One of the major challenges our isolated clients face during this time, is the increased risk of loneliness. Loneliness has a wide range of negative effects on both physical and mental health. Aside from being more likely to feel depressed, isolated clients dealing with loneliness have a high possibility of increased physical decline, are less able to deal with stressful situations, can have problems processing information, and can impact memory and decision-making.
Planning recreation programs for isolated clients is paramount to counteract these negative effects. The benefits of planning recreation and engaging clients are:
- Improved physical health
- Enhanced mental health
- Better self esteem
- Increased cognitive function
- Sense of belonging, of meaning and purpose
For a recreational program to be successful, here are some important key steps to consider.
Plan meaningful and purposeful activities. Identify the activity first, then get creative. See the infographic below.
Another important thing to keep in mind is, that during this time, your staff are likely overworked, stressed and anxious. It’s important to include your staff, and other teams, in developing a plan just as it’s important to create plans for your clients. Establishing a holistic approach to a high-standard way of planning your program.
Plan your time wisely
It can be easy to get overwhelmed, exhausted, and have people delegating or expecting too much of you. A key step is to identify and map out your time and availability. Here is a simple tool that helps you map out your time and helps demonstrate exactly how much time you have with each person, what is realistic. It’s not feasible to overcommit or be asked to do more than you can. But without a clear understanding of what your availability is, you can better communicate this with others and with yourself.
(Click here to access the blank excel document and the template example of the Equality Calculator. )
Self-care and leadership.
Leaders need to motivate and inspire others. They collaborate among teams, develop people, solve problems and achieve goals. As recreation professionals, regardless of our positions, we are responsible for promoting, advocating and supporting our client’s recreation lifestyle. Therefore, we are inherently leaders within our area. To do this properly, leaders need to be in a happy place and in a right mindset. Hence, it is important to practice self-care.
Communication tool kit and plan
We should always be ready and prepared. Our toolkit is the skills, abilities, resources and training that we constantly build upon and use. You will no doubt have a range of resources that you already utilize, we need to regularly add and build your skills and have them ready for each client and situation.
In addition, it also desirable to Set clear guidelines and pre-set resources. It can help significantly when discussing concerns with clients, family, management or others when we have a preset template of responses, information, guidelines or resources. Taking time to develop these can save us a lot of time in the long run.
Resources
Take time to list down all your available resources to begin with. Writing them down on a piece of paper is a simple task, but an extremely effective one. Technology is also a great tool during this time. For older clients who don’t own a computer or smartphone, you can always utilize the use of telephones.
The old-fashioned landline phones are a good option for seniors. They have large keys which makes the phone easy to use. In addition, phones have photo speed dial that will allow seniors to call certain people with just the press of a single button. Lastly, they do not need to be charged and they also continue to function even without power.
Take it back to basics.
When stuck on an activity or request, take it back to basics. Take time to plan, to know what resources you have, get more resources, then write down what you have planned from there. Use the steps above to break down this process.
Volunteers
As COVID-19 affects the entire population, it is necessary to make modifications to our workplace situations. It can be helpful to hire new volunteers or convert existing volunteers to virtual ones. In addition, creating automated systems can be a great help as well. We have been getting a great deal of success with recruiting for virtual volunteers.
Technology
Googling is also a very effective tool and skill for searching different activities and solutions for clients. I highly suggest trying 5 different ways to re-word your search on google for each topic you’re searching.
Furthermore, here are my top 5 favorite applications or tools.
- Google Translate
- Amazon Firestick or smart TV’s
- Smart Tablets
- Skype, FaceTime or Zoom
Take care of yourself
In leading your program, you must first practice self-care. We need to take care of ourselves to better manage our program and to be able to cope with what’s to come. We must have the right mindset.
To be a good leader, we must be in a good frame of mind and a have a positive attitude. A great leader must also be curious and passionate in order to make better decisions, inspire others, delegate tasks effectively and take others on the journey to better programming and better lives.