Page 17 - Vibrant Living Scrapbook

How to Engage
During a week of observing life in the Prairie Knoll household in Perham, MN, many observations of engagement were made: a resident engaged in watching a cooking show, family members visiting and engaging others in conversation, householders journeying outdoors, people sitting on the porch and neighbors visiting.
It was also noticed, however, as it is all over the country, that householders run out of things to say to each other when they dine together three times a day. Staff engaged in conversations around dining room tables at meal times, yet (except for the coordinator who led planned activities) had few personal interactions with residents during the rest of the day. One staff member said she would love to engage with residents and try different activities, but wasn’t sure how to go about it.
Community Learning Circle Questions
Give us an idea for engaging someone in an activity or conversation.
One really great way to engage residents is to tap into what they enjoy doing on their own. Here are examples:
A householder watches a cooking show.
Ask her for ideas for the household’s next cook-off or other cooking activities.
A householder watches late night shows.
Ask her to share the funniest thing she heard on the show with everyone at lunch (rather than at breakfast since she sleeps until 10:00 a.m.)
A householder watches old westerns on television.
Ask her at the next meal or group activity to share something she found interesting from watching shows about “the old days.”
A householder sews.
Ask her to show her latest piece at an activity or meal.
Several householders attend Mass every Friday.
Ask them who they saw or to tell so-and-so hello from the group.
A householder is an avid magazine reader.
Ask her to share with us the magazine’s latest recipe or advice column.
A householder is an avid news watcher.
Ask him to bring the weather report or any good news he heard to the next meal.
A householder from another household visits every afternoon.
Ask him what’s new in his household.
A householder reads the newspaper front to back every day.
Ask him to bring an interesting story to the next group or current events activity.
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