Life enrichment director vs activities director

The differences between life enrichment directors and activities directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a life enrichment director and an activities director. Additionally, an activities director has an average salary of $44,982, which is higher than the $42,073 average annual salary of a life enrichment director.

The top three skills for a life enrichment director include customer service, independent living and rehabilitation. The most important skills for an activities director are patients, rehabilitation, and resident care.

Life enrichment director vs activities director overview

	Life Enrichment Director	Activities Director
Yearly salary	$42,073	$44,982
Hourly rate	$20.23	$21.63
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	16,448	6,845
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	4	4

What does a life enrichment director do?

The job of a life enrichment director is to develop and coordinate a successful volunteer program. As a life enrichment director, you will be planning and managing the resources to support the needs of an activity program. Typical duties will include developing and coordinating community events, in-house activities, and entertainment programs, developing annual activities budget, and assisting the marketing director in developing and coordinating all community relations and marketing events. You will also need to maintain a caring and professional attitude towards residents.

What does an activities director do?

An activities director is responsible for planning engaging events for the participants, considering individual interests and the safety of procedures and resources. Activities directors guide the activity staff on assisting the participants, ensuring that they are comfortable with joining the activities. Since most activities directors work at a healthcare facility or elderly institution, they must also monitor the health of the participants by conducting therapeutic activities and evaluate the participants' progress for every program. The activities director must be a critical-thinker, as well as have excellent communication skills to coordinate with facilities personnel for successful activity completion.

Life enrichment director vs activities director salary

Life enrichment directors and activities directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Life Enrichment Director	Activities Director
Average salary	$42,073	$44,982
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $67,000	Between $27,000 And $74,000
Highest paying City	-	Huntington, NY
Highest paying state	-	Mississippi
Best paying company	-	Microsoft
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between life enrichment director and activities director education

There are a few differences between a life enrichment director and an activities director in terms of educational background:

	Life Enrichment Director	Activities Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Pennsylvania

Life enrichment director vs activities director demographics

Here are the differences between life enrichment directors' and activities directors' demographics:

	Life Enrichment Director	Activities Director
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 15.0% Female, 85.0%	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 5.1% White, 62.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 5.1% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between life enrichment director and activities director duties and responsibilities

Life enrichment director example responsibilities.

Manage staff and volunteer recruitment, resident assessments, charting, MDS documentation and program implementation.
Manage comprehensive regulatory documentation, including assessments, MDS and progress notes.
Manage resident and facility accounts, budgets, social security applications, and Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
Provide strong leadership and guidance to staff for general programs, events and facility maintenance.
Co-Facilitate Alzheimer's family support group.
Establish leadership skills while implementing events and presentations.

Activities director example responsibilities.

Manage updated JCC social media, including Facebook.
Manage pet therapy/pat visitation protocol.
Attend interdisciplinary care plan meetings and document in MDS and resident medical records as appropriate.
Plan, organize, and run the afterschool
Create reports, handouts, and PowerPoint presentations.
Assist teachers with reading and mathematics lessons and activities.

Life enrichment director vs activities director skills

Common life enrichment director skills

Customer Service, 14%
Independent Living, 12%
Rehabilitation, 11%
Community Events, 11%
Term Care, 10%
Social Work, 4%

Common activities director skills

Patients, 15%
Rehabilitation, 10%
Resident Care, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
Home Health, 7%
MDS, 6%

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Life Enrichment Director vs Activities Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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