Thresy Karimattam started at Enliven as a volunteer and is now an integral part of its recreation team.
She works three days a week as a recreation pack designer, developing Enliven’s ActivKete packs, and two days a week as a recreation officer at Enliven’s Levin Home for War Veterans.
Thresy moved to New Zealand from Kerala, India, three years ago and says Enliven is like a family for her. Which is certainly true as she works alongside her husband Kiran Sunny, who is Enliven’s business development manager.
She is enjoying the work-life balance that living in New Zealand affords her and says she is adapting to working in aged care, a new sector for her.
“The initial stage was a bit tricky, but once I became more comfortable it has been really nice to work in aged care.”
Recently she has been putting her master’s degree in graphic design and fashion design to good use by making Enliven’s ActivKete recreation packs.
The activity packs are designed to be ready to go, so they can be easily used by recreation staff, volunteers, and residents.
The recreation programme covers cognitive, sensory, memory, and physical stimulation, and the ActivKete packs support this with a wide range of activities. These include quizzes, colouring in, craft activities, and discussion topics.
There are also themed packs such as celebrating winter or Matariki and Thresy is in the process of designing the spring packs, which will feature spring-themed word games, puzzles, arts and crafts, and decorations.
Enliven general manager Nicola Turner says centralising the creation of activity packs gives staff at the homes more time working directly with residents.
“If they are having to spend time putting a pack together then that is time they can’t then spend with residents.
“So doing this work centrally should be good in the long-term. Our staff are really happy that they have stuff they can just pick up and run with.”
Another issue is that there are not a lot of New Zealand-focused aged care activities, with most of the products available aimed at children or people from other countries.
Enliven is working on a set of colouring in pictures that relate to kiwi elders, with images of rugby, netball, fish and chips on the beach, dancing in the church hall, and school milk.
Nicola says all packs have been designed from scratch and tested at Enliven homes to make sure they are engaging and easy to use for residents and staff alike.
“Everything we are doing we are checking out that it works, whether it is useful for someone with dementia, whether it stimulates conversation, or whether it is just too hard.”
The ActivKete will soon be available to be purchased online at ShopEnliven. The online store features a range of reliable and affordable products for older people designed to promote independence and improve wellbeing.
