I haven’t had to spend much time in nursing homes.  I have nothing against them personally. My reaction to them can be traced to my first visit to one when I went to see a schizophrenic great aunt in a home in rural Minnesota. Psychiatric hospital circa late 1970s middle of nowhere. Can you picture it?

Like virtually every other element of our lives, 35 years has brought great advances to how nursing home residents are care for. Everything from the décor in the hallways to the training of the staff…

New York City is famous for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and so is the VNSNY CHOICE Adult Day Center in Queens! Much like NYC, our center is very culturally diverse. We look forward to celebrating all cultures in creative ways, and our celebration of St. Patrick’s Day is no exception. In fact, we do so much celebrating, that it takes us a whole week to fit in all the activities!

We celebrate through a variety of therapeutic modalities, so as the seniors are having a blast, they’re also benefitting in a…

What’s the key to engaging seniors in activities – the same as all other ages – do what THEY like to do! When activity planning, put on your audience’s hat and see things through their eyes. How do they see the world, what activities have they engaged in throughout their lives, what countries do they come from?

In our experience, when we plan through the eyes of seniors and encourage them to give us activity ideas, those are the activities that are the most fun and engaging for our members.

Ms. E.…

According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year about one in three older adults will experience a fall. Many of these falls occur in the home due to the presence of safety hazards. I have found the stairwell to be a common area for falls to occur.

Fortunately safety hazards can be corrected. Follow these steps to improve the safety of your stairwell.

1. Simply remove any clutter which also includes the shoes on the steps or that favorite sweater hanging off the handrail
2. Make sure there is adequate lighting available
3. Repair any damaged steps…

The VNSNY CHOICE Adult Day Center is a multicultural program serving seniors that speak English, Spanish, French Creole and Chinese. We strive to offer activities in our members’ native languages to help them feel comfortable, participate as much as possible and encourage socialization with peers. We offer these activities through staff and volunteers that speak a variety of languages, as well as through the help of translators.

Last month, Columbia Nursing Students interning at our center led health education for our Haitian seniors. Through the use of a translator, the nursing…

When you’re trying to encourage someone with dementia to participate in activities, take heart and keep trying. Don’t give up, because you never know what will spark their interest and abilities.

For an activity geared toward stimulating the senses, our Activities Coordinator put together a sampling of lotions with a variety of smells. As she led the activity, she noted that the seniors didn’t seem interested. They weren’t familiar with these ”spa” scents and although there was sensory stimulation, they couldn’t relate to it.

So, she decided to change the materials for the…

We’re always looking for new and fresh ways to get our seniors involved.   Many of our participants love art or are developing a new interest in art.     For people with functional impairments, although we’re located so close to New York City, it can be difficult to get there to enjoy all the cultural opportunities.

We were very lucky to connect with the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).   They have a wonderful program where they come to adult day centers and train staff on how to lead art related activities and discussions…

We’ve seen endless examples of people with dementia come to our center and are disinterested in activities. They’re resistant at first, but with a little time and patience, we’ve been able to engage every single person.

What is the key to helping them open up? Patience and the recognition that participating is about the process, not about the product.  We don’t focus on the end result of the activity, but more on getting them to connect to any part of the process. If we try an activity one way and we don’t see…

At the VNSNY CHOICE Adult Day Center, we love discussion groups with our seniors. It’s a wonderful way for them to stimulate cognition, feel valuable, share opinions and socialize. Their humor and wisdom always make an impression and encourage us to think in new ways. Last week, we had a great discussion. We loved their answers and wanted to share with you…

What does the word “elder” mean to you?

• Boss
• Wise person
• Teacher
• Apostle
• Have loot
• A good neighbor
• Pastor
• Someone in charge
• Experienced
• Someone you respect

What are the gifts and contributions you make to our lives and world?

• Words of…

Have you ever tried to finish a home improvement project without using the right tools? How did it turn out? As a new homeowner, I’ve learned the results aren’t pretty.

Along the same lines, using the right equipment can enable people with certain physical limitations to safely accomplish every-day tasks in the home. If you use any of these common household items for these (or similar) reasons, allow me to share with you a few safer options.

1) Avoid holding onto the towel rack to enter and exit the bathtub or shower.…