#PlayMonday (29/02/2016)

PlayMonday – First time in Casével was like this…

After we’ve been aware of this project (PlayMonday) through an invitation from a nurse, Inês Banza, and because we thought it would be an added value, we decided to join to this project. We asked for information and after we gathered all the clarifications we needed, we proposed to start it in a pre-scheduled date in February.

Since “Playing” is a way to soothe all that results from the internment and that’s how we, as a team, interact with our clients in our daily routine, and providing a different and unexpected moment turned into a mission, which was a real challenge!

And since that group dynamics are included in our activity plan, we planned this activity in a way that would surprise the clients and that would be totally unexpected.

In this way, we considered that the snack time would be the best moment to do our PlayMonday. Although there were only 3 professionals that would participate in this Play, after the disclosure of the activity, most of the collaborators that were in service showed interest and they participated in this Play. This Play wasn’t only for the clients but also for everyone that collaborated in it.

When the clients were prepared to their snack time, already sit around the table, one of our technicians appeared suddenly while hitting two pan lids against each other, marking the beginning of the Play. Simultaneously, people began to hear, loudly, the song “Happy”… And balloons popped up, the remaining collaborators brought them in bags and released them over the clients. And with that, the magic happened…

We didn’t how they would react, but we know that we should let the play flow in way to give them a good moment. From grabbing the balloons to throw them in the air or even pop them, everything happened!

“I wasn’t expecting this surprise”“Beautiful”
“We felt happy”
“We had fun”
“Total surprise”
“Entertainment”

These were some of the many expressions used to describe this moment.

It was notable that this moment was unexpected to our clients and it was definitely a moment of distraction and amusement. And as prescribed on PlayMonday’s Cardex, it was administrated a big dose of joy during the snack time and it had the estimated effect. And that joy was transmitted to our team, as secondary effects.

We left the photographic and video records because “a image worth more than one thousand words”.

We would like to thank to Inês Banza who is the head nurse of this pioneer project in healthcare institutions here in Portugal and we congratulate her for this iniciative.

And most of all, we congratulate the wonderful team of Unidade de Média Duração e Reablitação da Fundação Joaquim António Franco e seus Pais, for their collaboration and participation in this play time.

[PORTUGUÊS]

#PlayMonday (29/02/2016)

Seventh Play Monday!

Another Play Monday! And this time it was special because we had the participation of Nurse Coordinator Gabi and missionary group of students from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, who are running across Portugal thanks to “Missão País 2016”, so, there were many people who wanted to play!

Our Plays during this day were: the “fan and feather” game. With the help of the fan we had to make the feathers fly without touching the floor and we also played the “Shell game”*.

We organized the clients in two groups (a group for each game) and we started to distribute the fans and the cups between the clients and we invited them to play. Mr J. grabbed the fan with a huge enthusiasm and there was no feather who could escape him. Mr A. grabbed the fan with

some mistrust and reluctance, but first he only watched the game. Ms. M and Ms. J were mastering the fan technique, but they were having some communication trouble with the feathers. They are too light and sometimes they fall too quickly. But this time we had the precious help of three missionaries that helped keeping the feathers in the air. And after many tries, our players made the room being full of colourful feathers that were flying through the air. What seemed hard turned into something so easy.

After a talk with Mr. A, he told me that he preferred to switch plays because the “Shell game” seemed funnier.

And so it was, with three cups and a ball, the clients played with each other’s and with Joana and Raquel. A game that requires a good memory and concentration… And now “In which cup is the hidden ball?” Joana asked to Mr. A, that pointed to one of the cups, after thinking for a moment. Right in front of them Mr. J is playing with Raquel and at their side Mr. J.E that never missed one!

Apart from finding the ball, we wanted that the clients also “mixed” the cups and asked “Where is the ball?”. That way, things got funnier and interesting for them. After that, Raquel presented the game to Ms. M.A and although she couldn’t “mix” the cups, she always found the hidden ball. It was Ms. M.A’s first Play Monday and it was such a joy that she liked it.

Then the clients switched games, so everyone could try both games. In the end, everyone had their favourite and each one spent more time playing the game that each one liked the most.

And these were our PlayMonday minutes where we transformed moments. Thank you to my co-workers and to the missionaries that, even without knowing us, they participated in this Play during this day.

[PORTUGUÊS]

*Translator note: This game can also be known as Thimblerig, Three shells and a pea or the old army game