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Introduction to care home activity
This badge is awarded to care home staff who demonstrate understanding of meaningful activities and show how they create positive engagement opportunities for residents in their daily practice.
Are you a care home worker looking to improve the wellbeing of your residents? This badge will help you understand how every interaction – no matter how brief – can positively impact the people in your care.
This badge recognises that meaningful activities aren’t just the responsibility of activity coordinators. Every role in a care home contributes to residents’ quality of life, from care assistants and housekeeping staff to kitchen teams and managers. By earning this badge, you’ll demonstrate your commitment to person-centred care and show that you understand how your daily interactions can create moments of joy, purpose and connection for residents.
Completing this badge will help you:
- understand what makes activities truly meaningful for residents
- recognise opportunities for engagement in your daily work
- develop confidence in facilitating both planned and spontaneous activities
- support your activity coordinators whilst taking personal responsibility
- meet professional standards and regulatory expectations.
This badge has been developed in collaboration with the Scottish Care Independent Sector Leads for Aberdeen City and Perth and Kinross, National Meaningful Engagement Network (NMEN) and care home activity leads.
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To achieve this badge you must:
- complete the Introduction to Care Home Activity learning resource
- take time to put what you have learned into practice and get a colleague to observe you doing this
- explain your understanding of meaningful activities and describe your participation in planned activities including their impact on residents and something different you have done based on the learning resources (200-250 words)
- describe how you will approach unplanned engagement with residents including what techniques you will use for both 1:1 and group contact and how you will measure impact on residents’ outcomes (200-250 words)
- reflect on your role in supporting meaningful activities including how you work with activity leads, challenges you face and rewarding aspects of your experience (200-250 words).
There is a maximum word count for this badge of 750 words.
You will need to get at least one colleague who witnessed you putting your learning into practice to endorse your badge before it will become valid.
Your application will be returned to you for improvements if it does not meet all the above criteria.
None. This badge does not require you to hold any other badges.
You need to write between 600 and 750 words answering the questions in the criteria. You can write directly on the badge application form or share a link to your own blog or portfolio.
When writing your answers, think about:
Your understanding of meaningful activities and planned participation (200-250 words)
- How meaningful activities help you develop in your role.
- Ways that meaningful activities make caring more effective.
- What planned activities you’ve participated in and their impact on residents.
- Something different you’ve tried based on the learning resources.
Your approach to unplanned engagement (200-250 words)
- What techniques you will use for 1:1 interactions with residents.
- How you will approach group engagement opportunities.
- Ways you will measure or recognise impact on residents’ outcomes.
- How you will create spontaneous meaningful moments.
Your role in supporting meaningful activities (200-250 words)
- How you work collaboratively with activity leads.
- Ways you take responsibility for facilitating meaningful activities.
- Challenges you face in creating meaningful engagement.
- Rewarding aspects of meaningful activity work.
We also accept audio or video submissions if you prefer not to write.
Remember: The evidence you submit will be viewable by anyone who views your badge. Don’t include private or confidential information.
Badge issuer
Scottish Social Services Council
Our work means the people of Scotland can count on social work, social care and children and young people services being provided by a trusted, skilled, confident and valued workforce.
Badge standards
Wellbeing and support
CPL core learning element for Social care and children and young people workforceSubmit your application
Terms and conditions
1. I have read, understood and completed all activities listed in the badge criteria. The evidence I have provided answers each question from the criteria.
2. I confirm that the evidence I have submitted is free from personally identifiable information of others. Nobody can be identified, directly or indirectly, from any examples I provide.
3. I wrote or recorded my evidence, and I have not copied it from anywhere else. The core content, ideas and examples are my own original work. I agree that I will only use AI tools under the rules outlined by the SSSC, and if I do so, I will explicitly declare this use in my submission and provide a valid link to the chat history for the assessor to review.
4. I give consent for the SSSC and the people I share this badge with to use plagiarism and AI detection tools to validate the authenticity of the evidence I have submitted.
5. I understand that it may take up to 28 days to assess my application and that feedback cannot always be provided if it is unsuccessful.
Your evidence, name, and email address will be sent to the organisation who issue this badge