7. Module 6 · Everyday life & daily structure

7.2. Application: planning a day and an activity

Application

Planning a day and an activity

This page shows how to plan one small activity and one anchor point for a real person. Use the steps and phrases as a starting point and adapt them. The best plan is the one that fits the person today, and that you can keep up in a busy shift.

Worked example: Mrs Novak and the afternoon walk

Return to Mrs Novak from the beginning of this module. In the afternoon she walks up and down the corridor and calls for her sister. Her son tells the team that she was a seamstress and that her sister used to visit on Sunday afternoons to sew and drink coffee together. The team decides to plan one activity for the afternoon. Figure 6.3 shows the six steps they follow.

Six steps for planning a small activitySix steps for a small activity (example: Mrs Novak)1ChooseLife story + today’s ability:sort buttons and fabric2PrepareBasket, quiet corner, goodlight, coffee, time3Invite“Could you help me? I needa seamstress.”4Do togetherSit beside her, talk little,watch the signs5End warmlyStop while it is pleasant,thank her6Note and shareWhat worked? Tell the team,write it in the care planThe example is fictitious. The steps are a sequence to adapt, not a protocol.
Figure 6.3: Six steps for planning a small activity, using a fictitious example. Source: own illustration.
  1. Choose. The activity comes from her life story (sewing, a Sunday-afternoon ritual) and from what she can do today: sorting and holding, not threading needles.
  2. Prepare. A basket of buttons, fabric scraps and ribbons, a quiet corner with good light and a cup of coffee at 3 p.m.
  3. Invite. “Mrs Novak, could you help me? I have a basket of buttons that need sorting, and you know about these things.”
  4. Do together. Sit beside her. Say little. If she holds up a button, comment on its colour. Watch for the signs in Figure 6.2.
  5. End warmly. Stop when she tires: “Thank you, that was a great help.” Leave the basket where she can find it.
  6. Note and share. Write what she did, how long, and whether she calmed down. Share it at handover, so the next shift can offer the basket again.

Over the following days the team makes the Sunday-afternoon coffee a fixed anchor point (Figure 6.1) and puts on a song she knows. She still walks and calls out sometimes, and the team keeps checking for pain, thirst and the toilet (Module 4). But the afternoons have a rhythm and a purpose they lacked before. The change was small and cost almost nothing.

Phrases to adapt
SituationYou might say
Inviting to a task“I could use your help with something. Would you like to?”
Person declines“That is fine. I will leave it here, in case you change your mind.”
Task is too hard“Let me hold this part. You do the rest.”
Starting a song“Do you know this one? It reminds me of you.”
Colleague says “she cannot do anything”“What can she still do? What did she love?”
Exercise (voluntary self-check). Mr Santos (fictitious), 78, was a farmer. He now sits in the lounge in the morning, slumped, and refuses group activities. In the evening he is restless. The home has a small courtyard and a few plant pots. Sketch three anchor points for his day, one meaningful activity based on his life story, and two signs that would tell you it is too hard or too easy.
Hint 1
Think about when a farmer’s day begins and ends. What did he do with his hands and outdoors? Use Figure 6.1 for anchor points.
Hint 2
Choose a task with a real result, such as watering, planting or sweeping. Check your idea against Figure 6.2: what would show you that it is too easy or too hard?
Suggested answer
Anchor points: an early start with a greeting and coffee, a fixed outdoor time mid-morning, a calm evening ritual with a song and a warm drink. Activity: tending the plant pots in the courtyard, with a watering can and a real purpose (“the tomatoes need you”). Too easy: he drifts off, treats it as a game. Too hard: he frowns, sighs or pushes the can away, and you simplify or take over a step. Also check pain and other causes of the evening restlessness (Module 4), invite him instead of pushing, and share the result with the team.
In German practice you will hear …
  • Tagesstruktur – daily structure.
  • Betreuungskraft – care assistant for additional care and activation in residential facilities (§§ 43b, 53b SGB XI).
  • Beschäftigung / Aktivierung – occupation and activation; some teams avoid “Beschäftigung” because it can sound like “keeping busy”.
  • Biografiearbeit – life-history work (Module 5).
  • Basale Wahrnehmungsförderung – basic sensory stimulation, an approach working through touch, movement and the senses.
  • Sinnesraum – a multisensory room or approach with light, sound and touch.
  • Ergotherapie – occupational therapy.
  • Sitztanz – seated dance.