photo by Anthony SouffleI hate bingo. I don’t know when it started, but I definitely have an animosity towards the game.
I can remember when I worked as an Activity Director dreading the day we “had” to play bingo. I am not sure which was worse, the monotonous calling of letters and numbers paired together or the passing along of the prizes while Elders fought over who actually won and what they would get to win. Yes, if you have ever worked in a nursing home, you know what this scene looks like. I can remember walking out of a regular bingo game one afternoon thinking, “There must be more than this”.
Yes, there really is more than bingo. When I look back over my career in the Activities profession, which spans a period of approximately 19 years, I see the attachment to bingo was my fault. I was the one who created the schedules, I was the one who gave the best bingo prizes ever, and I was the one who failed to recognize that Elders could do more.
I think it was during this time the realization hit me that I was only a professional party planner. Bingo, endless parties, and being at the point of creating my own holidays so there would be additional reasons to “party”. Cupcakes, cookies, punch, music and balloons were my favorite recipe for the perfect activity. These things were all good and had their place but this was not “real” life.
It was then that I started searching for real engagement. How could I bring more of real life to the activities I was creating and less entertainment? I realized quickly that successful engagement is built on the foundation of relationship. I needed to know the Elders. This meant going beyond the admission assessment’s 20 questions and digging deeper. What were their hopes, dreams, greatest accomplishments, and most impactful moments? Essentially, it meant listening and hearing something very valuable. I needed to learn their stories.
Wow, when I started hearing those stories. I discovered how they felt when they lost their parents, when they gave birth to their first child, when they got married, when the war started, and so much more. It was then I learned they really did like bingo but they would also like teaching, community service opportunities, to plan their own parties, and opportunities to continue living life to the fullest.
My perspective changed and we began to build activities that were engaging. One by one life began to change at the home. There was excitement in the air and everyone could feel it! We still played bingo but we were now also forming committees, taking trips into the community almost daily, having more spontaneous moments, and giving the gifts of fulfilled dreams like helicopter rides. This was living! I saw life forming and taking shape around me.
Activities that merely “entertain” are slowly becoming a thing of the past. As culture change sweeps through the nation, we can see the value of engagement really starting to take a foothold among the activities profession. I have learned that it is engagement that spurs growth and connectedness and ultimately creates joy. Entertainment has its place but engagement is the solution to providing wonderful quality of life to Elders.
Hello,my name is Kristy.i am an activities assistant,I hate bingo.
My reck room vibe completely changes during bingo.it goes from a fun,loving,cozy place to being a living nightmare for me.my residents change into grumpy,rude,and even down rite mean people,nagging about who they do or do not like to sit by,and why,I call the numbers to loud or not loud enough,they even snap at each other for a saportive naebor who tries to help.they complain about so much,that it changes the whole Ora in the room. When we have arts & crafts they don’t act this way,when we paint they don’t act this way,but always when we are gambling they do.my detector has taken our calendar and filled it with bingo and poker,we play bingo 4 days a week,we play poker 4 days a week.i have so many great ideas in my head about how we can spend this time but my activities detector will not hear any of it.i feel like we are failing our residents.we keep things the same I think because it’s easy for my boss to print out the same calendar and not ever have to change anything.of corse they love bingo,they don’t have anythingels.
😢
Hi, I am an Aging 200 student at the Erickson School of Aging, University of Maryland Baltimore County. I was first drawn to this entry because of the humorous title, but I found the whole blog to be very insightful. I agree that many residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities are not being given the chance to take part in meaningful events, but are just being entertained with games like bingo. It is very important to be active throughout life, including one’s later life, and to participate in events that one finds interesting because new experiences or just having fun, provide a freshness to life that can become stale if nothing out of the ordinary happens. In class we have learned that, as people age, the activities they participate in remain fairly consistent throughout life, so it is beneficial for the staff of nursing homes to find out as much about the residents as possible to make sure there are activities that everyone will enjoy. We have also learned that staying active and participating in in engaging activities will promote a healthier life because one doesn’t fall into complacency. Some suggestions that I have of activities that can be introduced include taking a group of residents to a nature reserve and teach them about the different types of trees and birds in the area, taking day trips to art museums, and learning new recipes from other cultures.
