Bingo as an Educational Game

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More on bingo

Bingo is a Fun Game that Most Everyone Knows How to Play. Now is it Also a Great Learning Tool
Why is Bingo such a great educational tool to use?

1. BINGO IS EASY TO MAKE. I have Bingo playing cards already printed out so that I can quickly grab them, add the information and we can be ready to play in no time at all. Several web sites have printable Bingo playing cards. However, I have found that I prefer my own. I make them in three forms:

a. The traditional 25 space card that we are all familiar with. This is good for times when the information being put on the spaces is not too large.

b. A 16 space card (four rows of four spaces in each row). This is a form to use when there is more information to be placed in each space or when larger pictures are being put in the spaces.

c. A 9 space card (three rows of three spaces in each row). This is a good form for introducing young children to Bingo. Since the card is simpler it is easier for them to find the proper space to mark.

And yes, I do on some games make a FREE SPACE in the center. Again, this depends on how much information I have to put on the card and how many spaces I need to use.

2. BINGO CAN BE PLAYED WITH ANY NUMBER OF PLAYERS. Bingo works wonderful in large and small groups, so it is good for the home school family as well as for use in a classroom. Just create enough playing cards (each one should have the information arranged differently on the cards) and away you go.


3. THE WINNER IS BASED ON LUCK, NOT ABILITY. Since the luck of having the right spaces on the playing card determines the winner rather than a greater ability, or knowledge, players of differing abilities can all play together. This is especially good for the home school family. The whole family can play together and the three year old (who gets assistance) has just as much chance of winning the game as his 13 year old sibling. Older children can play for the review of a skill, the middle child is getting the drill he needs to master the skill and the younger children are getting introduced to the skill.


4. ALMOST ANY SKILL CAN BE PUT ON A BINGO GAME. From beginning phonics and counting to telling time, counting coins, identifying dog breeds, drilling Spanish words, math facts, history, geography, and on and on.



Associated Content

Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy (part 5)

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A Place for Mom

“[Music therapy] is not going to change the course of the disease,” cautions Hanser, “but it will allow the person to temporarily engage and be much more capable of communicating more clearly.”
Two Types of Music Therapy
Hanser and her more than 3,200 colleagues of the American Music Therapy Association practice two types of music therapy: active and passive. Familiar and, most importantly, likable, music elicits the best responses. For example, Big Band music motivated social interaction more than making a puzzle in one 1993 study, and another study that same year found playing music of a patient’s choosing six days a week reduced his or her agitation.
Music therapists work directly with family members, caregivers, and patients to find the best music for a desired goal of dementia therapy, such as to “improve memory,” “lower agitation,” or “improve cognitive skills.” According to Tomaino, music can be used mnemonically to “retune” the brain to remember certain tasks during early stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia. But in later stages, music is most helpful in maintaining motor skills. In all cases, music is known to reduce anxiety and stress while increasing attention, motivation, and focus.
Unlike passive music therapy, or simply listening to live or recorded music, active music therapy uses real instruments, such as drums, harps, harpsichords, or the voice, to engage a patient in play. Hanser once helped a man with Alzheimer’s and his wife..............read more of Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy, tomorrow

Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy (part 1)

