Another month, another calendar full of activities to create. While bingo and movie night are reliable favorites, residents can quickly get bored of overly repetitive activity calendars. Varied activity programming is essential for ensuring residents remain engaged across all dimensions of wellness: intellectual, physical, social, spiritual, vocational, emotional, and environmental.
But as any life enrichment professional knows, developing a diverse and personalized monthly activity calendar for seniors can be incredibly time-consuming. In fact, 52% of enterprise leaders say activity planning is the most time-consuming task in their communities.
What if your staff could effortlessly generate unlimited ideas for activities, without spending hours of brainstorming time? Below are actionable ways your team can easily create fresh enrichment activity ideas that spur connection, engagement, and joy.
Interview residents about their interests
Your residents are the best source for activity ideas. When you understand what lights them up, you can plan activities that touch on their passions and get them excited to attend.
When interviewing residents, asking a wide range of questions can paint a comprehensive picture not just about their interests, but their values, passions, and aspirations:
- What is their favorite memory?
- What’s on their bucket list?
- What causes are most important to them?
- What's an accomplishment that they're proud of?
- Are there any new skills or hobbies they want to pick up?
The answers to these questions can help staff paint a whole picture of the resident, so that they understand them on a deeper level.
An AI-powered voice recording and transcription solution can help streamline the resident intake process, giving staff a consistent way to capture and store resident information. Instead of taking manual notes, a voice-assisted tool can automatically transcribe and categorize resident interview details and store it in their dedicated digital resident profile.
When staff have a way to consistently record information that captures residents as a whole, unique individual, they can better create activities that help residents feel truly seen.
Leverage the power of AI for fresh ideas
AI is like a second brain, helping spur inspiration during creative ruts. Free AI tools such as ChatGPT or Perplexity are excellent resources for generating innovative senior activity ideas quickly.
Your prompt can include details like resident interests, available materials, budget, seasonal themes and holidays, and contingency plans for weather. For instance, inputting a request for “a socially engaging art and history activity accommodating 15 residents ranging in cognitive and physical ability” might yield suggestions such as "Paint & Collaborate" or "Art History Sharing Circle," complete with facilitator notes, materials lists, and marketing-ready descriptions.
For even greater efficiency, you can opt for activity planning software with built-in AI suggestion capabilities. The beauty of having this built into a comprehensive senior living experience platform is two-fold.
Firstly, with resident biographical and preference data incorporated in a HIPAA-compliant system, an AI-enhanced calendar management solution can generate activity ideas that reflect resident interests. For example, if several residents enjoy bird-watching but others prefer indoor activities, it might generate an idea for a hybrid activity for bird-themed trivia paired with an optional outdoor excursion.
Secondly, having AI activity generation integrated into the calendar platform means fewer steps for staff to take. They can simply enter a prompt, choose the activity they want, add it to the calendar, and publish the calendar—all in one sitting. In one instance, a community reported that they cut down activity planning time by 8 hours per week through this streamlined process.
Tap into a digital content library for endless inspiration
Sometimes the best way to spark new ideas is to explore what’s already available. Browsing a digital library of clinically backed content can ease the mental load of building activities from scratch and inspire fresh programming. These libraries can include a wide variety of content designed specifically for older adults, including premade trivia slideshows, touchscreen games to support physical and cognitive stimulation, therapeutic and relaxation-focused content, and more. Staff can browse for inspiration, discover new ideas, and pair the perfect piece of content to add a meaningful layer of interest to any activity.
Elevate resident engagement with fresh, relevant activities
Today's senior living residents aren’t simply looking to reminisce; they want fresh, stimulating experiences. They want to pursue new hobbies, learn new skills, and engage holistically in wellness activities.
Implementing these strategies helps your team spend less time planning and more time doing: interacting, fostering meaningful moments, and helping residents feel engaged and purposeful.
