At Orange Valley Nursing Home, residents who are
mobile or semi-mobile (ambulant or semi-ambulant)
often preferred to rest on their bed and watch
television instead of taking part in any activities.
The sedentary lifestyle started taking a toll - some
experienced disturbed sleep with reversed
sleep-wake patterns, while others were moody and
less cooperative during rehab sessions.
To help the residents break out of this rut, a team of
occupational therapists and physiotherapists came
together to develop an incentive-based activity
programme with various games and sports.
Under the programme, residents are encouraged
to collect as many stamps in their activity gift
redemption booklet. Stamps are awarded for every
activity completed and can be exchanged for food
and drink items from a gift catalogue which
consists of items such as biscuits and chicken
essence.
“The programme adds an atmosphere of friendly
competition among the residents. They are visibly
more motivated to stay active and this has made
them more cheerful and positive,” says Cassandra
Lim, Head of Department, Rehabilitation.
Favourite activities include games like balloon
badminton and balloon basketball. The residents
also enjoy the “Horse Racing Game”, a
roll-and-move game where they get to design
their own horse mascots and take turns to roll a
giant dice and move the number of steps the dice
shows.
“We adapted this game from the horse racing sport
and incorporated arts and crafts as well as exercise
into the game. It is not only fun but also improves
the hand and eye coordination skills too,” says
Jaime Choy, Principal Occupational Therapist.
Since the programme was introduced, the
participation rate for the Home’s daily activities has
increased to more than 80 per cent.
Residents also benefitted from improved
rehabilitation outcomes as they were more
engaged during the sessions. The success of the
incentive-based activity programme has since
prompted Orange Valley to introduce it to residents
at all three of its Nursing Homes.
Orange Valley Rehabilitation DepartmentOrange Valley Nursing Homes
Recipient of the Singapore Health Quality Service Awards (SHQSA) 2019 Special Mention - Intermediate and Long-Term Care Clinical Practice Improvement