Rehabilitation Awareness & Physical Therapy Event Planning Idea Guide

Together Again

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Contact former rehab patients about participating in a special reunion at your facility. Schedule a catered dinner during National Rehabilitation Week, and send out invitations to the “old” rehab patients. Request that they speak about how working with your staff allowed them to return to good health. Then, put a sign up in your building announcing the recognition event, and tell employees to invite their families. Don’t mention that the former patients are attending; let that be a surprise! The night of the dinner, after the patients speak, hand staff members “Rehab: Caring People, Changing Lives” Verve Vertical Lunch Bag & 3-Section Plate Combos or “Rehab: Caring People, Changing Lives” Sip ‘N’ Go Tumblers & Straws With Coffee & Tea, and thank them for helping people get their lives back on track.

Beyond Bingo

2011-07-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

Put your physical therapy staff’s knowledge to the test. First obtain a standard bingo set. Next, compose questions about your facility. Gather everyone and explain that you’ll be playing bingo with a twist. When each number is called, read a question. Everyone with that number on his or her card should write down an answer. To win a round of bingo, a player needs to have correctly answered the questions that go with the five in-a row squares. Award prizes for winning, such as a “Physical Therapy: Every Move Makes A Difference” 25-oz. Stainless Steel Water Bottle or a “Physical Therapy: Every Move Makes A Difference” Insulated Cooler Bag.

Planning For The Future

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Reach out to younger generations to spread the word that being a physical therapist is a rewarding and important job. See if any schools in your area are holding a career fair during Physical Therapy Month. If so, select two members of your physical therapy staff to do tabling at the event. Give them “Property Of Physical Therapy Department” T-Shirts to wear. Furnish them with brochures and literature to distribute to students, as well as items to hand out, such as “Physical Therapy: Every Move Makes A Difference” Comfort Grip Pens.

Bunches Of Balloons

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Lift your staff members’ spirits with the help of helium. Start with enough Rehab Celebration Balloons to have five for each person in your rehabilitation department. Put a number on a slip of paper in every fifth balloon and put corresponding numbers on items from Rehab Gift-A-Day packs. Fill the balloons with helium, then make bouquets to pass out at the beginning of the week. Later in the week, when the balloons lose their lift, have people pop them to find the hidden numbers and claim their gifts.

Put Your Best Foot Forward

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Hold a walk-a-thon to raise awareness about the benefits of rehabilitation and physical therapy. Invite employees, patients and their families, as well as others in your community. Choose a Saturday during October to have the event. Start advertising it on the radio, in local newspapers, and in your facility at the beginning of September. Charge a small admission fee that you can later donate to a health-related charity in your area. Give participants a raffle ticket when they check in. When everyone finishes walking, pick prize winners to receive “Positive People, Positive Results” Automatic Umbrellas and “Thanks For All You Do” Water Bottles With Healthy Snacks.

Gifts In Hand

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Be ready with gratitude at the start of National Rehabilitation Awareness Week. Purchase “Rehab: Devotion In Motion” Stainless Steel Water Bottles With Carabiner Clip acquire two-part raffle tickets. On Monday, arrive at work before your rehab team and wait by the entrance. As each person enters, give out a tumbler along with words of appreciation. Also hand out raffle tickets and tell everyone they’ll be needed on Friday. Use the tickets to hold drawings for “Rehab: Devotion In Motion” Embroidered Hooded Zipper Sweatshirts.

Forecast: Showers Of Praise

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Spend some time singing in the rain, singing your rehab staff’s praises that is. Decorate a bulletin board with paper raindrops. Hang a sign that says, “We Shower Our Rehabilitation Staff With Appreciation.” Draw a template of a large raindrop on a sheet of paper. Photocopy the raindrop, then make these copies available to patients. Instruct them to write thank-you notes on the paper, cut out the raindrops, and place in a collection box. Each day of your recognition week, hang up several of the raindrop notes. At the end of the week, present “Rehab: Devotion In Motion” Compact Umbrellas With Sleeve to your staff.

Slice Of Gratitude

2010-09-21T12:29:00.002-07:00

As a thank you to your rehab staff members, combine the fun of a pizza party with sensible eating. If your facility has dining services, commission that department to make pizzas with whole-grain crusts. Ask for veggies as toppings. Fruit, such as pineapple, and/or grilled chicken also might work on top. Before the party, put a “Rehab: Devotion In Motion” Full-Color Insulated Tumbler at each place setting. During the event, hold drawings for “Our Staff Has All The Right Ingredients” Pizza Box Of Appreciation.

Trading Places

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Call on therapists in other specialties to aid you in honoring your physical therapy department. For example, hold a luncheon and have occupational therapists serve the food. Or ask speech therapists to wash physical therapists’ cars. Then during the other recognition months, such as National Occupational Therapy Month, encourage your physical therapy staff to return the favor. Include “Thanks For Making A Difference” Pull-Apart Valet Key Tags and “One Person Can Make A Difference” Wooden Photo Frame Of Appreciation as gifts for all the therapists in your facility.

