4 Ways to Get Residents Involved in Planning
Their Own Activities

Wouldn’t you just love to have more helpful feedback from your residents about the types of activities that they want to see in your Activity Program?

To plan effective activities, we need to make sure that we are providing the types of activities that appeal to our residents. Here are 4 ways to get your residents’ valuable input on what they want to see on your activity calendar:

1. Resident Council. During your monthly Resident Council meeting, start a “What Worked and What Didn’t Work” activity session. Invite residents to first talk about all of the things that worked during the past month, and then talk about all of the things that did not.

2. Suggestion Box. Do you have residents who always say that everything’s fine? Well, one way to get them to “tell the truth” is with the use of an anonymous suggestion box. Place a colorful suggestion box near your Activity Room where residents can leave their suggestions. Consider creating slips of paper that start with: “If I could add or change one thing with the Activity Program, I would add or change…”

3. Resident-Choice Activity. Each month, schedule a time slot in your activity calendar for an activity that is chosen directly by the residents. The day before, give residents a list of suggestions and have them vote.

4. Facility Poll. Get to know your residents better by recruiting volunteers to poll your residents and ask them questions about the things that they like. (Residents may be more truthful with your volunteers than with the activity staff.) Take the answers that you receive and use them as inspiration for developing new activity ideas.