More Family and Spiritual Activities - Everyone needs a holiday!

When looking for Family and Spiritual activities, holidays offer great opportunities.  Most family traditions are based around holidays and many holidays have religious significance for those who celebrate them.  It does not matter what holidays the individual grew up celebrating, they all offer ways to remember family and faith.  Some individuals might want to celebrate with their family without staff present, but others might want staff to help them celebrate successfully.  It is important to respect caregiver’s holiday traditions as well, so they are not being pulled from their significant family celebrations.  However, by promoting diversity among your staff, you can match caregivers and individuals who celebrate different holidays allowing staff to work certain holidays without neglecting their personal lives.  Another good reason to hire a diverse workforce!  Celebrating holidays together with family and caregivers can lead to deeper relationships between families, caregivers and the individuals served.  Developing caring relationships of trust leads to better care and more loyal staff who stay because they feel valued and like they are making a difference.  These benefits are gained regardless of the holidays celebrated by the individuals served or the staff member.  The connection is established through being a part of significant events in one another’s lives regardless of the differences between staff and the family’s cultures and beliefs.  More often than not, what we have in common far outweighs our differences.  One benefit of working with a population with disabilities is their ability to bridge cultural divides that others cannot.  Find out what holidays are important for each individual served and make those a part of your Family and Spiritual activities planning.