Beyond Bingo

2010-09-21T12:28:00.001-07:00

Put your physical therapy staff’s knowledge to the test. First obtain a standard bingo set. Next, compose questions about your facility. Gather everyone and explain that you’ll be playing bingo with a twist. When each number is called, read a question. Everyone with that number on his or her card should write down an answer. To win a round of bingo, a player needs to have correctly answered the questions that go with the five in-a-row squares. Award gifts for winning, such as a “Physical Therapy: Getting You Back In The Game Of Life” Dynamic Tote Bag or a “Physical Therapy: Getting You Back In The Game Of Life” 3-Section Plate With Fork & Knife.

Spread The Thanks

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Ask your physical therapy staff members to each invite someone to your National Physical Therapy Month appreciation luncheon. Tell them to pick the person in the facility who makes his or her job easier. At the event, have your therapists talk a little about these valued employees. Then show your gratitude to the specially chosen guests by giving them “Thanks For All You Do!” Pen Gift Sets. Award “Property Of Physical Therapy Department” T-Shirts to your own staff.

Focused Celebrations

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If your rehab team is made up of different specialties, shine a spotlight on each one individually. For example, recognize physical therapy on Monday, occupational therapy on Tuesday, speech therapy on Wednesday, etc. Order enough Rehab Gift-A-Day sets, which contain five items per set, for each employee to receive a gift. Since you’ll have five types of gifts from the sets, use a different type for each specialty being honored.

Getting The Word Out

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Make sure that everyone in your facility is aware of the benefits of rehab. Prepare materials that explain what rehab does for patients, what it can do for your facility and how to recommend rehab to people. Hand out the materials to employees who are outside of the rehab department. Also give out Bone Pens to keep everyone’s mind on the topic. And distribute “We Heart Our Rehab Professionals” Recognition Buttons so all employees can help express gratitude to your cherished rehab professionals.

Gotcha!

2009-07-21T10:24:00.001-07:00

Sometimes a little deception can be a fun thing. Announce to your rehab professionals that a mandatory training session is being held. But instead of organizing a training session, plan a recognition event. Schedule it for the Friday before the official awareness week so you don’t arouse suspicion. Decorate the room with National Rehabilitation Awareness Week Posters and Celebration Balloons. When your employees enter, yell “Surprise!” [Perhaps recruit some volunteers to do this with you.] Hand each guest a Deluxe Duffel Bag.

Test Their Knowledge

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Involve your whole facility in your recognition week. Design a rehab trivia game. Have different levels of questions, more difficult ones for your rehab staff and easier ones for staff members in other departments. Plan the game with the goal of everyone learning something new about rehabilitation. Pass out Comfort Grip Pens, personalized with your own rehab message, or our exclusive slogan, for writing the answers to questions. Thank participants for playing the game by handing out Lanyards. The pens and lanyards will get plenty of use.

Cool Treats For A Cool Staff

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An ice cream social makes a welcome reward for your staff’s efforts. Start by decorating with colorful Celebration Balloons. Then supply several flavors of ice cream along with cake cones, waffle cones, sugar cones and waffle bowls. Jazz it up with nuts, sprinkles, candy, cherries and, of course, chocolate syrup. Don’t forget the whipped cream! For those on special diets, serve bowls of low-fat yogurt and sugar-free ice cream. Offer berries as a topping. When everyone finishes eating, distribute Mini Organizers.

Hole-In-One Event

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Provide fun and friendly competition “out on the green.” Organize an excursion to a miniature golf course for rehab professionals and their families. Arrange carpooling to lessen the drive’s environmental impact. At the course, participants will enjoy the fresh air and the change of scenery. When “tee time” is over, award Deluxe Lunch Bags to those with the best golf scores. Give all of your golfers Deluxe Stainless Steel Tumblers filled with a beverage.

Inform The Community

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Bring National Rehabilitation Awareness Week out to the public. Set up exhibits in shopping malls, museums or libraries. Focus on the positive impact of the work done by rehab professionals. Hold demonstrations of rehab techniques, and display examples of equipment used. Supply personnel staffing the booth with “Rehab: Healing Bodies, Touching Lives” Long-Sleeve T-Shirts to wear. Give out educational materials, such as “Keys To Good Posture” Pocket Pals, to people who stop by the booth.

Touch Of Class

2008-08-26T10:52:00.001-07:00

Put elegance into National Rehabilitation Awareness Week. Serve your rehab staff sparkling cider and cheese. Hire a professional pianist to play for an afternoon. Set out a vase of roses from which your staff members can choose a blossom. Cap off the week with a soothing candlelight dinner. Put a “Spa-tacular” Star Spa Kit at each place setting, turn the lights down and play soft music. Award a Portfolio With Lined Pad & Pen to each person in attendance.

Spread The News And The Gifts

2008-08-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Contact your local newspaper to arrange a series of articles spotlighting your facility’s rehabilitation staff. Write about a staff member each day during the week. Do biographies and highlight interesting facts. Include photos. If the newspaper can’t run the articles, print them in your organization’s newsletter. And to express gratitude all week for your staff’s dedication, hold a drawing each day. Double Pocket Tote Bags and Warm Appreciation-To-Go Gift Packs would make nice prizes.