Who's the Activity Director in Your Workplace?
And Where's the Party?
by Rand Bass, ADC
Nominations Committee
Do
you make an effort to raise your profile in your workplace?
How about in your community? Do you have contacts at
your local newspaper, radio station, or television affiliate?
Do visitors touring your facility get a friendly "hello"
from you and your staff when they look in on an activity?
Following intro-ductions, are they invited to join in
even for a moment in "the fun?"
We
all put a lot of energy into planning special events
our facilities, and we should always be sure to market
the event to the community at large just as we "sell"
it to everyone in our own corner of the market. We are,
after all, "selling" our activities to our
own staff, to our residents and to their families and
friends, to the immediate neighborhood and to the greater
community in which we operate.
After
we fill a full month's calendar with activities so wonderful
that we want to par-ticipate in them ourselves, we have
to create that enthusiasm among our residents, our staff,
and our community in order to get them in on the activities
and to get involved in them.
Be
a representative of gra-cious hospitality in tile "home"
in which you work. Raise the "welcoming senti-ment"
in your fellow staff members. Do you and mem-bers of
your staff greet each and every resident cheerfully
each day? No visitor should enter your facility without
being offered a refreshment, a comfortable chair, and
a tour of your lovely space - even when a special event
or party is not going on. This includes the telephone
repairman or the delivery driver or your vol-unteers,
or any visitor your residents entertain. Always offer
a beverage to friends and family of your residents and
the resi-dent as well. Make their visitors feel welcome.
Focus every-one's attention on the activities - which
they should not want to miss - from the day's sched-ule.
Engender excitement!
On
the days when a big event is to take place, you want
as many partiers to join in as your room can safely
manage. Family members, friends, and even neighbors
from the com-munity should be invited. Preparing and
distributing a press release is the most effec-tive
way to inform the most potential participants about
your event. Make sure to include all the particulars
in your press release. There may even be marketing professionals
at your workplace who could assist you with public relations
and public service announcements.
The
idea for your special events might be a comprehen-sive
program centered on an upcoming holiday. It may be as
simple as reviewing the events calendar in your local
newspaper to find a special interest club you could
involve in your programs.
For
example, Ballroom Dancing groups meet on a regu-lar
basis. Call a club and invite them to hold a meeting
at your facility. Let them know that you will provide
refreshments for everyone, as well as the dance hall
and a most appreciative audience. All your residents
will enjoy the dancing even if they cannot participate,
and those who can stand and dance, even a little, will
surprise you. Your Physical Therapy and Occupational
Therapy staffs should be able to make the dancing a
therapeutic session for some residents. Invite all members
of the staff, including your Director of Nursing and
your Administrator, to take a turn around the floor
with the dancers.
It
is critical to make sure you get coverage of your special
event in the local media. At least one event in your
weekly calendar should be newswor-thy. If the news day
is "slow," and you have alerted the news-paper
editors and television news directors a month ahead
of time (and reminded them the day before with an addi-tional
press release or a friend-ly call), you may get a picture
of the performers or of residents enjoying the event
in your town's newspaper, or a video report on the evening
news. This is the goal you are working towards in promoting
your big events.
The
events calendar of your local newspaper is a great resource.
Almost any special interest club or community group
could turn a special event at your facility into a special
pro-ject for them to host, sponsor and - most importantly
- to fea-ture in their club's news as a vol-unteer service
event for their group, and as a benefit to your facility
and your community.
For
example, a group like the local VFW Post or VFW Ladies
Auxiliary might consider making regular room-to-room
visits to your residents who are unable to leave their
rooms, or especially to your Veterans.
If
your special event gets media coverage, you will raise
the profile of your workplace in your community and
at the same time make both your Administra-tor and your
Marketing Director happy for positive exposure which
could translate into sales for your company.
The
biggest benefit, though, is the special enthusiasm a
well--planned acrd well-promoted event will engender
in your resi-dents. They will find a new excitement
in activities they can help you to plan and promote
and truly enjoy. And then your residents will know who
the Activity Director is and will join you in a positive
way in your planning and promotional efforts. You may
even notice your staff members finding new ways to participate
in and show their support for activities at your facility.
Activity
Directors are busy; that's a given. The one thing that
will give you additional time to learn how to manage
your work load - and your returns in professional dividends
for career advancement - is participating in your profes-sional
organization on the local, state, and national level.
Volunteer to serve on an NCCAP committee, or throw your
hat into the ring for elec-tion to the NCCAP Board.
If you can convince prospective vol-unteers in your
facility to help your residents enjoy life, then you
should follow your own rationale and offer volunteer
hours of service to your peers.
We
should always strive to be professional in our profes-sional
role and to market our-selves and our activities as
a valuable and high caliber product with joyous outcomes
for the benefit of our resi-dents, our facility and
our community. NN
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