Kate Prior
In assisted living, you can kick back and enjoy the change of seasons, holidays, field trips, hobbies, and new ideas. It’s not time to settle for felt crafts, sing-alongs, and bingo. The idea is to look for a variety of experiences that stimulate the senses, bring back memories, improve mood, cut boredom, sharpen the mind, and forge warmer social bonds.
At McKnight Place Assisted Living and Memory Care, the day starts with News and Brews (fresh coffee and current events straight from the newspaper), then moves to exercise, Today in History discussions, and Ted Talks in the movie theater.
“Just going from bingo to card games doesn’t really give someone purpose,” says assistant administrator Laura Ritt-hamel, “and it can feel infantile. We have a Tech 101 group, cooking groups with demonstrations by our chef, a choir led by our music therapist, the McKnight Singers.” Outings are focused on simple pleasures: a tasting at a chocolate factory, a trip to Eckert’s or the Boathouse in Forest Park. When ideas run dry, the residents pipe up.
At Laclede Groves, “almost everything on the calendar, the suggestion came from a resident,” says Kristina Wille, director of resident services. After a brainstorming meeting, staffers research the ideas, and everybody votes the following month. Lunch at Pietro’s? Steak ’n’ Shake? A tearoom in Fenton? This fall, residents went on a joyride (everybody stays on the bus) to see St. Louis landmarks (one trip was the three water towers) and excursions to the King Tut exhibit at the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Apollo exhibit at the Saint Louis Science Center. On quiet evenings, people play word games, roll dice, guess trivia. For vigor, there’s a walking club and exercise videos; more gently, there’s tai chi and ballet done in a chair (a ballerina dances a demo). Laclede Groves’ town center has a movie theater, an Olympic pool, an art studio with ceramics and watercolor classes, and a computer lab for use by all residents.
Way better than bingo.
“Only 10 people live in each of the [Dolan Memory Care] Homes, which keeps things calm and lets friendships form. We like to matchmake. We look at past experiences, interests, hobbies. Personalities play a big role: What are folks proud of. What irritates them. One woman was really adventurous; she’d owned her own Italian restaurant. We found a former OR nurse who was just as upbeat and fun-loving, and the stars aligned. They sit next to each other at meals, go on walks together... Two other ladies were aphasic, their words scrambled or not making sense, and they’d just sit together and have conversations, laughing and smiling.” —Allison Dolan-Boschert, nurse consultant