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Hanser says that when we actively make music, as opposed to passively listening to it, we activate another part of the brain that controls balance and movement—the cerebellum—in addition to cognitive and limbic areas. “Music therapists may begin with passive listening but soon we engage the person so there’s more parts of the body involved,” she says.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s now affects more than 5.3 million Americans. For those who suffer from its progression, a number that doubles every fives years among seniors according to The National Institute on Aging, music can not only be a pleasant link to the past, but a nourishing connection to the present.
“Family members who every day see losses and degeneration first hand need some kind of hope, need to see there are ways to access the human being they loved,” says Hanser. “For a caregiver or family member to dance or sing with that person brings them much more a sense that there is [someone] within the shell the disease has caused.”
A Cross-Cultural Language
I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.
—Billy Joel
Some say math is the language of the universe, but on earth it is music. Bone flutes, jaw harps, and percussive instruments were already being used more than 30,000 years ago to express qualities of human experience. Music, like food, is central to virtually every culture on earth, and in fact might be considered a type of food for the brain. Ancient Greeks believed music’s mathematic progressions and its harmonic qualities, ratios, and scales made for a better mind, so its study was required as part of a good education.
The modern method of using music to heal, called “music therapy,” was born after World War II when physicians and nurses in veterans hospitals noticed their patients improved after listening to music. Today, more than seventy music therapy programs are accredited in the United States by the American Music Therapy Association, which defines music therapy as “the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship…” Whereas words are the psychotherapist’s medium, music is the medium of the music therapist, who is typically a trained musician.
“[Music therapy] is not going to change the course of the disease,” cautions Hanser, “but it will allow read more of Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy, tomorrow

Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy (part 3)

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In a small 1986 study, only music elicited a physical response from those with final-stage Alzheimer’s as measured in heart rate, breathing, eye blinking, and mouth movement. A later study that used music in palliative care found the combination of language, which is processed by one part of the brain, and music, processed by many parts of the brain, increases the chance of activating neurological pathways that language alone cannot.
“There are certain areas of the brain that are still relatively intact even as a progressive disease like Alzheimer’s takes effect,” says Suzanne Hanser, PhD, department chair of music therapy at Berklee College of Music in Boston and former program director of San Francisco’s Alzheimer’s Association. “In particular, the limbic system. And specifically, the hippocampus, which retains long-term memory and has retained emotional impact. Music triggers these long-term memories. So we see people who have not spoken in years begin to sing songs that they knew in their early teens and early adulthood.”
Hanser says that when....read more of Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy, tomorrow

Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy (part 2)

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Tomaino and other researchers have found a strong connection between the human brain’s auditory cortex and its limbic system, where emotions are processed. “This biological link makes it possible for sound to be processed almost immediately by the areas of the brain that are associated with long-term memory and the emotions,” she says.
The Institute for Music and Neurologic Function was founded on Tomaino’s observations, together with those of noted neurologist and colleague Dr. Oliver Sacks and others, that many people with neurological damage learned to move better, remember more, and even regain speech through listening to and playing music. In numerous clinical studies of older adults with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, familiar and likable music, not medication, has reduced depression; lessened agitation increased sociability, movement, and cognitive ability; and decreased problem behaviors.
In a small 1986 study, only music elicited a physical response from those with.....read more of Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy, tomorrow

Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy (part 1)

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The man had not spoken in three or four years. An older man in the late stages of Alzheimer’s, he could no longer care for himself and required a high level of assistance in his daily activities of living.
But on one particular day, Concetta Tomaino, DA, a certified music therapist, offered a different kind of dementia therapy—she sang an old Yiddish song to him and some of her other patients. “You could tell by his face that he was watching,” recalls Tomaino. From a man in his condition, attention was a lot to ask for. “Whenever I got a chance I played this song to him and sang to him. Within a month of doing this, he was making an attempt to speak, and he eventually started singing the song himself. He also started talking again. He continued talking and lived for many years after that.”

The Brain and Music
Just how the brain and body process music remains mysterious. Tomaino, director of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function at Beth Abraham Family of Health Services in New York, says we at least know music is processed on many levels at once.
“Why it’s so positive is that we process music with almost every part of our brain,” she says. “Music that has personal significance to someone or is connected with historical events is a strong stimulus to engage responses in people, even in late stages of dementia. Even if they’re not necessarily able to tell you what the song is, they are able to be moved and feel the associations.”
Tomaino and other researchers have found..... ..read more of Music and the Mind: A Different Kind of Dementia Therapy, tomorrow

Dementia Sufferers may Be Helped by Music Therapy

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MedInda.com

Australian researchers have revealed in a new study that dementia sufferers may be helped by music therapy.

