Activities Director

It is your mission at CommuniCare as an Activities Director is to promote the well being of your residents, enrich their existence, and uphold the sanctity of life. You strive to turn the problems of old age into challenges of rehabilitation, to change social isolation into warm friendship and a reorientation to what is good in life. Your goal is to use our knowledge of old age to bring hope where there has been despair. You perform your professional duties in ministering to the body, but recognize that our most important task is to nourish the soul.  You cannot restrain physical deterioration, but you will work hard to retard it, to rehabilitate whenever possible. You cannot always restrain mental deterioration, but often you can refurbish the deteriorating mental apparatus. In all cases, you can give to your residents an environment of caring people, a Caring Community.  A Caring Community heals and supports. It is structured as an integration of services designed to care for the resident as a total person by addressing to all of their needs. The common goal of every department and staff member is to relate to our residents as unique individuals each with a different constellation of needs. This is accomplished in two ways. Firstly, the policies; departmental, organization and functioning, are centered on the resident. You exist for their benefit, not the other way around. You endeavor to de-institutionalize our centers and rehumanize your residents, not fit them into our mold and dehumanize them. Second, the most important obligation of every staff member is to reach out to your residents as full human beings, precious and irreplaceable, to know them and share with them the joys and sorrows of living. We are together in our humanity.  There is a saying that "God gave to each people a cup of clay, and from this cup they drink their life." With the elderly, their cup has been shattered; their culture is gone. Your residents were young in a different time. Now they are outcasts. They have become the child to their children; they make fewer and fewer decisions. The enfeeblement of age steals the sight from their eyes, the melody of life from their ears. It is hard to be old but we understand these things. Painstakingly, like an archeologist reassembling the pieces of a shattered vessel, you will work to restore your residents. You will build a bridge to the past by including their families, helping them to remember who they were. We fashion a life in the present filled with meaningful activities and warm friendships. As for the future, it is not so hard amidst friends.

YOUR ROLE:

The Activities Director has been placed “in charge of the soul” of our residents.  To understand how to complete this task, one must first understand what our residents have experienced during their difficult transitions throughout the aging process.  The Activities Director within the facility is a key team member who will play a major role in being responsible and “in charge of the soul” of our residents.  It is the role of the Activities Director to cultivate the soul of our residents and re-humanize them while creating a “healing” and “caring” community.  The Activities Director as well as other staff must give a resident a reason to live, and motivate our residents by creating social networks and a community within each of our facilities which gives every resident motivation to live to their fullest potential with meaning, purpose, and direction so that each resident may experience personal growth and once again find their uniqueness as an individual.  In order to create and implement the concept of a Caring and Healing Community within the facility the Activities Director is expected to provide ongoing education to staff to better educate staff members on the negative effects of the transition to an institutional setting and to convey how staff members can fight the negative effects of dehumanization within their facility. The Activities Director is expected to lead by example within the facility and identify needs of residents as well and ensure staff members are following through with requests designed to enhance and improve each of our resident’s quality of life within our facilities. 

VALUE OF YOUR POSITION:

REACHING OUT WITH YOUR HEART TO REHUMANIZE AND CULTIVATE THE SOULS OF OUR RESIDENTS THROUGH THE CREATION OF A CARING AND HEALING COMMUNITY.

JOB EXPECTATIONS:

CREATE AND MAINTAIN TEAM SUCCESSES.

• Provide for the continuity of the team through effective interpersonal relationships.
• Recognize and celebrate team successes.
• Listen to your team members - if someone has an issue, hear them out.
• Keep your team members informed - communicate all information necessary to get the job done

      right.

• Have a positive attitude at all times- set an example.
• Respect others.
• Do the right things right the first time.
• Take ownership

MANAGE SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE IN THE POSITION OF ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR RESPONSIBLY.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

Importance

Major Accountabilities and Supporting Actions

What you do and how you do it

% of Job

Estimate

*

Expected End

Results

Why you do it

1

CREATES, OPERATES AND EVALUATES ACTIVITIES OPERATIONS TO ENSURE EFFECTIVENESS AND QUALITY

• Plans a variety of activities: one-to-one and group activities on/off assigned unit(s), outside and/or in the community (outings) for a diversified population as needed. 
• Plans, develops, coordinates and evaluates all diversified resident centered activities as needed.
• Plans and schedules holiday and special events, religious services, outings, community involvement.
• Communicates and coordinates all plans for assigned activities with activity coordinator/activity leader and other departments (schedules, food, room arrangements, escort assistance and transportation).
• Involves residents in planning, developing and evaluating the activities program.
• Oversees resident participation in their individualized activity program, as needed.
• Advocates for residents regarding their needs, interests, preferences and rights.
• May participate in resident council meetings.
• May participate in family council meetings.
• May participate in resident/family community support groups.
• May contact families/significant others for resident/family activities, as assigned.
• May involve families in planning family activities, as assigned.
• Maintains records and reports related to activities.
• May assist in monitoring programming in the center, outside and in the community.
• May participate in fund raising events.
• Maintains a cooperative and open communication with activity coordinator, activity leader and other staff.

