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Here Are Some Good Things: A Weekly Roundup of Inside Activities for Seniors from Art Your Service.

A Weekly Roundup of Inside Activities for Seniors from Art Your Service:

25 pizza boxes full of Gratitude were given away yesterday at the Therapeutic Recreation Ontario’s 2018 conference trade show. It was Art Your Service’s first conference and I’m still buzzing from meeting all of you amazing, interesting and invested caregivers out there in the field. I was thrilled that people came back from sessions asking […]

As my friends and I get older our conversations have shifted from our young adult dramas to our parent’s-getting-older dramas. The role-reversal of whom is worrying about whom’s health has shifted. Case in point, I was having brunch with a good friend and she was talking about her elderly father’s recent noticeable mental decline. She […]

“To me, home is as much about a ‘feeling’ one has, as it is about a ‘place’ where one lives.” – Elroy Jespersen. When my grandfather was suffering from dementia he asserted, daily, that he wanted to go home. We told him he was home, and we weren’t trying to pull a fast one —he […]

Why Cultivating Gratitude is a Great Science-Backed Happiness Hack for Seniors. Loneliness among seniors has become an epidemic. Feelings of depression and isolation are also commonly reported among our elders. Here’s some good news: At the University of California, they have found that cultivating gratitude can have amazing benefits to a person’s health and well-being. […]

Want innovative activities and entertainment for seniors on a shoestring budget? Try an artist audit at your retirement home. Poll your residents, their visiting family, your staff – from the cook to the front desk. So many people have hidden talents! If you look hard enough you can find water colourists, piano men (and women) […]

I was invited back to do the Oshawa Senior Citizens Centre’s specialized day program for another round of TimeSlips. TimeSlips opens storytelling to everyone by replacing the pressure to remember with the freedom to imagine. You can find out more about them here: www.timeslips.org The same crowd of about 20 folks suffering from dementia joined […]

“Dancing seems a promising intervention for both improving balance and brain structure in the elderly. It combines aerobic fitness, sensory awareness, motor skills and cognitive demands while at the same time the risk of injuries is low.” -Front. Hum. Neurosci., 15 June 2017 There’s a great story from the UK about seniors attending “Tea Party […]