that there’s something for everyone to specialise in.

Art Hour

Art is a wonderful way to get the brain going. Whether it’s painting, drawing, playing a musical instrument, it doesn’t matter – just get creative!

The pieces which are created can be used to set up a mini art exhibition, or just used to brighten up the walls.

The Wrap-Up

Everyone is engaged differently, but hopefully, this blog has given you some ideas that you can implement in your residential care home.

Do you do anything differently, or have any more tips to keep residents entertained and engaged?

Drop us a comment below to let everyone know and try for themselves!