Dr Felicity Baker, a senior lecturer from the University of Queensland (UQ) School of Music, is looking to conduct a study of 100 volunteer couples who will allow music therapists to visit their homes and show how to use music to increase communications.


"Thousands of people care for partners with dementia and take on a lot of burden, which means they are more prone to anxiety and depression," Dr Baker said. "The idea of my project is ... to tap into the memories of people with dementia as a way of sharing positive experiences and trying to maintain some level of satisfaction with the relationship."

They theorize that people whose memories are failing may be able to recall certain things if they hear a song from their youth.

Yjank you for Dementia Sufferers may Be Helped by Music Therapy

MUSIC AND QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG NURSING HOME RESIDENTS WITH DEMENTIA )PART 2)

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MARTIN GIZZI, MD, PHDCHAIRMAN, NJ NEUROSCIENCE INSTITUTE AT JFK MEDICAL CENTERPROFESSOR AND CHAIRMAN, DEPARTMENT OF NEUROSCIENCE, SETON HALL UNIVERSITYPRESIDENT, MUSIC FOR ALL SEASONS MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD

Mr. Dallow is a composer and pianistand is the co-founder of two orchestras, the New York Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and thePhilharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey.The New Jersey Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center is a comprehensive facilitydesigned exclusively for the diagnosis, treatment, and research of complex neurological andneurosurgical disorders in adults and children. Services offered at the Institute include programs in minimally-invasive and reconstructive spine surgery, peripheral nerve surgery, brain tumors,dizziness and balance disorders, epilepsy, sleep, memory problems/dementia, cerebral palsy,stroke, and spasticity and movement disorders.

As a department of Seton Hall University'sSchool of Graduate Medical Education, NJNI serves as the clinical setting for SHU's residencytraining in neurology. Martin Gizzi, MD, PhD is Professor and Chairman of Neuroscience at Seton Hall UniversitySchool of Graduate Medical Education, Chairman of the NJ Neuroscience Institute, andPresident of the Medical Advisory Board of MFAS. He holds a PhD in experimental psychology,an MD and is a board certified neurologist. He has been a prolific researcher, securing grantsfrom the National Institutes of Health and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. His research with NASA led to several experiments performed on board the space shuttle.Project design and resultsFor this project, MFAS provided live, interactive music performances at a long-term carefacility.

23 patients with diagnoses of dementia were enrolled with appropriate consent. Stafftracked the number of falls, number of times sedating medication was given and quality of lifeusing the Quality of Life in Dementia (QOLID) scale. QOLID was developed in 1988(Alexopoulos et al, 1988a,b) and has been extensively validated in populations with dementia(Brod et al, 1999; Logsdon et al, 1999 and Ready et al, 2002).

The current study used a repeated measures design, testing subjects before and after two live music performances given six weeksapart. Each set of measures was taken at two-week intervals.The principal result was a measured increase in quality of life as measured by the QOLID.Scores increased significantly following each performance, and maintained this increase for aslong as six weeks. The effect was highly significant (F (5, 105) = 4.12, p = .002).

There was atrend for the use of sedating medications to fall in the two-week period following each

performance; however, because the overall use was so low there was not a signficiant effect (F(5,105) <1, p=.84).

Similarly there was a trend of decline in the number of falls in the two-weekperiod following each performance, but the effect was not significant (F (5, 105) <1, p = .5).The results strongly support the value of live musical performances in facilities that care forpatients with dementia and speak directly to the mission of Music For All Seasons.

The non-significant trends suggest that larger studies would be helpful in documenting decreased risk anddecreased medical expenses for patients attending regular musical performances.

It is our intentto repeat the study with a larger sample and using a control population rather than a repeatedmeasures design.

