One of the best parts of my job is when my residents and I can act goofy together without a care. During our Fitness Fun exercises the other day, I started acting like a chicken. I put my hands up to my armpits, wiggled my “wings”, and started bawking and clucking. I encouraged my residents to do the same. One by one, the majority of the room was bawking and acting like a chicken with me! It was a great way to start the day, with the whole room laughing at ourselves. Even after we moved on to the next exercise, I had residents continue to cluck!
It’s super important to me to make my residents laugh. Even though we’re adults, it’s good to have fun and be able to goof off. Laughter has been proven to relieve stress, promote mental health, and it helps to improve resident relationships amongst themselves and the relationships they have with their caregivers. The better our relationships are, the more comfortable and at-home our residents feel.
Anytime my residents are worried about looking too silly, I reassure them that I look silly as well and that helps them come out of their shell. When they get into the activity, they don’t worry about how they look at all and enjoy what they’re doing. It’s all about encouragement and making them feel comfortable, confident, and loved!
