What is your current role?
My current job title is Senior Life Enrichment Director. I work for ONELIFE Senior living, and I work at Battle Creek Memory Care in Salem. In my role, I get to go out and train our Life Enrichment Coordinators on ONELIFE values and expectations, so they can build the programs in their own way depending on who the residents are, the staff members, and their different passions. It’s like Starbucks where we all have the same “Vanilla Latte” expectations, and we can tailor the programs to preferences and individual needs. Design and sharing programs has been an amazing part of my career. It’s an amazing experience.
How did you get started in your career?
I’ve been working in senior living for almost thirty years. I earned a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science working as a personal trainer in gyms. I went back and got a master’s degree in Recreation Management with an emphasis in Therapeutic Recreation specializing in mental health and started working for a state hospital in Idaho.
My husband and I decided to move from Idaho to La Grande, Oregon, but there were no Therapeutic Rection Specialist positions available there at the time so, I started working in recreation for the city and in senior living. I ended up working in public health in a community for individuals living with long-term mental illnesses, including 70-year-old individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar, and borderline personality disorder. The community had a huge recreation room. It was an amazing job.
Later we moved to Salem, where I started working for a hospice doing a transitions program. I mostly did education and helped people fulfill bucket lists, things of that nature. After that, I became a case manager, learning about Medicaid and the different regulations. I wanted to go have fun and one of the ladies I worked with in a senior living building said, “I have a job for you, I want you to come and be a Life Enrichment Coordinator. Come work with me.” That led me to where I am today.
What does a day in the life of a Senior Life Enrichment Director look like?
When I’m doing the programs, every day is amazing. We are out having fun, making people smile and laugh and getting them engaged. We start every day with physical exercise. Then we go into breathing and gratitude. We live in a wonderful state that is beautiful, we talk about how they are loved, they have family who love them, and they have family in the room through their friendships. We focus on discussing the beauty in their lives and things to be thankful for. After gratitude, go into mental exercises like “finish the lyrics”, trivia, riddles, and keeping their minds active and engaged. We finish with some jokes, positive sayings, or singing. I like to say, “it’s Sammie’s joke time!” and they give a chuckle. I love to bring joy to their lives and make them smile and laugh. That’s just the morning!
In the afternoon, we have trivia or music, there is a men’s club where we do activities like building birdhouses. Painting and art are a huge part of our program, like acrylic and watercolor. The ladies got together to paint the bird houses the men build. We like to create programs where we start at one point and keep building and create opportunities for different groups in the community to get involved. We are going to create a sculpture in the garden with the birdhouses.
How do you get residents engaged?
Every morning, I let the staff know I’m here. I come in with a lot of energy, singing, and dancing, letting everyone know we’re doing exercise at 10 o’clock. I go around and gather people who aren’t already out. The staff is amazing at encouraging residents to participate, and residents will also encourage their peers to come out and participate. If you have a passion, people will give it a try and they often realize they enjoy it and want to continue.
I also recognize there are people who don’t want to come. We still invite them and encourage them and let them know it’s okay if they don’t want to come. They get to make choices about what they want to do. There are some people who have never participated in group activities before. We have one lady who likes to do word searches. She sits out in the common area and does her thing. She enjoys being around other people and we talk with her, but she doesn’t want to come to group activities, and that’s okay. Sometimes I offer external incentives to get people out, like offering a chocolate bar or a Gatorade if they come participate, sometimes you need to get creative to get people engaged.
Have you faced any challenges in your career and how did you overcome them?
I don’t have the budget I wish we had, that’s not just in senior living, that’s anywhere. We have to get creative sometimes.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
A smile. Someone participating in our programs. A family coming in and saying, “my mom has never done this, look at her she’s doing art!” or “I saw on Facebook, my mom was dancing”, “I saw my dad singing!” Person-centered engagement, bringing joy or a smile to someone and the laughter.
How do you make a difference in your role?
I tell everyone, “I’m the fun one!” I get to go into our communities and share my experience with new Life Enrichment Coordinators. I let them know they need to get down on a knee if someone is in a wheelchair, talk with them not at them, see the person not the disease—we often do that with dementia. We need to figure out what they can do, instead of what they can’t do.
I get to go into communities and share my experience with new Life Enrichment Coordinators. I let them know they need to get down on a knee if someone is in a wheelchair, talk with them not at them, see the person not the disease—we often do that with dementia. We need to figure out what they can do, instead of what they can’t do.
Family aways come up and say, “I’m so glad you treat my mom like a human being” and I’m like, “She is!” Even though she may forget tomorrow, it’s surprising to people when that muscle memory kicks in.
Every day is a blessing because of what we are doing. I always look at it from the perspective of when I end up here, I hope I have a fun person who brings the same passion and energy I bring to our people.
How has working with older adults had an impact on your life?
I realized you have got to live now. I want to die with memories, not “what ifs”. Even with dementia you many not have all those memories, but if you have pictures and scrap books you can look back on a life well lived. You can look back and say, “Wow! I did this. Oh! I did that.” You have to do the things you really want to do, just say to yourself “this is what I’m going to do” and then decide on how to do it. Recently, I went to Nashville, I’m a huge fan of Dolly Parton and she did a fan fair in Nashville where fans could meet her and ask questions. I went for four days, and it was an amazing time. In October, we are going to see the polar bears. We are staying out on the tundra with the polar bears for two days. I can’t wait!
Have you had a meaningful interaction with a resident that stood out to you?
Recently, a new resident came in and he sings opera. We have another lady who used to sing opera, she’ll sing popular songs, but she won’t’ sing opera for us because she says she can’t hit the notes. Before exercise, I wheeled her over to the gentleman and introduced them, telling her he sings opera. I asked him, “I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but do you mind singing?” He started singing Placido Domingo, and the lady started singing with him! The whole group started clapping and cheering and they were both just sitting up tall in there seats, smiling. I wish I had my phone to record it. It was just one of those moments that touched everybody.
What would you say to someone who is considering working in long-term care?
It’s a hard job, everybody knows that, but if you have a big heart, you have passion, and most of all want to care for people, do some research, maybe you don’t want to be a caregiver but there’s a niche that is a good fit for you. People think it’s just about caregiving, but there’s kitchen staff, they make amazing meals and share recipes, there’s community relations if you want to do more of a sales and networking type role, the receptionist is the first person people see when they come into the community. There are all different kinds of roles. You can start as a caregiver, then become a med tech, and go on to become a residential care coordinator.
Do you have advice for someone who is interested in getting involved in activities and life enrichment?
Share your passion. If you have passion, like to have fun, enjoy throwing parties this might be for you. There is computer work, but a majority of the day is going to be interacting with people. If you don’t have a problem being up in front of a group, interacting and leading. I say it’s a show every day. When we have a party, the planning and coordination can look like total chaos, but when the curtain goes up and the party starts, it’s going to be amazing.
Like I said, it’s not for everyone. Not everyone feels comfortable being in front of people leading. You have to think about that. You have to be a person who at the drop of a hat can be creative, be aware of what’s going on around you and keep everyone safe. You have to have sound judgment and keep the energy up and be encouraging.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Always see people as people. I use the word residents sometimes, but I always use their names when I’m speaking with them. Always show respect. Engage. Engagement is the word we always use in Life Enrichment.
Published August 5, 2024.