REFERENCESAbsher J and Cummings J. Noncognitive behavioral alterations in dementia syndromes.In Handbook of Neuropsychology. F Boller and J Grafman (Eds), 1993, pp. 315-338,Elsevier,

Amsterdam.Alexopoulos G, Abrams R, Young R et al. Use of the Cornell Scale in nondementedpatients. J Amer Geriatr Soc 1988a; 36:230-236.Alexopoulos G, Abrams R, Young R et al. Cornell Scale for depression in dementia. BiolPsychiat 1988b; 23:271-284.Aragon D,

Farris C and Byers J. The effects of harp music in vascular and thoracicsurgical patients. Altern Ther Health Med 2002; 8:52-54.Boller F and Duyckaerts C. Alzheimer disease: clinical and anatomic aspects. InBehavioral Neurology and Neuropsychology. T Feinberg and M Farah (Eds), 1997, pp.521-544, McGraw-Hill, New York.Brod M, Stewar A, Sands L et al.

Conceptualization and measurement of quality of lifein dementia: The dementia quality of life instrument (DQoL). Gerontologist 1999; 39:25-35.Clark M, Lipe A and Bilbrey M.

Use of music to decrease aggressive behaviors inpeople with dementia. J Gerontol Nursing 1998; 24:10-17.Cummings J.

Depression and Parkinson’s disease: A review. Am J Psychiatry 1992;149:443-445.Gotell E, Brown S and Ekman S. Caregiver singing and background music in dementiacare. West J Nurs Res 2002; 24:195-216.Gregory D.

Music listening for maintaining attention of older adults with cognitiveimpairments. J Music Ther 2002; 39:244-264.

4Hebert M, Parlato V, Lese G et al. Survival in institutionalized patients: Influence ofdementia and loss of function capacities. Arch Neurol 1995; 52:469-475.Konlaan B, Bjorby N, Bygren et al.

Attendance at cultural events and physical exerciseand health: a randomized controlled study. Public Health 2000; 114:316-319.Logsdon R, Gibbons L, McCurry S et al.

Quality of life in Alzheimer’s disease: Patientand caregiver reports. J Mental Health Aging 1999; 5:21-32.Moretti R, Torre P, Antonello R, Cazzato G and Bava A.

Depression and Alzheimer’sdisease: symptom or comorbidity? Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen 2002; 17:338-344.Myskja A and Lindbaek M.

Examples of the use of music in clinical medicine. TidsskrNor Laegeforen 2000; 120:1186-1190.Ragneskog H, Asplund K, Kihlgren M and Norberg A.

Individualized music played foragitated patients with dementia: analysis of video-recorded sessions. Int J Nurs Pract2001; 7:146-155.Ready R, Ott B, Grace J et al.

The Cornell-Brown scale for quality of life in dementia.Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 2002; 16:109-115.

Remington R. Calming music and hand massage with agitated elderly. Nurs Res 2002;51:317-323.Zimmerman S, Gruber-Baldini A, Hebel J, Sloane P and Magaziner J.

Nursing home facility risk factors for infection and hospitalization: importance of registered nurseturnover, administration and social factors. J AM Geriatr Soc 2002; 50:1987-1995.

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MUSIC AND QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG NURSING HOME RESIDENTS WITH DEMENTIA )PART 1)

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MARTIN GIZZI, MD, PHDCHAIRMAN, NJ NEUROSCIENCE INSTITUTE AT JFK MEDICAL CENTERPROFESSOR AND CHAIRMAN, DEPARTMENT OF NEUROSCIENCE, SETON HALL UNIVERSITYPRESIDENT, MUSIC FOR ALL SEASONS MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD

Dementia is an enormous public health issue, affecting 13-15 million Americans and at least halfof residents in long-term care facilities have dementia. Quality of life issues for this populationare varied but uniformly include the non-cognitive issues of apathy, depression, agitation, sleepdifficulties, loss of autonomy and social isolation. It has been said that “patients withAlzheimer’s disease do not die of the disease, they die with it from some other cause” (Boller andDuyckaerts, 1997).

