Hello everyone,

With no visitors coming in and some residents being isolated in their rooms to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, we thought we’d share some ideas to help you keep your residents entertained and active, even with limited staff. Here’s what we’ve come up with so far:

·  Have residents stand at their doorways (maybe start with every other room and then switch to keep distance safe), and ask the activities staff or nursing assistants to lead them in some stretching exercises…they can be sitting at their doors or standing, whichever is safe for them. You can play music and they can march and dance too.

· This one may help boost staff morale too—have staff do wheelchair races (or other silly races like we used to do at birthday parties) down the hallway while the residents cheer them on. They can also do a dance contest while dancing down the hall, and residents vote by applause.

· Start a sing-along to record while they sing from their doorways and email the recording to family members.

· Pioneer Network has created a resource page to help care communities access free tools and resources they can use to combat social isolation: https://www.pioneernetwork.net/resource-library/

· Make masks! You’ve likely know about the PPE shortage, especially of much-coveted masks. The CDC has now approved cloth masks, so if you have the supplies, skills, and some seamstresses among your residents, you can give it a try:

DIY Cloth Face Mask (fitted mask): https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Cloth-Face-Mask/

Folded Mask: https://sweetredpoppy.com/how-to-sew-a-surgical-face-mask/

How are you keeping your residents entertained and physically active? Please send us your suggestions to share!

Hang in there, let us know what you’d like to see in future tidbits, and we hope you all stay healthy!