• May supervise volunteers as needed.

• Promotes positive relationships with individuals, business and organizations in the community through outings and activities provided by volunteers.
• Attend and participate in department head meetings and other committee meetings (e.g. Care Conference, Marketing Committee, etc.) as needed.
• Identify need for and perform disciplinary action as required.

70%

• High quality of individualized person centered, ability based programming designed to enable each resident to achieve and/or maintain his/her highest practical level of cognitive, physical emotional, social, spiritual well being.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

Importance

Major Accountabilities and Supporting Actions

What you do and how you do it

% of Job

Estimate

*

Expected End

Results

Why you do it

2

Maintain up-to-date knowledge of the financial aspects of ACTIVITIES operations and provide accurate documentation of all services in order to assure accurate reimbursement from all payor sources.

10%

Capture all charges and ensure proper documentation to provide backup for billing process.

3

MANAGE THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN THE ROLE OF ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR WHILE ENSURING THAT NEEDED RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE AND THAT QUALITY CARE IS DELIVERED TO ALL RESIDENTS.

• Assist with the development and monitoring of operational and capital budgets.
• Submit complete financial reports to the Administrator.

Continual

Capture all charges to ensure proper billing.

More financial resources are available for Center and employee programs and equipment.

Reductions in costs of supplies, replacement of equipment.

4

ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE IN SCHEDULED TRAINING, EDUCATION CLASSES, AND ORIENTATION PROGRAMS TO MAINTAIN AND ENHANCE QUALITY OF CARE.

• Attend all required in-service and training programs required within your department.

• Attend any mandatory meeting as required by your center.

5%

Employee maintains and develops additional skills to enhance the quality of care provided to residents and maintain certifications.

5

Ensure that a clean, comfortable and safe environment for residents is maintained at all times and assure that resident needs are met.

• Monitor team members to assure that established safety regulations on the use of equipment and supplies are adhered to.
• Ensure that all activity work areas and resident care rooms, treatment areas, etc. are maintained in a clean, safe, and sanitary manner.
• Ensure that all residents are treated fairly, and with kindness, dignity and respect.
• Assist residents in adjusting to their new home environment.

10%

Center meets and is in compliance with all safety standards.

Residents can live in a safe environment without worries regarding personal safety.

6

PERFORM OTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES AS ASSIGNED OR REQUESTED.

5%

Team members are supported to assure quality care is rendered to residents.

7

MAINTAIN AND WORK WITHIN ESTABLISHED DEPARTMENTAL, CENTER, AND HOME OFFICE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES, OBJECTIVES, QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, AND SAFETY, ENVIRONMENTAL AND INFECTION CONTROL STANDARDS.

• Promptly reports any suspected resident abuse, neglect or misappropriation to the DON/ Social Worker.

Continual

Center is in compliance with established regulations and Company policies and procedures.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

Importance

Major Accountabilities and Supporting Actions

What you do and how you do it

% of Job

Estimate

*

Expected End

Results

Why you do it

8

provide leadership to the staff and create loyalty to the organization, it’s mission, and it’s goals by leading by example.

• Take personal responsibility for absenteeism, tardiness and turnover.
• Teach, motivate, direct and support your team members.
• Ensure alignment by teaching your team the company mission, unit goals and objectives.
• Provide excellent and thorough communication to your team.
• Respond to team member’s issues quickly and appropriately.
• Respect team members.
• Cooperate with your fellow staff in all aspects of your job.
• Demonstrate loyalty to the organization, its mission and its goals.
• Continually boost the morale of your team in any way possible.
• Walk the Talk: Say what you mean, do what you say.

Continual

Team members are supported to become part of a harmonious and cohesive team.

Full Staffing is ensured.

Team members feel valued.

* This estimate applies to the duties performed over a period of time and does not indicate the daily requirements of the position.