Across the spectrum of dementing illnesses from vascular dementia to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, depression is both a manifestation of the dementingprocess (Cummings, 1992) and the consequence of social isolation. In the view of someinvestigators, depression itself may be responsible for the precipitous declines in clinical course(Absher and Cummings, 1993). The consequences of agitation and sleep difficulties may also be dramatic. The need for sedatingmedications during the daytime leads to poorer social interaction and exacerbates a reversal ofthe sleep-wake cycle. Demented patients, already inclined to increasing disorientation after nightfall, will be more alert and agitated following a day during which sedatives have been used.This, in turn, leads to a greater use of hypnotics at bedtime, contributing to the steady declineinto the vegetative stage of many dementias.The medical benefits of musicThe use of music in dementia has extended into multiple areas involving both the cognitive andnon-cognitive aspects of the condition.

Go tell et al (2002) have identified increased verbalcomprehension among demented patients exposed to singing. Gregory (2002) induced highermeasures of attentional ability in adults with cognitive impairments following weekly musicsessions. Clark et al (1998) saw reductions in 12 or 15 identified aggressive behaviors in a long-term care population with dementia during and following exposure to music. Music has alsobeen documented to reduce agitation among elderly (Remington, 2002) and demented(Ragneskog et al, 2001) residents of long-term care facilities.

Music For All Seasons (MFAS) is a not-for-profit organization that brings, live, interactivemusic performances to audiences in long-term care facilities, medical centers and other facilities.The organization operates on the principle that music serves a healing purpose as well asimproving cultural awareness and social connectedness.Brian Dallow is the co-founder and Executive Director of Music For All Seasons, which he andhis wife, Artistic Director Rena Fruchter, created in 1991.

Mr. Dallow studied at the Royal College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, the London School of Economics, BrandeisUniversity, and Rutgers University. He holds degrees in performance, composition and theory,and musicology. In addition to Music For All Seasons,

Mr. Dallow is a composer and pianistand is the co-founder of two orchestras, the New York Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and thePhilharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey.The New Jersey Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center is a comprehensive facilitydesigned exclusively for the diagnosis, treatment, and research of complex neurological andneurosurgical disorders in adults and children. Services offered at the Institute include programs in.......read all about MUSIC AND QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG NURSING HOME RESIDENTS WITH DEMENTIA and come back here for more great information

Music Therapy for Parkinson's and Dementia

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Caregiver.on.ca

Music therapy holds so many promises for so many types of diseases, not only for memory loss but also for working with people who have movement disorders, especially Parkinson's.


Research at Beth Abraham Hospital shows that "Parkinson's Disease patients regain some ability to organize and perform movements that were lost due to the disease. Not just any melody will do. The music must evoke a response in each patient, which is used by Tomaino to help the patient enact a specific physiological movement, such as walking. For the patient to move physically, the rhythm must be stimulating and the music familiar enough to allow for carry-over outside the music therapy session."


Michael Thaut, AoA Grant Project Director of Colorado State University, in the bulletin on the White House Mini-Conference on Aging and Music Therapy, 1994, states: "The results of this study impact neurological rehabilitation because they demonstrate that particular elements of music have a specific effect on motor systems. After three weeks, the patients with Parkinson's disease demonstrated longer stride length and improved gait velocity by an average of 25 per cent. These data validate the effectiveness of auditory rhythm to improve gait through the rhythmic coupling of auditory and motor systems."


In working with persons who have dementia, certain cautions need to be taken, as certain types of music may cause agitation. Two example come to mind:

one psychologist told me that in his Alzheimer special care unit, their least successful "musical session" involved live bagpipe music: this session was not meant to be retreive memories (the audience had no special association with the music and therefore could not access long-term memories) but meant as more of a quality of life occasion, but the results were increased agitation and outbursts. Their most successful sessions (audience was relaxed and peaceful) were with classical music and hymns.
Be prepared that people may retrieve both positive and negative memories. Connie Tomaino of Beth Abraham told the story of the time she played a waltz to a women who broke out in sobs, only to find out later that the woman had been in a concentration camp (unknown to Connie at the time) and hearing waltz music was a traumatic event for her.

