The Whys of Wandering for those with Dementia

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


Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,


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Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be


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The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

HealthDay News) -- Wandering is a common but dangerous symptom of Alzheimer's disease - a degenerative disease of the brain that affects memory and cognition.

Alzheimer's patients may suddenly walk off and become lost, frightened and confused about where they are, and many do not even know where they are trying to go. Since many of these people can't identify themselves or where they live, wandering in unconfined and unsecured areas can be very dangerous.

Disorientation, medication, stress, fear or anxiety, and restlessness may all cause an Alzheimer's patient to wander.

To keep patients safe and minimize wandering, the Alzheimer's Association of Los Angeles offers these suggestions:

• Make sure the patient is always comfortable and doesn't need to use the restroom and isn't hungry or thirsty.
• Try to make sure he receives regular exercise and activity to reduce restlessness and boredom. If he is still capable, let the patient help with daily chores like laundry or light cooking or housekeeping.
• Tell the person often that you are there to help him, and make sure he understands he doesn't need to be anywhere but right where he is.
• Keep the environment quiet and relaxing -- avoid noise and confusion that may frighten the patient into trying to scamper away.
• If possible, keep doors locked and secured to prevent wandering into the street and getting lost.
• Devise a plan of action in the event the patient does become lost -- keep current information on hand, like height and weight, and a recent photograph.

Also, keep a list of places where the person has wandered previously, or places he used to frequent that he may be trying to find.

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Care Fact:

In middle stages, 60% of people with dementia wander

Art program helps Prairie View Gardens residents with Alzheimer’s express, communicate, remember

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


Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,


Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire




Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be


Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two


Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

Kearneyhub

Memories in the Making, a new fine arts program at Prairie View Gardens, provides residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia a way to unlock memories through art, Activity Director Jessica Dierfeldt said. 

“Memories in the Making is a program that preserves a memory for someone with Alzheimer’s. It lets them express themselves and share something they may not be able to get out otherwise.” 

The program began at Prairie View Gardens about two months ago. Every other Tuesday, Dierfeldt works with a group of residents to creatively communicate important memories.  

“We give them a theme and they draw things that they remember,” she said. 

The themes range from Thanksgiving dinner to first movies to favorite shoes. The theme for the next session will be flowers. 

Participants draw out anything they remember relating to the theme and then paint their works with watercolor. 

Dierfeldt said the activity has been popular with residents.

“Their faces just light up. One resident in particular doesn’t talk much and doesn’t get very involved in other activities, but she loves this. When we did first movies, she drew a scene from ‘Gone With the Wind.’”

Dierfeldt recalled another resident drawing a Husker football game in response to the Thanksgiving dinner theme. No matter what the theme, Dierfeldt said, the program helps residents with Alzheimer’s use creativity to communicate a memory that may be lost, but not forgotten. 

“Some of these things they haven’t talked about in a long time, so to have that memory come back is really special and we can actually start to have a conversation with them,” she said. “A lot of times the words are there, they just can’t get them out.”

She added that the residents don’t need an art background to take part, but she has found that some of the participants have undiscovered art skills. 

“I think this has helped us engage with them in a way we don’t normally get to.” 

Dierfeldt hopes to eventually pair up program participants with artists in the community who will paint their own versions of each theme and then have a Memories in the Making art show. 

She said she plans to continue in the Making for as long as possible. 

“We are seeing so many benefits. I think that when they are able to put that memory on paper, they end up keeping it with them.”

National Volunteer Week: Sample Letter to the Editor

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


Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,


Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire




Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be


Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two


Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

[ORGANIZATION NAME] Announces Recognition Plans for 2012 National Volunteer Week

Local Volunteers Encouraged to Celebrate Power of Volunteerism During National

Volunteer Week

[CITY/STATE, MONTH DAY, 2012 – ORGANIZATION NAME, ORGANIZATION

DESCRIPTION], today announced plans to celebrate National Volunteer Week, a time dedicated to demonstrating to the nation that by working together, we have the fortitude to meet our challenges and accomplish our goals.

National Volunteer Week, April 15-21, is about taking action and encouraging individuals and their respective communities to be at the center of social change discovering and actively demonstrating their collective power to foster positive transformation.

The volunteers at ORGANIZATION NAME have helped us to meet our challenges and have actively given our residents a higher quality of life by helping them in so many ways.

We will be honoring our volunteers on XXX by XXX