Hello I attend the University of Maryland Baltimore County as I am working on my BA in Psychology. I am currently a student an AGNG 200 student at the Erickson School of Aging. When I first read the title of this article I began to think of the strange relationship between elders and bingo and if they all really do enjoy it and why do they enjoy it. After reading this article I realized that not all elderly people enjoy bingos. Reading the article it was stated that most elderly people do enjoy bingo but there are other things they enjoy too which should be incorporated into their lives for more of a variety of a change for them to enjoy themselves more. As the article stated “we began to build activities that were engaging. One by one life began to change at the home. There was excitement in the air and everyone could feel it! “ People enjoy different things. Age should not dignify limitations to have fun. By taking into consideration what engages others likes and wants it is important to remember to be safe also. Whether its something old or something new skills and knowledge always needs to be challenged to help exceed skills and to engage others.
I dislike the word elderly, and also the word senior–I find that language has been corrupted by associations with incompetence, uselessness and other ageist flavors. And younger people, take note. Older adults may not only dislike bingo, but may be quite far out ideologically, philosophically and culturally. Down with presumptions! And hey, I remember being young and having no clue about “older people” myself, though I do remember some amazing artists and writers who were older, I never connected the dots then.
My mother is an avid bingo player. However, I’m with you and don’t enjoy the game. Sounds like you tapped into the joy of storytelling. A structured program for groups to meet and tell life stories is Guided Autobiography. One group I taught had members from young to the very old. Check it out: http://www.guidedautobiography.com/. Also, for residents with memory impairment, Memory Bridge provides a program for high school students to write letters to nursing home residents, then they get together and voila – friends: http://www.memorybridge.org/
thank you for sharing these resources. they are both humbling and powerful at the same time.
Hi Judy! You are absolutely right! There is so much we can learn from each other. I used to always meet with the Elders and ask them the question, “If you could do anything today and you had no physical limitations, what would that be?”. This question often prompted them to share from their heart and we tried to build programming around those heartfelt responses. Through that, we saw so many possibilities. All of our homes do community service projects including being active in the town they are part of. This means, they choose a project they want to support such as the humane society or habitat for humanity and then we find ways for them to engage in that project. They help raise money and then visit and take an active role. We have even saw Elders dig the first shovel for a habitat for humanity home. I have also learned that activities that build relationships are critical to engagement. What I mean by this is that something that brings employees and Elders into activities together that cause them to be “partners” or on teams. A great example of this is to host cooking competitions like the Iron Chef and have Elders and employees on the same team. It is great bonding experience. There are so many things that can be done and all requires us to think from a different perspective. We also have alot of intergenerational experiences like summer camps for our employee’s kids and vacation bible schools held at our homes. One last thing you can do is look at your current list of activities and say “how can I enchant these?”. Enchanting activities are amazing ways to make each day special and create experiences rather than “programming”. Please feel free to email me if I can help you with any other suggestions!
Katherin, I wholeheartedly agree! I love to be entertained as well! I think sometimes we tend to go overboard in one area or another. I usually pick on Bingo because it represents the institution to me but the truth is bingo is fine if we have a great mix of other things! Also, I think it all goes back to the Elders at the end of the day. I can guarantee if they truly (and I mean really) want to play bingo, I would play all day long. I just hear so many people use that as their crutch and excuse not to dig deeper and individualize programming more. Thanks so much for posting!
Gaea, thank you so much for sharing with us. I love the things you have mentioned. Well being is such a critical part of life for all of us. There are different things for all of us that make us feel complete or whole. Finding those things and providing them are great ways to build engagement. Variety is also so important! We all need surprises and it would be horrible if we had none in our lives any longer! Thanks so much sharing your ideas.
I have been doing an elder circle at an assisted living facility where one of my long time friends lives. I offer a variety of experiences including poetry about aging, deep breathing exercises, some simple chi gong, and simple games. I focus on ways to increase a sense of well-being, meaning and pleasure, acknowledging each person as an individual with much life experience. What have been the deeply pleasurable experiences and significant figures in the person’s life? How does each person find meaning and acceptance at the present time? How can that be enhanced? When people are affirmed in their capacity to affect their environment and their being, it is empowering for everyone.
Anglie, I so “get” what you are speaking about. And I know we can do a better job of engaging…but we need more conversation, and more exchange of ideas, more specifics so that we can apply ideas to our individual situations. In other words, what are some of the activities that you have used in your facility that are meaningful and engaging?? Help us out!!