We have finished another reflection stage, and are looking at ways we can improve for the future. One thing we noticed immediately was that the plans that we were creating for our senior residents were not working as they were too generalised. Currently, we create one generalised plan for all the residents for one week, however, we realised more personalised plans to each resident would probably be more effective. Therefore, by reflecting on our area of growth, we were able to change our plans and start planning specific plans for each resident. We’ve even started implementing these personalised plans and I think they are beginning to be really effective with each resident. All of them seem happy doing the activities that we have planned, and the games seem to be engaging them.
We were able to also see that some of our strengths were the ways in which we talked to our residents and engaged them in the activities. Though the activities themselves may not have always been so successful, by speaking to them and asking them questions about their lives, most of the residents always left the sessions satisfied.
Sometimes, it has, however, been difficult leading this group and sometimes I faced conflict with others because of their lack of attention and commitment to the service. It hasn’t always been easy to have these difficult conversations with these individuals, but I think we were able to resolve the conflicts by talking them out and understanding why they may not be as committed or interested in the work we’re doing. This has helped me create alternative strategies to get them to be more engaged. Ultimately, this has made me more principled because now, I no longer, am simply looking out for my own success in this service but also the success of others and the team as a whole.