An important part of living in a care center like this is for the residents to stay active and build friendships and a sense of community.
To facilitate this there is a very active Activities team. They make sure that there is plenty to keep us busy. Every month a new schedule of activities is published on the notice boards and on the website.
I have always found it difficult to participate in activities. I know that it is important but I would rather sit and read quietly. So I have been scratching my head to find a way in which I can contribute/participate.
The Newsletter Committee
Somehow we came up with the idea of a newsletter committee. That certainly I could get involved in. And so The Kiwanis Krier was born. So far we have published two newsletters!
I goofed – well sort off. While on the newsletter, Seldin, the activities lady mentioned about the upcoming Carnival they have been working on. Needless to say my HMD background kicked in – what carnival? How is it being promoted, I have not heard a word about it. After some discussion it was clear given the short time to the carnival (the following week Labour Day) a poster campaign was the most feasible. We discussed the details of the carnival and sketched out what poster could look like.
That is what I enjoy about working with Seldon, she is eager and willing to learn. I stressed the urgency if we want to get maximum exposure. I encouraged her to design a draft poster. She worked really hard and the next she came with a pdf of a nice poster that I thought was a pretty good first poster!
There were a few things that needed changing but I wanted her to do it. In the meantime I took the pdf, cut it up in Photoshop so that we could move the blocks of text about. When she had a break in her activities work she came over and we finalized the design. She undertook to print and put up the poster in the elevators and on notice boards – very enterprising I thought.
Come Monday morning a rather angry Audrey corners me in the dining room: “Where have put up these posters?!” I had to confess that I was not sure as I had not put them up personally.
It turns out that the Carnival was for residents only and the posters would give the impression that everyone was welcome. I think we did a great job and Seldon deserves some Kudos.
Guess the lesson is it is one thing to want to get involved but I should not get involved when I am not asked! Sorry Dimitra and Audrey, we meant well.
Videography
Videography is something else I could get involved in. I have plenty of ideas where it can be useful. One could make training/on-boarding videos, event videos (like the Carnival), A Day in the Life videos, News Reporting, Interviews, and more.
I noticed that several residents have smartphones so I thought we could form a Smartphone Video Club. We would offer training sessions, identify specific projects and then discuss the resulting project videos to suggest improvements.
My main concern now is the deteriorating Parkinson’s. It is perhaps time to hang up my camera, or in now my smartphone?
