The activity department should also begin a Trip Book that includes places to visit, information about each place, the phone number and address, directions and pertinent information. The trip book will make planning future trips easier.

When going on a trip, it is important to develop a form that will list the following;
Resident Names who are on the trip, Name of place, address, phone number, transportation company name and phone number, which staff is attending, date & time you are leaving and time you are expected back, dress required by the residents. Dietary should also be notified so they will have light snacks and beverages for the vans. You especially want to take orange juice for residents who are diabetic. You should carry a cell phone with you at all times in case you have an emergency.

The activity department should never go on a trip without a nursing assistant. The reason for this is that there are times residents may need help with toileting or feeding. The nursing assistant is trained to help in these areas. Additionally, nursing assistants enjoy the opportunity to get out of the building and a change in the routine.

Make sure residents have received their medication prior to leaving. Some facilities have given the medication to the activity staff to give to the residents. This should be discouraged. Even handing a pill to a resident is "dispensing medications." This must be done by a nurse only. Usually there is a window of time, so that if they miss a dose while on a trip, they have time to get the dosage when they return. But always check.

Did the doctor clear this patient for a trip. Generally you will find in the doctors notes that the resident is approved to participate in activities and go on outings. But you should check the chart and make sure that this was done.

Some trip ideas are; Botanical Gardens, Picnic at a local park, Summer Concerts, Zoos, Day Cruises, Fairs, Baseball Games, Nursery, Football Games, Plays in the Park, Free Exhibits at Parks, Aquariums, Water Parks (just watching is fun), Beach, Lakes, Boardwalks and Fishing.

The support groups for the community are a great source of referrals for your building and we encourage you to look into beginning a support group. Most important, you would be providing a needed service for your community. Some ideas would be Care Giver Support Group, Alzheimer's Support Group and Bereavement Support Group. A huge Support Group industry that is growing is Gastric By Pass. Many of the patients are in their 40's to 50's age group and that is the generation caring for their parents and grandparents. So, you may wish to look into starting that type of support group or host one in your building. Many of the Gastric Support Groups are an average size of 50 to 100 people and growing.

Some suggestions for In House Support Groups might be, Adjusting to Nursing Home Placement, Alzheimer's Units Family Support Group, Reminisce Groups, Homeward Bound-for those residents leaving Rehabilitation, Bereavement and Loss, Death and Dying, Spirituality.

Support Groups offer residents and their family, information and referral information. Acceptance, when they discover they are not alone in how they feel. Anonymity because they know that what they say in this group is confidential and it may be the only place they feel comfortable expressing how they feel. Its a place to help others and bring ideas on how to cope.

Most newspapers and radio stations allow you to advertise at no cost to you. Again, another way to promote your facility and at the same time provide community service. We advise you to look at the age group of who you are trying to attract to the group. If its the senior population, we recommend that you have the meeting in the early afternoon and provide lunch. Many seniors don't want to drive at night. If its for the 40-50 year old group, provide it in the early evening and again provide a light supper. They may be rushing from work or home and a light supper would be a welcome attraction for your support group. Don't forget to post flyers, place in facility newspaper and local TV channel. If you start a new group for the community, make sure you are listed in all the referral sources such as Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Adult Day Care, Geriatric Care Managers, Office on Aging, Self Help Clearing House, Non Profit Associations, AARP and the Library.

The support group should be run by a leader and a co-leader or co- facilitator. No one person can run a support group alone. The support group leader generally has other responsibilities and needs someone to share the workload of running a support group. Once you make the commitment to have a support group, you cannot easily cancel it. People are counting on you. There are many responsibilities to running a support group from providing information, setting up the group, mailing reminders, keeping a database of your participants, obtaining speakers and so on. You also need a co-leader who can fill in when there are vacations, emergencies or sick days. The co-leader cannot only fill in on these dates but share the responsibilities of the group.

There is information available through the Self Help Clearing House web site on many aspects of Support Groups. For New Jersey please go to www.njshc.org or call 1800 367 6274. The national web site is www.selfhelp.org and the phone number is 212-817-1822. At this time they do not have an 800 number for the National Office.