How do you use Crafts as a Therapy?
Answering Questions on Crafts and Therapy.
In order to use crafts as a therapy for elderly and disabled people in Nursing, Residential and care homes, we need to make the crafts accessible, enjoyable and possible.
- If you can't get hold of the materials to do the crafts or you don't have space to provide adequately for crafts then by those means alone it is not only impossible to provide craft therapy, but also impossible to provide the craft.
- If you do not make the sessions enjoyable then, for a start the residents are not going to want to join in, but also there is little beneficial therapy being provided.
- If the craft you are providing is impossible for the residents to do due to restraints on their physical abilities or their understanding on how to do the craft, then again it is not going to be very Therapeutic.
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Q : How do you do TeaBag Folding with the elderly?
Helpfull hints : look for crafts involving TeaBag Folding.
I was told (by a so call professional) that there is no way I could do teabag folding with the elderly.
I disagreed entirely and stated that I often provide teabag folding to many residents.
With some forethought on how you go about getting over the difficulties involving some crafts, there is very little you can not do.
A : You find the problem and solve it.
TeaBag folding is fiddly because it is so small. By default the designs are roughly 1 - 2 inches square.
Most of the folds are simple enough to learn or be taught, so the main difficulty is in the dexterity and visual capabilities of the elderly.
How I solved it was by making the designs, much much bigger.
I have my designs set at between 5 - 8 inches square.
The fiddly bit has been removed and the only bit left is the folding.
I often see the elderly sit at a table with a napkin or piece of paper and without thinking, they are folding it and creasing it over and over. There is no difficulty in it when it is that size.
The designs come out larger, but that just means our end results are suited for things like...
- Coasters
- Table mats
- Rossettes : View This Craft
- Wall plaque
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Everyone works to their own abilities.
Some say that you should set a room aside and provide a time that the residents can come and start at.
When you are ready to start, you should close the door so no one is disturbed, in order that you can be focused on the craft ahead.
Personally I do not agree with this concept.
Yes I think you should have space to work comfortably, but I feel that if other residents can hear you enjoying yourself, or see you busy working away at something as they pass the room, it helps to draw more people to the activity.
If you have background information on the residents who are going to join in then you would already know their capabilities.
Finding out how dexterous your group are will provide you with an idea of how difficult the craft is that you will provide.