Activities of daily living

Heubner & Tryssenaar (1996) highlight the benefits of organizing activities for people living in a homeless shelter. In fact, they observed that leading playful activities accessible to all residents improved communication and social functioning among participants. It was another way of getting people back into action.

Salles & Barros (2009) indicate that activities of daily living and social participation decline as a result of mental health. They also report that mental health services greatly value these activities, as they promote autonomy and a place in society.

For group activities, both group interventions and activities can be used in ASO. These two sections can be used to organize and track group activities: recreational activities, residents' meetings, etc. Participation is also tracked through these sections. Some resources also use these sections to manage registrations and waiting lists directly on the activity page.

Schultz-Krohn (2004) reiterates the importance of family routines in all contexts, sharing the results of her research on parents living in a homeless shelter. Indeed, the parents who participated in the study made significant efforts in establishing and maintaining family routines to foster closeness and a sense of community. He encourages resources working in this field to support parents in their role as organizers of family routines. Koome et al (2012) argue that routines promote activation and become the foundation on which families with adolescents facing mental health challenges could organize their lives, fulfill obligations, and support each other.

McNulty et al. (2009) studied how 23 women living in a shelter for women who are victims of domestic violence spent their time. The study highlighted the particularities of living in such a resource: shared living space with several other women and children, which also entails the need for joint organization of household chores; a strict framework to ensure everyone's safety, which limits opportunities for socialization with one's usual network; and a significant investment of time and energy in administrative procedures. The researchers suggest that workers in women's shelters help women establish good routines in order to promote long-term goals.

We will share an example of a women's shelter that uses a specific module in ASO to manage residents' tasks. This module allows a specific task to be assigned to the resident/family living in a designated room. A list of tasks is generated for each week. Adjustments could be made to allow a task to be assigned to more than one room in order to create opportunities for interaction and teamwork between the people sharing a task.