What Does a Meaningful Activity Mean?

Activities within a care home aren’t just there to give residents something to do or to keep them entertained, they’re an integral part of supporting one’s health and mental wellbeing. Regular activities for the elderly are highly important for their mental, social and physical health, especially when they’re meaningful. Meaningful activities means they’re tailored to each individual’s needs and interests. Tailored activities help strike up engaging conversations between one another, but it also helps care home staff members step into their resident’s shoes a bit better. 

Meaningful activities are also ideal for those living with dementia, for them, being able to participate in activities that they have an emotional connection with, will do them the world of good.

Meaningful activities can be social and physical, they can involve daily tasks such as washing, dressing and eating and they can include leisure activities such as gardening, reading and singing. Meaningful activities in a care home are there to emotionally and creatively stimulate you or your loved one. 

Benefits of Meaningful Activities

An interactive social life is just as important for older people as it is for younger people. Being socially active through meaningful activities in a care home can make a huge difference to the self-worth and happiness of you or your loved one, which is why social lounges and other areas are set up to encourage residents to build relationships and friendships with each other.

A busy activities calendar for care home residents has been shown to improve both their emotional and physical wellbeing and whilst taking part in regular exercise, no matter how gentle or strenuous, will help residents to stay mobile and a little more flexible.

Here are some of the other benefits of meaningful activities within a care home:

• Quality of life will be improved
• There will be structure to each day
• There will be a sense of importance and belonging
• They will help with physical aspects such as balance, coordination, muscle strength etc
• Regular activities help lower the risk of heart disease, dementia and strokes
• Moving around more often than not helps with decision making, problem solving and other thinking skills
• Loneliness, stress, boredom and restlessness will decrease
• Improved sleep cycle

The Importance of Mental Wellbeing

For care home residents and those within a similar setting, being able to maintain mental health and wellbeing, whilst having a positive outlook on life is highly important. Some important areas of mental wellbeing that should be considered are self-esteem, optimism, feeling in control, having a sense of belonging and purpose in life; overall feeling satisfied with life.

Many care homes will have dedicated team members who are employed specifically to make sure residents have plenty of life satisfaction, through exciting and engaging activities which are regularly arranged, often on a weekly or daily basis. These dedicated staff members are known as an activities coordinator who look after the mental wellbeing of our residents, creating a tailored activities programme in residential care in Newton Mearns, reflecting each individual’s needs and preferences, which is also known as person centred care. Here at Mearns View Care Home, we have the lovely Christine as our lifestyle coordinator, she has worked within the care home sector for a number of years. Christine has a huge passion for delivering person centred care and activities, working closely with the local community to make sure there are oppourtunies for everyone, keeping all of our residents connected.

All activities provided should be fun and varied, with an overall goal to keep residents happy and fulfilled.

If care home residents aren’t given enough access to a purposeful and meaningful activity then their mental and physical health could be affected as a result. For example, increased confusion, being less alert, low moods, feeling disconnected and isolated, weak muscles and joints.

Types of Meaningful Activities in Glasgow

Social activities should be organised or spontaneous, varied for everyone. Residents should be actively encouraged to get involved and take part, as this encouragement will help build a wonderful care home community and culture which you or your family members can also be apart of.

It’s important to remember all activities should provide a sense of purpose for residents, for example, if a resident creates something using skills from their former work or personal life or makes a similar contribution to the care home, then this could end up being a really rewarding experience for them. No matter if you don’t enjoy taking part in competitive games such as card games or bingo, you may enjoy reading, wishing to be involved in a book club. This example helps to illustrate why activities should be varied to set everyones needs, hobbies and preferences. Overall, finding the perfect set of meaningful activities will go a long way to creating an enjoyable and fulfilling care home.

Here are some examples of some meaningful activities (particularly for a nursing home in Newton Mearns) that are offered on a daily or weekly basis:

• Performance acts such as musicians, entertainers, comedians etc
• Creative outdoor activities and gardening
• Art classes
• Resident meet ups such as weekly book clubs
• An equipped minibus which takes residents on regular trips to the local community, nearby amenities or other places of interest

Meaningful Activity Ideas

A lot of care homes also provide gentle exercise classes which residents can take part in, either seated or stood up. Classes like this should be fun, interactive and even rewarding for those taking part. They should also play a bit part in helping you or your family members remain active, building up confidence, feeling independent in care.

We’ve put together a list of other meaningful activities you can expect when residing into a care home:

• Art sessions such as painting, drawing, colouring etc
• Afternoon tea
• Bingo, board games, quizzes etc
• Book clubs
• Cooking and baking
• Entertainment events
• Group activities
• Day trips out of the home to local attractions, garden centres etc
• Pet therapy
• Musical entertainment such as classes and choirs etc
• Creative gardening
• Flower arranging

Get in Touch With us

Our team here at Mearns View Care Home in East Renfrewshire are available to support you with any queries you may have in regards to our care services and we’re here to help this transition period be as stress free as possible. Please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us today.