National Skilled Nursing Care Week Suggested Activities

Remember to balance the risk of balance the risk of social isolation with the risk of infection. Staff and residents should wear source control masks during all one-on-one activities such as walks, games, photobook sharing.

Share a movie

• Watch a movie online with family or friends while on the phone together.
• Create a list of favorite movies by asking residents and staff to contribute. Then have people rate them, review them, and watch them, if possible. 
• Play a movie that residents can choose to watch from their rooms​.

Share a memory

• Encourage residents to look at a photo album with family via Zoom or FaceTime, and reminisce about the photos. 
• Ask residents if they have photo albums in their rooms that they can share with you. If you have photos to share, you can do the same.
• Note that we are living history with the pandemic. Ask residents about a time in their lives that reminds them of what is happening today.

Share a meal

• Invite family members to share a meal with residents via FaceTime, Skype, or Zoom. Invite family members to have a favorite meal delivered so that everyone can eat the same thing.
• Provide food to staff in celebration and appreciation of their efforts. Invite family and community members to send in food from local restaurants that deliver.

Share a song

• Listen to favorite music together.
• Help residents create and listen to playlists of music they love.
• Play music over an intercom and provide lyrics and sheet music for a sing-along.
• Find local performers, friends, family members, or staff who have musical talents to perform virtually for residents. 
• Utilize free online resources like performances from The Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Philharmonic Berlin, Broadway performers, and more.​

Share a story

• Have one person start a story and pass it on to the next person to add to it.
• Pick a theme like travel, school reunion, lost love, the time you got in trouble, worst job, etc., and gather the stories up to tell each other or share in some kind of newsletter or blog that residents can see.
• Help residents select an audiobook they would like to listen to and listen to audiobooks together.
• Watch some of the online musicals that are being aired.
• Create a community newsletter, and ask residents to contribute stories, thoughts, ideas, jokes, or drawings, If possible, print and distribute the newsletter to all residents.

​Share a laugh

• Ask residents to share a riddle or joke. Select the best joke of the day and find a way to share it with others.
• Provide clues about staff members and have staff and residents guess who it is.
• Ask each resident to share something funny, unusual, or unique about themselves that others may not know and have others guess who it is. ​

 Share a game

• Encourage residents to play online games with family or friends in or out of the building including Trivial Pursuit, Name That Tune, Charades, Jeopardy, Virtual Bingo, etc. 
• Play cards or other one-on-one games with staff and residents, as time permits.
• Engage residents in hallway games such as Bingo, MadLibs or other community activities, if possible.​

Share and connect with the outside world

• Encourage children to write notes, upload a drawing, or send a short video to residents in your community.
• Visit world-famous museums or libraries (Library of Congress; UN World Digital Library) virtually.
• Watch webcams from all over the world, including zoos, volcanoes, the International Space Station, and more.
• Live stream local religious services.​

Share ideas for connection and support

• Ask residents to share their ideas about how they would like to connect to others in the building and/or their family and loved ones.
• Ask family members and friends how they would like to stay connected to their loved ones in your building.​