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Impactful leadership. Wellness based therapeutic activities.

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Sharing Life: Let’s Sit Together

Posted on: March 23, 2017

Let’s Sit Together

[clickToTweet tweet=”Encourage one another across the life span. Engagement. Validation. Play. Share life!” quote=”‘each person has hidden treasures waiting to be discovered and that someday I too will want someone to sit with me.'”]

Living in a household of eight, with both my grandmothers, I was exposed to the beauty of books, playing games, laughter and learned to appreciate the value of generational strengths. My family showed me the power of engagement in activities of daily living, meaning every one had tasks that made our family “village” run. MomMom Bertha was the laundry Queen, made a killer pound cake and reveled reading my English compositions and giving feedback. Meanwhile, Grandmom Marie breaded the smelts, darned socks and a voracious appetite for news and reading made her a wonderful conversationalist.

Then there was my Great Aunt Hilda, the Aunt whose house you always wanted to visit, because she had a totally pink bathroom, down to the Rosemilk soap and fluffy shag rug yet more than that was the life of the party and lived life out loud. She loved to connect with people through jokes, music and games.  Aunt Hilda always made people feel welcomed, wanted, connected.  She was a guiding star in my life. I accompanied my Aunt on Sundays to visit my great Grandmother in a nursing home and would see folks who appeared lonely and my Aunt encouraged me to go and sit with folks. This experience revealed that each person has hidden treasures waiting to be discovered and that someday I too will want someone to sit with me. That pivotal point cinched that serving elders would be in my future and thirty years later here I am in the best profession on earth!

I am deeply grateful to my Mother who supported my various senior communities with donations, book suggestions or loaned family antiques when we hosted the annual country fair. And to the many pioneers who helped to pave the way for this profession, specifically Anne D’Antonio-Nocera, Nancy DeBolt, Cat Selman, Dr. Peckham, Mary Miller, Nadine Touhey, and my best team leader and mentor Pam Keely.  Every elder I have been blessed to serve has gifted me with wisdom, humanity and invaluable life lessons . As Thomas Edison said “the secret to success is making your vocation your vacation.” I view each day with curiosity because the human spirit is not linear rather ever changing. May we encourage one another across the life span, continue advocating for quality eldercare and the power of engagement and the importance of play with gusto!

Filed Under: Activity Profession, Family Care Partners, Life Span

LOVE is Ageless: Five Tips for Navigating Life Together

Posted on: February 23, 2017

Connections sums it up. As humans we are wired to be connected.  Don’t stop now.

Create a Village:     Let people know that your loved one is changing.  Life is meant to shared. Tap into existing friends, family, neighbors, church family who extend a helping hand.

Don’t be a super hero:     accept help offered or ASK for help. It can be scary with so many family roles shifting.  Your elder can still make decisions and now you may be the one to implement. When cognition changes, involve your loved one in conversations. Please don’t talk about a person present as if they were invisible. Think no conversations about me, without me.

Create moments of JOY….simplicity is best.  Enjoy time together. Open scrapbooks, walk in the park., enjoy an ice cream cone, adapt a family favorite game. Activities are everywhere J

Organize legal affairs:     Too many people wait until crisis emerges and then reactive thinking happens. Be prepared and open to hard conversations. The more difficult matters are discussed (treatment options, body changes, adapting living situation for better functioning (safety),final wishes, life celebration/funeral arrangements can be healthy when openly discussed.  When organized this opens time up to BE with your loved one.

Adjust, flex and discover more:     as loved ones change, change with them. If memory changes show up, don’t correct your loved one or act impatient.

Explain and involve children into the process:      This informs, decreases societal myths about aging and cultivates sensitivity and compassion.

We fear what we don’t understand and fill in the spaces, often with incorrect information. Share your care journey with others. Listen to their experiences, swap resources and enjoy life’s journey.

Filed Under: Family Care Partners, Life Span

Embracing the Whole Person Model for Activities

Posted on: May 20, 2015

Social, physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual are the dimensions of each person. Dimensions are not dependent on gender, race, culture or class with each person searching for life satisfaction and what has meaning to them specifically. This whole person model is embraced by Activity Pathways. Understanding the unique features of each person and providing a well-balanced day, through activities, validating a person’s existence while promoting wellness. The Activity Profession classifies activities related to the identified needs of an individual and then creates targeted approaches/activities to fill those needs.

The Activity Pathways logo represents each domain (listed above) in the symbol of a leaf and each leaf is interconnected and this means that factors influencing one domain will often affect other domains. Our mission is to educate the public about the power of activities and how they create a bridge connecting, soul to soul.

logo

Filed Under: Activity Profession, Family Care Partners

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Recent Posts

  • Learning Lab
  • Sharing Life: Let’s Sit Together
  • LOVE is Ageless: Five Tips for Navigating Life Together
  • Playfully Frozen
  • BRAVO! Activity Professionals Week

Topics

  • Activity Profession
  • Family Care Partners
  • Innovative Activity Interventions
  • Life Span
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Activities are a Natural Bridge…

Person centered wellness activities are a natural bridge. Bringing people together in a place & time sharing, life’s journey, soul to soul.

Recent Posts

  • Learning Lab
  • Sharing Life: Let’s Sit Together
  • LOVE is Ageless: Five Tips for Navigating Life Together
  • Playfully Frozen
  • BRAVO! Activity Professionals Week

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Activity Pathways
Offices located in Ambler, PA 19002

215-872-1657
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