Services within your work
Bags of Clues
Your own bags representing your workplace and the difference services it provides
........................................................................................................
This exercise could be done at the beginning of your session as an ice breaker and for the listeners to guess which area of social care you work in and what your job roles maybe?
You both have separate bags of clues collected from your workplaces to represent each area of your work (i.e. meeting their social, emotional, spiritual & physical needs). Your listeners get into groups and try and guess your job role and area of work through the clues given in each bag.
Job Roles
The ‘Guess Who' game
Job role cards
Post-it notes
Pens
.........................................................................................................
Split listeners into groups and divide the job role cards up between them asking each group to discuss their roles (i.e. who does this job role work for? who do they support? Are they based in a Care Home? After around 5 mins ask one person from each group to say what their job roles were and what they think they do, where they work etc. YOU can correct them on the way (if needed).
THEN
On yellow post -its, listeners can get into pairs and choose a job role for their partner and write it on the yellow post it, without letting their partner see what it is.
Each of the partners sticks the post it on their forehead. They take in turns to guess what their job is by asking their partner closed questions like "do I work with children?", "Am I based in a care home?", and so on until they guess what job they have stuck on their forehead.
This activity can be as long or as short as you like, they could repeat it two or three times if necessary, choosing different jobs each time.
You'll Never be Out of Work
The job vacancy section of newspapers
Job vacancy pages of the local news papers
Pens
......................................................................................................
Split listeners into small groups and provide each group with a newspaper and ask them to circle all the social care related jobs (incl. administrative roles, kitchen roles etc..) Ask them to pick two or three of the ads and read them out.
OR
Cut out the social care related jobs you find in the local paper and stick them on a piece of card to demonstrate the amount of work and the variety of job roles available in the sector.
Individualised / person centered Care
The Paper Tearing Exercise
One piece of Paper for each listener
.........................................................................................................
Provide Listeners with a piece of scrap paper each. Ask everyone to close their eyes (or look up to the ceiling if uncomfortable with doing this - remember no cheating allowed!).
Provide them all with the same instructions of folding and tearing the paper - it can be as random as you like.
Ask class to them open their eyes and fold out their paper - all of them will be different demonstrating that everyone one of them is different - highlighting the importance of individualised care / person centered care and communicating to the individuals needs - not your own!
This leads nicely on to the....
Communication exercise
The Lunch Menu
The Care Ambassador Lunch Menu
Two chairs
.........................................................................................................
Using the Care Ambassador lunch menu you need to ask for two volunteers. One volunteer is to act as the 'support worker/carer' and the other the 'person receiving a service'.
The 'person receiving a service' is to sit on their hands - they have been in a terrible accident leaving them paralysed from the neck down (therefore unable to nod their head) and suffered brain damage leaving them with a loss of vocal communication, however they can see, hear, understand instructions and make facial expressions.
With the above in mind the 'support worker/carer', using the menu, has to find out what they would like for lunch.
The rest of the group can work as a team to help out the volunteers. Does the ‘support worker/carer' sort out a mode of effective communication BEFORE commencing? Are they communicating to the person's needs? Did they change their positioning? Summarise? Etc...
After the exercise ask how that made both the ‘support worker/carer' and the ‘person receiving a service' feel and WHY.
Drawing Shapes with Simulation Spectacles
2x Care Ambassador Sheet of Shapes
Four Chairs
Two pairs of Simulation Spectacles / blindfold
2x pieces of paper & 2x pens
............................................................................................................
Ask for four volunteers to sit on four chairs back to back to eachother.
Provide two of the volunteers the Care Ambassador sheet of shapes each and the other two a pair of simulation spectacles each to wear, a piece of paper and a pen.
The two volunteers with the sheet of shapes have to describe the shapes and their whereabouts on the page, without using their common identity (i.e. a face shape would be a large circle with two smaller circles inside the large next to each other and a semi circle facing upwards below the two inner circles...???)
This is a tricky exercise as both pairs will be communicating together - however with careful concentration it can be very effective. Again very important to ask how this made them all feel and why.
Who's got that caring nature?
Eating Chocolates
Three chairs
1x box of chocolates (they have to be the individually wrapped ones)
1x pair of ski gloves
............................................................................................................
Ask for three volunteers to come to the front and sit on the three chairs.
Make sure that none of the volunteers are allergic to chocolate, nuts and any other ingredients that maybe present.
Ask one of the volunteers to put on the ski gloves (they suffer from Arthritis), one to sit on one hand (they lost an arm on a motorbike accident) and the last to sit on both hands (they suffer from Parkinsons therefore have very limited use of their arms)
Offer each one a chocolate and let them know they can un-wrap it and eat it.
The person with no use of both arms is obviously stuck... wait to see if anyone offers to help...
Again ask how this made them all feel and why.
Feeding Jelly / Water
Sugar free jelly / water
A plastic apron
Plastic (throw-away) spoons
Simulation spectacles / blindfold
............................................................................................................
Ask for volunteers (as many as you wish)
Ask them to get into pairs.
Make sure that if you are using Jelly no-one is allergic to the ingredients and always use sugar free.
Ask volunteers to choose whether they want to be ‘support worker/carer' or the person receiving a service. The person receiving a service needs to put on the plastic apron and the simulation spectacles / blindfold (optional).
When the support worker begins to feed the Jelly to the person - get them thinking about their communication, positioning, eye contact, making sure they are meeting the needs of the individual. Also see if anyone actually tried to promote their independence by helping the people being fed to actually feed themselves.
Again, how did this make all of them feel and why
Downloads
Games & Activities List
You can download the list, instructions and materials needed for the current games and activities used in the Care Ambassador Sessions below:
Games & Activities List (PDF)
Games & Activities Materials
Also download the Games & Activities Materials below:
Lunch Menu (PDF)
Sheet of Shapes (PDF)
Is Care for You? Questionnaire (PDF)
|
