Hello everyone,

With so many residents staying in their rooms because of COVID-19, we want help you find ways to keep them moving in their small spaces. Integrating physical activity while helping residents with their activities of daily living is a great way to do this, especially if you are short on staff during this time.

Attached is a fun video of a couple dancing (note that the man is 94 and the woman is 91!) that can inspire you and your residents, and if the music doesn’t want to make you want to dance, we don’t know what will! Ask your residents to dance with you as you help them walk to the bathroom, get their clothes out, make the bed, or tidy up their room.

Here’s a link to a short video from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) that demonstrates how to do a sit-to-stand exercise:

https://go4life.nia.nih.gov/exercise/chair-stand/  There are many more videos on the NIA website to choose from too! Try picking a new one each week to work on with residents. We want to keep them active and strong during this time to help reduce their fall risk, improve their mood, and avoid boredom, which can lead to behavioral issues for some residents.

If you’d like to boost morale among residents (and staff too) consider having contest for residents! They can earn points for each exercise they try, or the number of sit-to-stands they can do in a week. The resident with the most points at the end of the week gets a prize!

We leave you with a few more pictures, drawn by Dr. Resnick’s grandchildren…Be safe and we wish you all well!