Phase 5: Co-Develop and Implement Oasis Social and Activity Programming

Hire an On-site Oasis Program Coordinator for Each Site

 

While hiring an on-site Program Coordinator is listed as the first step in Phase 5, it actually did not happen until later in the programming development process. After consultation with Providence Care, the Oasis Board of Directors, and new Oasis members, our research team developed a part-time job posting to hire one Coordinator at each expansion site – a total of six positions. While the original Oasis site has one full-time Coordinator, these new positions would be supplemented with the continued work of the Community Developers, thus resulting in full-time support at each site.

 

Community Developers met with each new site to discuss the desired traits and skill sets they would like to see in their hired Coordinator. While the specific needs of each site resulted in slightly different requests, there were certainly common traits: patience, flexibility, respect and positive energy. They also described experience working in health and experience working directly with older adults as highly desirable skills.

 

The job posting (see Appendix 5a) was posted on the University Human Resources websites for two weeks at the beginning of 2019; it was also distributed to Oasis board members and other key stakeholders for circulation within their networks. While waiting for the position to close, each site nominated one or two members to directly participate in the hiring process. Interview panels were created that included members of the research team, an Oasis board member, as well as the representatives from each new Oasis site.

 

A full-time Coordinator is ideal, but we suggest that the minimum amount of time that a Coordinator is onsite is 2.5 days each week. This allows time to support programming, attend to specific member needs and organize future activities. This individual should be an independent worker and adaptable; the role changes day-to-day and this person should be flexible in what their daily schedule may look like. We see the health background as advantageous, but not essential; this role would also benefit from a person with customer service and/or activity planning experience. It is also important to consider possible training that you should offer or expect of your hire. We recommend First Aid/CPR and food handling course opportunities, as well as possible training in mental health, Alzheimer’s and dementia, or other training that matches the needs of your particular site.

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Develop and Implement Weekly Activities

 

Shortly after the first few program development meetings, the Community Developers worked with each group to organize some weekly activities. Based on group suggestions, the Developers, and subsequently the Onsite Coordinators were able to identify activities that groups were particularly interested in and then proposed hosting these activities during the week. At the beginning of these meetings at one site, a member felt that there was too much discussion and not enough action; so, he developed a “Games Gang”, a group in which Oasis members could play various board games and have the opportunity to learn new ones from others. When the Games Gang started, there were just three participants; now, at the time of writing, there is a committed group of 12-16 people each week who enjoy playing a variety of games, including Wizard, Rummikub, Dominoes and more.

 

Members suggested other activities as well, but looked to the Developers and Coordinators to support them so they were not completely self-run. For example, when morning coffee started, the Developers would come by the building to put on a pot of coffee for the group. The group would then gather to discuss current events amongst themselves or do activities like colouring or knitting. Over time, the members took on the organizing and set-up for coffee hours, especially when it became a regular event in the weekly schedule. At the Belleville Oasis site, a member expanded on a coffee social hour and suggested an open afternoon of creative activities. Members were encouraged to bring any activities they like to do or would like to learn; the result was more than 20 members participating in sewing, knitting, wood carving, scrapbooking, jewelry making, colouring, and even playing games like crokinole and Mexican train dominoes. Many people would wander from table to table striking up conversations and learning about others’ crafts.

 

While social activities may have been the easiest to implement in terms of time and resources, there were many requests for other types of activities from members, especially for different types of exercise, which required more coordination on the Developer’s part. Exercise suggestions included sitting exercises, stretching, yoga, tai chi, Nordic pole walking, and dance. Based on these suggestions, Community Developers reached out to the local community to see what was being offered and who could support this type of programming within each building. For example, one Oasis site in Kingston was interested in Nordic pole walking. The Community Developer had seen a free introductory clinic being offered by a local physiotherapist. She called to see if they would be able to hold a similar clinic at the building; the physiotherapist was delighted and hosted a free session with 15 Oasis members to teach them how to properly use the walking poles and discuss benefits of the activity. There is now a group of Oasis members who walk with their Nordic Poles once a week around their neighborhood. Another Oasis group was really interested in line dancing. The Coordinator had no experience with line dancing, but one of the members did and offered to lead the classes. At least fifteen members attend these weekly classes and with the guidance from their peer, have learned many new songs. Other members who are unable to join the dancing are welcome to come and watch the group – it is an enjoyable time for all.

 

All Oasis activities were organized in two ways: either a day was decided and then people were encouraged to drop in, or a sign-up sheet was posted on the bulletin board to gauge interest. Examples of flyers for both methods are included here in Appendix 5b and Appendix 5c. Sometimes activities were popular, such as the Games Gang, but sometimes there was no interest from the group to move ahead with an activity. In some cases, there was limited interest, but those activities were equally encouraged by the research team. For example, a Deaf woman in one of the building offered to teach sign language to other members. Though only two or three came to the lessons, they were dedicated students. Throughout the process of program development, the Developers encouraged the group to try new things and not worry about how many people were participating. If something did not work out, they would try other things until a regular schedule began to develop. For a list of example Oasis activity suggestions, please see Appendix 5d. Please keep in mind that these are suggestions that were made by our Oasis members during planning sessions, and are not necessarily activities suggested by our team for you to run. Oasis activities should be determined by its membership and may include many different options, falling into the broad categories of social activity, physical activity and nutrition. This list is simply a reference to demonstrate how diverse activities can be.