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I love reading about the innovative programs that nursing homes develop to enhance the lives of their residents. If you need ideas to spice things up at your facility, you’ll want to check these out, too.
As you read about these programs, you’ll probably come up with additional questions. With this in mind, I’m providing a link to each facility, allowing you to contact them directly.
Mall Day
During the Christmas holidays, the Wyoming Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in New Richmond, West Virginia, provides an on-site shopping experience for its residents. This allows them to purchase gifts for their family and friends.
Armed with a list of clothing sizes and suggestions provided by the nursing home, the department store brings a wide variety of potential gifts to the facility. This even includes toys for grandchildren. Additional vendors offer specialty items for sale, such as jewelry and candy.
Because of their efforts, the nursing home recently received a Best Practice Award from the West Virginia Healthcare Association.
Bringing The Outside In
Another recent winner of the WVHA Best Practice Award, Cortland Acres is located in Thomas, West Virginia. Their award-winning program resulted from a desire to beautify the wall spaces of their facilities.
After teaming up with a local photography club, photo submissions were solicited and judged by a professional photographer. The winning entries were printed on canvas and used to brighten the walls of the facility. Because of its success, the program is now in its fourth year.
Each fall, the facility auctions off the previous year’s photo canvases and selects new winners. In addition, a public unveiling brings many visitors from the outside community to view the beautiful prints.
Guinness World Record
Now here’s a unique award. In June 2018, Southwind Healthcare in Crowley, Louisianna, earned its place among the Guinness World Records. The nursing home hosted the longest continuous Bingo game.
Held in conjunction with the longest day of the year, the event raised money for the Alzheimer’s Association. Their motto for the event was, “The strength of our light will outshine the darkness of Alzheimer’s.”
While a core team of 6 individuals played for a full 24 hours, about 500 other people joined in for a game or two. This included community members, residents from sister facilities, and area celebrities.
Okay, who among you wants to take on the challenge to break their record??
Volunteer Service
Prairie Vista Village, a continuing care community in Altoona, Iowa, strives to help residents find purpose in serving others. These are just a few of their many recent projects:
- Knit hats for the Iowa Heart Center
- Sewed cloth diapers for Haitian babies
- Participated in the Nippy Hippy 5k to raise money for charities
- Stuffed gift bags for back-to-school breakfast held at a local school
- Provided Christmas gifts for area children
The residents’ efforts resulted in the facility being honored with the Newell Franklin Award. This brings recognition to individuals or groups that show dedication to community service.
Has your facility ever won an award? I would love to hear about it! Simply leave a note in the comment section.
And while you’re here, be sure to check out these innovative dining programs from senior care communities across the country.
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