The Hummingbird Therapeutic Engagement Program pairs clients with therapeutic activity specialists trained in helping older adults reengage in old passions and explore new interests. Because no two people are exactly alike, our specialists don’t go in with a one-size-fits-all formula. Quality of Life care plans are highly individualized to reflect the unique personality, life history, interests, and abilities of each client.
The Hummingbird team engages clients through one-on-one activity sessions, carefully planned outings, and individualized Therapeutic Activity Kits that can be used by family members, care providers, and other care team members at any time to engage clients in a range of meaningful and stimulating activities. Sessions might include memory or sensory games, memoir writing, armchair travel, gardening, creating art or crafts, or special outings to a place connected with a client’s past or special interests.
By providing concierge services and products, we support engagement in life through enjoyable activities—and work with families and care providers to create opportunities for joy.
To learn more please contact The Hummingbird ProjectSM at (650) 777-7607 or Hummingbird@SageEldercare.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Hummingbird Project SM?
The Hummingbird ProjectSM is an initiative of Sage Eldercare Solutions that is devoted to providing services and developing products that promote Quality of Life for older adults receiving care. The goal of The Hummingbird ProjectSM is to cultivate joy, engage curiosity, and foster personal expression.
To that end, we created the Hummingbird Quality of Life Engagement Program, as well as individualized Therapeutic Activity and Sensory Kits that can be used by family members and care attendants at any time.
The Hummingbird Quality of Life Engagement Program pairs clients with professionally trained therapeutic activity specialists to enhance quality of life. Engagement Plans are created for each individual to reflect their unique personality, life history, interests, and abilities. The Hummingbird Program provides one-on-one engagement and activity services tailored to the needs of the client and family.
What is a Quality of Life Engagement Specialist?
A Quality of Life Engagement Specialist is a professional who is trained to help clients reengage in old passions and explore new interests. Our backgrounds are diverse including horticulture, creative and fine arts, philosophy, memory support, history, academia and more.
What type of training do Quality of Life Engagement Specialists have?
Our Quality of Life Engagement Specialists have a BA/BS and/or ten or more years of experience engaging older adults through creative therapeutic practices. Many of our team members have a master’s degree or higher.
How frequently do Engagement Specialists see clients?
Typically, Engagement Specialists see clients once or twice a week, but sometimes more, depending on the needs of the client.
Where are your Engagement Specialists located?
In-person engagement sessions are available in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the following Counties: San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Marin, Sonoma, Alameda and Contra Costa. Additionally we over services in Los Angeles, Orange, and Sacramento County; and in Seattle’s King and Tacoma county in Washington.
We are able to provide our virtual engagement program to anyone, regardless of location!
How do I begin working with a Hummingbird Quality of Life Engagement Specialist?
Please contact us at (650) 777-7607 or Hummingbird@SageEldercare.com to make a referral to the Hummingbird Program. The first step for most services is a complimentary half-hour telephone consultation with interested parties or family members to describe the program, answer questions and learn about the client’s needs and interests. We then arrange to start services with an in person meeting in which an engagement specialist (sometimes two) visit the client to make an assessment and provide recommendations.
How can the Hummingbird Program help me or my loved one?
By providing concierge services to clients and their families, we support engagement in life through enjoyable activities that are specifically designed for each client as a unique individual. Our program goals include reducing isolation, combating loneliness, and working with families and caregivers to create opportunities for joy.
What services does the Hummingbird Program provide?
One-on-one engagement sessions are focused time between a client and an engagement specialist. Sessions might include:
- Arm chair travel to destinations around the world
- Memoir writing
- Mental fitness exercises
- Gardening and outdoor pursuits
- Enjoyment of intellectual games
- Creative expression
- Outings to local cultural centers including museums and parks
- Curriculum based programming focused on lifelong learning
- Crafts, arts or hobby fulfillment
One-on-one engagement sessions are typically two to three hours in length, and include a detailed report, often with a picture from the session, for the client’s family. Outings can be four or more hours.
Consultation with families, care providers, and professionals is available to establish plans for engaging clients in quality of life activities. This might include idea generating, individualized training for care team members (family or professional care providers), preparing and organizing materials, training professional care providers, and more. We also provide brief one-on-one interventions to address agitation, alleviate boredom that may be causing behavioral expressions of an unmet need, or provide support during times of transition.
Therapeutic Activity Kits are a hallmark of our program and can be utilized by family members, care providers, and other care team members as a way to engage clients in a range of stimulating activities. We specialize in both customized activity kits and sensory kits.
- Therapeutic Activity Kits are a collection of engagement tools, created based on a client’s unique interests. These items are researched for success prior to recommendation and might include brain fitness games, creative expression books, projects. and a range of other items.
- Sensory Kits are a collection of soothing, focused engagement tools that provide stimulation, increase engaging activity, decrease agitation, and restore calm.
- Detailed instructions are provided with the kit.
- An engagement specialist is available to deliver the kit and demonstrate how the items can be used and suggest adaptations for variety and to address changing needs.
- The engagement specialist will also provide instructions to the client/family/care provider for how to best deliver the interventions.
- Therapeutic activity kits take approximately 3-4 hours to conceptualize, research and create; the time spent is billed at our hourly rate. At your request, we provide an estimate for approval prior to ordering materials. Otherwise, we ask for a budget of $150 for kit components.
Quality of Life Assessments are in-depth assessments focused solely on a client’s quality of life goals by offering specific interventions for an engagement specialist, care manager, family member, or professional care provider to carry out. A detailed quality of life assessment outlines quality of life goals with a list of creative means to meet these goals and specific instructions on how to do so. This culminates in a training led by the activity specialist to support successful implementation of the recommendations.
Programs for Community Living Settings are offered to clients in independent living, assisted living, or skilled nursing homes. A Hummingbird engagement specialist visits once or twice a week to work with clients who would benefit from the addition of one-on-one therapeutic engagement sessions—or who haven’t benefited from or responded well to group activities or other programs offered by the facility. Session curriculum is tailored to the individual interests of each client and might include:
- Learning new art skills from teaching artists
- Explorative learning on areas of intrigue and lifelong learning on areas of expertise
- Outings to cultural events, exhibits, and other places of interest
- Projects such as creating a memoir and/or a pictorial history project, learning how to use a technology, or making gifts for others
- Travelogues in the comfort of one’s home
- Learning a new talent
- Sessions are one to two hours in length
To learn more about our Programs for Community Living settings, please contact The Hummingbird ProjectSM at (650) 777-7607 or Hummingbird@SageEldercare.com
