Have you ever thought about this? Where does the pressure come from? Your company? Administration? Those who live there? Their families? Ombudsmen?Surveyors? Yourself? Our own profession?

Honestly, yes, most of us do want to see full days on the monthly “activity” calendar.

Honestly, yes most of us do want to see lots of people “attending” an activity – administrators, family members, fellow team members, ombudsmen, surveyors, us too. But in that moment, who is it all about? Us seeing a full calendar, and us seeing many groups, and us seeing many people attending – is that what it’s all about? Is that what is required?

Honestly ask yourself, Why do we want to see lots of groups with lots of people attending?

Here’s a hard question, in that moment who is it all about? Really? Have you ever noticed some of the things we do may be more about us, not the people who actually live in this home where we only work?

Who feels better when there are lots of groups with lots of people? What causes surveyors to think there is a lack in a person’s pursuit of interests and when it can be checked off?

Here is a sad example. When I was a surveyor, during a nursing home survey I observed someone take a person living there, who was one of my sample residents, from her room to a large group activity. Not invited, not even spoken to. She sat there the whole time until someone took her back to her room. The sad part? No one engaged with her, and she was unable to engage herself in the activity. I realized in the end, it was all about the checkmark on the activities participation record that the person had attended an activity. It was all about the paperwork. Again, in that moment who was it all about? Maybe about us and our checkmarks on attendance records? I’m not shaming anyone. We’ve all done it, including me as an activity director too.

“But we need to think about the sense of all of this. I urge you to do so because it is so freeing from the old, outdated, unappealing, traditional, institutional model.”

Excerpt from GUARDIANS OF NORMAL LIFE a new eResource chock full of 1-pager info sheets that ground you and your team in what regulations really require available at http://www.edu-catering.com where you can learn lots more.

This sad pressure is also causing professionals to tell dear people, “If you don’t come to this activity I may lose my job.” Yep.

And I will continue to teach what the regulations really require, not this.