For those interested in learning more about the effects of music therapy on memory and gait, I would suggest contacting the National Association for Music Therapy at 301.598.3300. You can contact them for additional information on specific music research. Their brochure also lists specific federally funded studies and one of the responsibilities of the recipients is the dissemination of their study's results: many will have write-ups in brochures, booklets, books, magazines, etc.


Here is a partial list of recipients from the National Association for Music Therapy:

TITLE: Music Therapy for Alzheimer's and Dementia Individuals:
Recipient: University of Iowa, Kate Gfeller, School of Music 319.335.2611

TITLE: Music Therapy in Alzheimer's Disease
Recipient: University of Miami, Ted Tims 305.284.3943

TITLE: A Rhythmic Sensorimotor Music Therapy Program to Improve Gait Ability in Parkinsonian Patients and Healthy Elderly
Recipient: Colorado State University, Michael Thaut 303.491.7384

You may also want to contact the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function at 718.519.4164 and ask for their booklet "Music has Power" -- it is good write-up of the overall picture on the therapeutic benefits of music. They are also conducting research in five catorgories: music and hearing, music and language, music and memory, music and learning, and music and recovery from nerve injury.


Other comments about the use of music:
Rosemary Bakker Gerontologist/Interior Designer smartage@msn.com

The best type music? I have seen the best results with using the music
that was popular in the patient's "prime" time of life. That is if you have the luxury of knowing what the individual enjoyed. Our recreational therapist was familiar with our above mentioned gentleman and realized what he needed. Some good old fashioned swing music was wonderful. For a 50-year-old patient, R&B might do the trick. Soft, or "elevator music" is never inappropriate. Most older patients, especially here in the Bible Belt, respond well to instrumental hymns and spirituals.


Poor choices would obviously be rock, jazz, polkas, lively spirited songs and oddly enough patriotic music (especially with veterans). You want to avoid "getting the juices flowing,"' so to speak.

More music activities that are good for a dementia person.

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Dementia Today

Here are more reasons why music brings about many positive interactions.

Almost non-verbal persons with dementia will sing many of the words to a favorite song.

Singing is good for the lungs of a person with dementia.

Singing songs will probably bring back happy memories and open the door for many meaningful discussions

Musical Excitement

You can have a sing along with audio or video tapes if you feel you need them. You can actually play the music while you are doing something else. But make sure to check on the dementia person periodically to renew his/her interest if necessary

More next time

Remember to leave your comments and questions

Music activities are good for a dementia person.

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information
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Dementia Today

Music is a powerful tool when it comes to interacting with a person who has Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.

There are so many reasons why music brings about many positive interactions.

Memories of songs are automatic meaning you really do not
have to think about them. The words and melodies just pop into
your brain and the brain of dementia persons, automatically.

You can take advantage of this by just starting to sing a song you know is a favorite of theirs or is at least familiar to them.

You will see that if they enjoy music, even a little bit, they will start singing, humming or tapping their toes to the music.

Of course, as I stated in an earlier post, you must be animated and excited about the interaction.

Go to this post for a list of some familiar songs for those with dementia.

Alternately, go to sing along songs for those with dementia
More next time

A History of Celebrating Residents’ Rights Week

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NCCNHR

NCCNHR, The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care
invites you to honor residents of long-term care settings by celebrating Residents’ Rights Week, the first full week of October (October 4-10, 2009).

This is an opportunity to show tribute to residents as well as support ombudsmen, citizen advocates, facility staff and family members who work to promote and support residents’ rights. Setting aside a week to focus on rights is an effective way to make sure that this important topic is never forgotten in your community, facility or state.

