What kind of activities should be provided at an assisted living facility?

At Moms facility they have some exercise in the morning, low impact. Bingo is a big thing but like said, the Dementia residents r more likely to play. Parties are given for special occasions like holidays and birthdays. They usually have entertainment. They try to a a Movie night and crafts. Even the longterm Mom is being transferred to has activities.

Hi Gigi,

At my granny's facility they a recreation coordinator that sometimes organizes day trips to the mountains and other activities. And at the facility there is everything from playing board games, bingo, doing crafts and sitting down exercises, prayers, Sunday service in the garden. I don't think it hurts to make suggestions for activities either. They are always open to ideas for more activities and they will gage the interest and see how many participants they can get.

Living animals? Oh, my. I would think that may frighten some elders.

Not all places are the same. My former facility made it a point to have someone come in twice a month and present a special program. It was geared to a wide variety of adults regardless of mentality. For example, there was a man who raised butterflies and gave an extremely beautiful presentation with live butterflies. Another time they had a speaker on current events. One other time they had someone come in with some living animals and the residents were taught how they lived in the wild. All of the previous presentations were fantastic and educational. Unfortunately, here, where I am now their activities are geared to the lowest common denominator. They have word games, bingo, and other programs which I feel are suitable for grade school level kids. Sad, but true and there is never, ever a program for a much higher functioning adult. Also, they have lunch trips in different restaurants twice monthly. Here I am lucky too because I have the use of a pool. For me, I stay in my room and take college courses, work at two jobs, and otherwise do research on the computer to learn about new things. Fortunately, I still drive so I go out to eat on my own as well. But the point is - they are all different in what they offer in terms of activities. It depends on who is running the show.

Gigi, I found this article here on Aging Care that has some helpful ideas.

https://www.agingcare.com/articles/senior-living-facilities-activities-for-men-147457.htm