Beyond Bingo: Meaningful Activities for Persons with Dementia in Nursing Homes (part 7)

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

Here is a dementia Thanksgiving activity

Annals of Long Term Care

Marianne Smith, PhD, ARNP, BC, Ann Kolanowski, PhD, RN, FAAN, Linda L. Buettner,
PhD, LRT, CTRS, and Kathleen C. Buckwalter, PhD, RN, FAAN

Psychosocial Club–Based

A wide variety of “club-based” activities may be developed to address topics of interest: birds, bowling, cars, golfing, weather, needlecrafts, and fashion, among others.7 Club-based programs engage residents in small-group socialization, discussion, and activity engagement around the club theme, and are used to reduce depression, social isolation, passivity, sensory deprivation, restlessness, and wandering. Meetings are held once or twice per week for 30-45 minutes (depending on the club and its specific activities) and are led by a recreational therapist, nurse, or other healthcare professional. For example, Jewelry Club members are given a jewelry box filled with costume jewelry to sort through, rearrange, organize, or try on. Discussion cues are used to enhance socialization and interaction (eg, “Did you have a locket? Whose picture did you keep in it?”). As with all protocols, involvement in club-based activities is guided by residents’ individualized interests and preferences.

Nurturing

Another important group of interventions engages residents in caring or nurturing behaviors. Animal-assisted methods, including both Animal-Assisted Activities (AAAs) and Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT), may contribute to well-being among residents but have different goals.7 Animal-Assisted Activities may be conducted by volunteers and largely involve visiting interested residents who enjoy animals (or the specific type of pet visitor). The exchange may have social, motivational, educational, or recreational benefits20 but does target a specific outcome and is not documented as a part of the person’s care.

In contrast, AAT is directed by a healthcare professional, interactions with animals have specific therapeutic goals, and outcomes of the intervention are documented in the resident’s chart. Each AAT visit involves three main components: (1) the approach, in which visual and verbal contact is made between the animal and resident, and the resident is invited to work with the animal; (2) the process, in which the animal-resident interaction is focused on meeting identified therapeutic goals; and (3) the closure, in which the resident rewards the animal, accomplishments are reviewed, the next session is planned, and goodbyes are said.7 Therapy animals are commonly provided by pet-handler teams, such as those registered by the Delta Society Pet Partners program.20 Potential benefits of AAT include increased communication, better attention to task, and improved self-esteem, confidence, and mood,20 as well as increased motivation and/or calming effects and reduced loneliness.7

Coming up....Teamwork: Making It Work