When I was young, my career goal grew from a visit to a long-term care facility. I wanted to do work that could improve the lives of those residing there. Employment opportunities for those recreation positions carried various titles including Program or Activities Director, Recreationist, and Life Enrichment Therapist. Although I didn't work under the title of Life Enrichment, I believe those words hold great motivation for all of us.
When I think about what enriches my life, it is connections with family, friends, and community, enjoying nature, listening to music, appreciating art, and self-expression through various creative channels of watercolor painting, gardening, learning to crochet, and even food preparation.
Life enrichment is a great way to approach a visit with someone challenged by memory or physical challenges. If we can connect to the activity or cues that enriched that person's days prior to their illness, it is likely that they will continue to enjoy it today. If they enjoyed getting their hands dirty in the garden and watching flowers bloom or vegetables grow, they will likely still enjoy that activity today.
So in a visit with a loved one, pick up a few seeds or transplants, potting soil, and a pot and share the task of creating a planter so they can enjoy its growth. If a kitchen is accessible and Dad always enjoyed making a pot of chili, again, work together on that goal. Even with limitations, that task can be adapted... using canned items or having some preparations made prior to the task, make combining ingredients fairly foolproof.
Visiting can be flat if we just sit and look at each other without having any "news", however, working on a task together will enrich the time spent together.
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