Residents’ Rights Week is designated by NCCNHR each year to highlight residents living in all long-term care
settings.

It is a time to reflect on the importance of the Nursing Home Reform Law of 1987 that promises quality of life and care and rights for each resident. During this week NCCNHR also gives special recognition to the work of thousands of individuals who collaborate daily to help assure that dignity, privacy and other basic human rights - often taken for granted in the community - are maintained as an integral part of the lives of residents living in long-term care settings.

Residents’ Rights Week originated in 1981 at a NCCNHR annual meeting. Several nursing home residents in attendance from across the United States decided that it would be special for all residents if time were set aside to celebrate residents and their rights, separate from annual National Nursing Home Week events always held in May. NCCNHR organized a successful petition drive to persuade Congress to designate a "Residents’ Rights Day."

Senator Claude Pepper (D-FL) and Senator David Pryor (D-AR) responded by introducing a Congressional Resolution for that purpose.

Since 1980, NCCNHR has preserved this tradition of celebrating Residents’ Rights, although we have extended the designation to a full week so that facility staff, family members, community advocates and ombudsmen will have flexible opportunities to conduct educational programs and festive events.

Every year, numerous states and communities designate Residents’ Rights Week! Celebrations and activities take place all over the country and include rallies, parties, training events, and more!

Thank you for working to make Residents’ Rights Week special and meaningful for all involved. Please remember to share information about how you will be celebrating Residents’ Rights Week. NCCNHR would like to highlight these celebrations on our website.

If you have questions, please call us at (202) 332-2275 ext. 222.

How can enrollment in a hospice program help in late stage Alzheimer's?

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American Hospice Foundation

Unfortunately, patients with end-stage Alzheimer’s disease often receive burdensome medical interventions of questionable benefit and suffer from inadequately controlled symptoms. One study showed that, although end-stage Alzheimer’s patients have four to five times the mortality rate after pneumonia or hip fracture of those without dementia, they receive the same amount of painful procedures, including daily needle sticks for blood work, placement of intravenous catheters, and painful injections of medicines. In this same study, Alzheimer’s patients were more likely to undergo placement of catheters into the bladder and placement of feeding tubes through the nose or surgically through the abdomen than patients who were not demented. In spite of the fact that tube feeding has not been shown to prevent aspiration (contents of mouth or stomach go into the lung), prolong survival, reduce infections, improve functioning, or increase patient comfort, persons with advanced Alzheimer’s disease undergo placement of feeding tubes at alarming rates. Tube-fed patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementing illnesses typically die within a year, have increased lung infections, and show increased agitation requiring more use of physical restraints and sedation, which in turn results in more instances of painful skin breakdown.

Hospice and palliative care can help address these issues for patients and their families.

Hospice care typically addresses directly what studies have shown patients with serious illnesses want (Singer et al, JAMA 1999; 281(2), 163-168):

Pain and symptom control
Avoid inappropriate prolongation of the dying process
Achieve a sense of control
Relieve burdens on family
Strengthen relationships with loved ones
Hospice care also addresses what family members and caregivers want (Tolle et al, Oregon Report Card 1999; www.ohsu.edu/ethics):

Loved one’s wishes honored
Inclusion in decision processes
Support/assistance at home
Practical help (transportation, medicines, equipment)
Personal care needs (bathing, feeding, toileting)
Honest information
24/7 access
To be listened to
Privacy
To be remembered and contacted after the death
Hospices stress excellent management of pain and other distressing symptoms; use an interdisciplinary care team comprised of a physician, nurse, social worker, nurse’s aide, chaplain, and volunteer, to comprehensively address all sources of suffering; and develop an individualized care plan focused on the needs of the patient and family rather than on the disease.

When should I call hospice for my loved one with Alzheimer’s disease?

