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Isn’t it amazing how acts of kindness often benefit the giver just as much as the receiver? That’s why I hope you’ll give your residents lots of opportunities to be kind to other people in 2019.
Over the next year, I plan to write a monthly article describing ways you can help your residents experience the joy of spreading kindness. Let’s begin with 7 ideas for January.
1. Provide supplies so your residents can create beautiful cards for residents at another nearby nursing home. Then drop off the cards with a request that they are distributed to any residents who could use a bit of encouragement.
2. Collect coupon inserts from Sunday newspapers. Invite residents to clip the coupons, then leave them in the breakroom for staff who live on tight budgets.
3. Most communities have a central agency that can link up potential volunteers with organizations that need help. Call your local agency and find out what your residents can do as a group to volunteer.
4. Remember this idea the next time you take a group of residents on an outing (to a restaurant, for example) and they have a terrific time. Afterward, sit down with the group and write a positive online review on the company’s website.
5. Encourage residents to give sincere compliments to strangers. So often we think something positive, but we don’t say it out loud. A comment as simple as, “Your shoes are so pretty”, could make someone’s day.
6. Help residents write a note of appreciation to someone who made a positive difference in their life. It could be a former co-worker, neighbor, teacher, minister, or someone else. Use tools like Facebook to help track down the person if a resident isn’t sure of their current location.
7. Do you have a childcare center at your nursing home? Ask the children to draw cheerful pictures, then invite residents to write a brief, encouraging note on the back of each one. Drop them off at a women’s shelter and add a bit of hope to someone’s day.
By doing these and other acts of kindness, your residents will reap many benefits. These are just a few:
- A renewed sense of purpose
- Positive social interactions
- Opportunity to focus on something other than their own challenges
- A boost to self-esteem
- The joy of watching someone else’s grateful response
I would love to hear about the acts of kindness you’re doing at your nursing home. Please share in the comment section! And be sure to tune in next month when we’ll look at acts of kindness to do in February.
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