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VOLUNTEER AT A NURSING HOME: CREATE MEMORIES TO TREASURE

Nursing Homes

Life in a nursing home, even the best of nursing homes, is often confusing, frustrating, scary, and lonely.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 50 percent of nursing home residents have no close relatives, and 46 percent have no living children. These two facts are a major reason why an estimated 60 percent of nursing home residents never have visitors.

Human contact is critical for health. Yet, a University of Maryland study of more than 1,400 "significant others" of nursing home residents found that the number of visits and calls by family and friends declined by half after an individual entered a nursing home. Try to imagine how you would feel if you had to leave your home to live in a new environment where you had limited or no access to your family and friends.

Nursing home volunteer opportunities can include spending time with a resident, playing cards, talking, taking a walk, or sharing a meal. But you can also make visits during which you and the nursing home resident create and preserve memories that will provide comfort for the resident when friends and family are absent.

You can do any of the following activities during one visit or over several visits; with a nursing home resident whom you know well or one whom you've recently befriended:

  • Collage scrapbook: Begin with a standard empty scrapbook or a three-ring binder that contains thick paper. Ask the nursing home resident what types of items he/she would like to include in the scrapbook, such as: photos, mementos (e.g., ticket stubs, matchbook covers, invitations, cards), newspaper articles, poetry, and cartoons. If the nursing home resident doesn't have access to items suitable for a scrapbook, use pictures and clippings from magazines, newspapers, and cards that interest or are memorable for the resident. If, for example, a resident loves cats and cooking, create a cat and favorite recipe collage.
  • Card Collage: Create one or more collages using cards, letters, and envelops from people who have corresponded with the resident. Include a photo of the person(s) who sent the correspondence, if possible. If you make several collages, place them in a three-ring binder for easy viewing.
  • Memory Calendar: Begin with a standard flip-over desk calendar (the type where you turn to a new page each day). Attach or write in cheerful reminders (photos, poems, stickers) of special memories or events on the appropriate days. These can include birthdays of family and friends, anniversaries (weddings, first date, graduations, memorable vacations), and holidays.
  • Audio Poetry Collection: Record the nursing home resident's favorite poems on cassette tapes or CDs so the resident can listen to them anytime. The poems can be childhood favorites, poems that stir special memories, poems grandchildren or other family or friends have written, or the resident's own' poems. Make the recordings during your visits and make a list of each of the poems on the tape(s) for the resident.
  • Bulletin Board: Create a theme bulletin board that focuses on special memories, such as grandchildren, a hobby, or holidays. Use photos, mementos, cards, letters, newspaper clippings, poetry, stickers, slogan buttons, and pictures from magazines. You might create a new bulletin board every few months, focusing on a theme.