Though this place did have a number of men on its payroll, they were there as carers, not occupational therapists or recreational assistants.
Prior to his being admitted the manager did say they would be getting a gardener, however, in the time Dad was there a male did not materialise who was available to spend man-time doing man things with the men.
I'm not sure they were actually that keen to get such a program implemented. Not surprising really, there were obvious dangers to a gardening and building program for the mentally and behaviorally challenged, such as taking to each other with a hammer!
So we came up with a plan ourselves of helping Dad out.
Basically, we wanted someone who could spend more one on one time with Dad and encourage him to do the sorts of things we knew he enjoyed - like pottering in the yard, building ti-tree fences, walking to the shops or painting what ever picture took his fancy on whatever space was available. I envisaged this person would bring the necessary tools and take them home again at the end of the visit (to keep the management happy).
A family friend, who worked in health, liked what we had in mind and pointed us in the right direction to find a suitable worker to join Dad for a couple of hours a day.
The person we found was a lady.
I don't think she ever brought tools.
Dad, however, did get used to her company.
He loved the one on one when he wanted to chat. She had sense enough to recognise when he wanted alone time - so she left him alone.
Her presence did seem to settle him. I think it made mum feel better too, that someone was on site whose sole purpose was helping Dad.
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