Delivering Engaging and Meaningful Activities for Older Adults in Long-Term Care Using Principles of Interpretation

Enjoyable, engaging, and meaningful group activities are critically needed and wanted by older adults, particularly by those living in long-term care communities (e.g., nursing homes and assisted living communities). While group activities are universally offered in long-term care settings, research has shown that participation rates are often moderate to low and that there is widespread dissatisfaction among residents and their family members regarding the types and quality of the group activities. There has been a call to reimagine activities in long-term care to refocus on programming that is not simply occupying time but rather is meaningful, person-centered, and intentional in design and delivery. In this article, we apply principles drawn from the field of interpretation, a well-established educational approach derived from the environmental field. We then present guidelines for researchers and practitioners interested in improving the group activities using this novel application of the field of interpretation.