Activities Programs in Assisted Living Facilities

By Lee Ann Griffin
November 17, 2022

Designing and implementing an Activities Program for residents is an essential aspect of an Assisted Living Facility’s responsibilities. Its importance is reflected in the regulatory emphasis codified in the Resident Care Standards (see s. 59A-36.007, FAC, below). Activities are offered for both an ALF’s general population and for residents with special needs like Alzheimer’s disease or mental disorders. An ALF’s offered activities must be included in their admission package which is offered to potential residents and made available on the Agency’s consumer information site. Citations around activities are issued under Tag A0025. The baseline requirements are straightforward and included in core training. Check out LSLE’s overview below.

LSLE’s Activities in Assisted Living Facilities

Using the Activities Critical Element Pathway for Assisted Living

Except for the Home and Community Based Services Characteristics requirements that apply to ALFs providing services to Medicaid recipients, Assisted Living Facilities are not subject to federal regulations for licensure and survey standards. However, there are authoritative resources developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that can be helpful when used judiciously by an ALF professional to create, manage, or assess care and services. An example is a series of 44 checklists referred to as the Critical Element Pathways.

When conducting a federal survey in a nursing home, the Agency for Health Care Administration surveyors refer to Critical Element Pathways to guide their investigation. The Activities Critical Element Pathway (CMS Form 20065, 2017) includes observations and questions directed to staff, residents, and family members about resident activities. Because there is some crossover between the federal requirements for nursing homes and Florida’s regulations for ALFs, an ALF Administrator or Director of Staff Education can utilize the observations and questions in conducting an activities program audit through the eyes of a surveyor.

The Activities Critical Element Pathway reflects CMS’s expectations for nursing homes but, with a little modification, the checklist can provide interesting prompts for evaluating activities programs in assisted living communities.

Activities Critical Element Pathway

Groups and Books

There are state and national groups that work to provide support, standards, and ideas for persons responsible for designing and implementing activities programs.

The Florida Health Care Activity Coordinator’s Association represents activity professionals working across health care settings and share activity ideas through social media.

The National Association of Activity Professionals established standards and certification for activity professionals that are recognized by CMS. While most of the NAAP content is exclusive to paid members, the blog is available to anyone and includes activity ideas specific to Thanksgiving and holiday crafts.

Check with your local library or the AHCA/NCAL Bookstore to access these books:

The Big Book of Resident Activities by Debbie R. Bera, ADC (HCPro; 2^nd Edition, 2017)

The Connections Activity Program for People with Dementia: A Planning and Intervention Guide by Ellen Bikoff-Phipps and Barbara A. Braddock (Health Professions Press; First edition, 2017)