When your loved one can no longer care for him or herself and has lost the ability to walk independently, especially if you are feeling stressed from caregiving, ask hospice to evaluate your loved one for admission. Particularly when your loved one has begun having choking episodes, is losing weight, or has had fever and infections, it is likely time to ask hospice for help.

Validation Therapy Used in Dementia Care

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information
Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

eHow

Caring for a person with dementia is difficult. Knowing about dementia makes the job easier. Validation therapy helps a caregiver to take care of a dementia patient because it relies on the patient's feelings. Emotions are one of the last things to be lost in a person with dementia. Although not all aspects of validation therapy work for every person with dementia, understanding the concept of it is useful to the dementia caregiver.

Dementia

Dementia, a brain condition, is characterized by a group of symptoms that cause changes in the functioning of the brain. The changes have to do with thinking, perception and learning. These changes affect decision making, judgment, memory, spatial orientation, thinking, reasoning and communication. This condition interferes with daily life because of the seriousness of the changes in the brain. Behavior and personality problems most often occur. As we age, the likelihood of developing dementia increases. Validation therapy helps control problem behavior.

The Dementia Sufferer's Reality

Time, for a person with dementia, can be the present at one moment, the past at another and the future at another. Time has absolutely no continuity.
People with dementia know what they know at any given moment. Accepting the dementia world is difficult for caregivers. You cannot force those with dementia to accept the real world. Caregivers need to accept the dementia world. This makes their job much easier.
Dementia patients pick up on the feelings being expressed. For a caregiver it is how you say things, not what you say.

Validation Therapy

Naomi Feil, a social worker, designed validation therapy to help dementia sufferers. It relies on the patient's emotions. Feil reported in her book "The Validation Breakthrough" that after six months of using validation therapy once a week, persons with dementia showed improvement in eye contact, walking and behavior. Her theories explain why people with dementia behave the way they do.
History of Validation Therapy
Feil developed validation therapy between 1963 and 1980 for older people with cognitive impairments. Initially, this therapy did not include those with dementia. Applying validation therapy in dementia care occurred in the early 1980s. Validation therapy attracted a good deal of criticism from researchers. Many studies have been conducted over the years with no proof that it is effective in dementia care. Feil strongly believes that validation therapy works. Validation therapy in dementia care may work in your particular situation.
Principles of Validation Therapy
Validation therapy classifies individuals with cognitive impairment, or pre-dementia, in one of four stages. These stages are mal-orientation, time confusion, repetitive motion and vegetation.
The therapy is based on the general principle of validation and treating people who have dementia with genuine respect and legitimatizing the expression of their feelings.Treat each person with dementia as an individual. Even the most disoriented person has value. Improper behavior happens for a reason.
When more recent memory fails, people with dementia try to restore balance in their lives by retrieving earlier memories. Painful feelings that are expressed, acknowledged and validated by a trusted listener diminish. Painful feelings that are suppressed gain strength.
Empathy builds trust, reduces anxiety and restores dignity.
Caregiving With Validation
Some parts of validation therapy work for most people with dementia. You, as a caregiver, must discover what portions are effective for the person you are taking care of.

Here are some hints.

Never argue with a person who has dementia, because he believes what he is seeing and feeling is real. Logic does not work. Instead, agree with the individual with dementia. Then steer him to something else. In other words, refocus and redirect his feelings and actions.

This works best when you know the present interests of a person with dementia. Knowing what triggers bad behavior is also helpful. You must be a detective and a stretcher of the truth.

Here is an example: A person with dementia is asking to go home because he thinks that he left the front door open. You as a caregiver know this information is not true. Tell the dementia sufferer that you will call his niece to shut the front door. Then pretend to call the niece. If the dementia patient still insists on going home, tell him that we will right after we set the table and eat supper or another thing you know he will want to do. The trick is to nip agitated behavior in the bud before the dementia patient gets too upset and needs medication to calm him down.