Easy to Do Craft 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,


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


Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

This craft about color is easy to do for people of many different abilities. People with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias have many different strengths and weaknesses so this activity will allow them to make something creative and festive.

This craft uses scrunched up pieces of tissue, news, construction or any scrap paper glued to a paper form. This is a simple activity that offers lots of practice using fine motor skills that those, with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, may still be intact.
It also is good because most folks with many different disabilities can still rip up paper. Some people with dementia actually enjoy this because it seems to sooth them.

You will need: paper stock, a paper plate, or cardboard for the form, tissue paper, newspaper, construction paper or scrap paper to be scrunched and glued to the form,  glue, safety scissors to cut the form and ribbon to use to hang up the craft if you so choose

What you do: Cut the inner circle out of a paper plate, leaving an outer ring. Or cut a shape such as a heart out of cardstock or cardboard. You may have to help with this first step.

Have the participants rip the soft paper into approximately 2”x3” pieces. The size is not that important. You may have to experiment to see how easily the group member(s) can scrunch the paper.

Let them scrunch up each piece of paper, and you can have them sort the paper if they are able.

Pour some glue on a paper plate. Now ask one or more participants to dip the paper into the glue and stick it onto the form. Make sure they only use small amounts of glue. Have the gluers hold each piece of paper down for a couple of seconds until the glue starts to set. 

Alternately you can put drops of glue on the form and have the gluers stick the ripped soft paper in the glue on the form. You can use colored glue so they can see it easier or have the form another color besides white so the glue can be seen easier.

Try to have the ripped scrunched paper cover the entire front plate of the form so that the plate is no longer visible. The participants can use different colors or types of paper in a random arrangement and make any sort of pattern they like.

Put the finished form on a piece of wax paper to dry for several hours or overnight.

Staple a piece of ribbon on the back of the completed form at the top so that you can hang the decoration.

You can have each person make his own decoration or you can give each participant a job depending on their strengths.

For example: you can have rippers, scrunchers and gluers. You can work on this craft in several sessions. You can let the participants do what they can and have you or someone else finish what they cannot complete when the forms are drying.

You can have music in the background as the group members are working on the craft. Then have a discussion about the holiday or event you are making the decorations for.

A great activity for men with dementia

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

This a great activity for men who may exhibit problem behavior. However i have found women who can be engaged for an hour with this.

It is building,   things with pvc piping and the tees, couplings and elbows that go along with them. It is best to use 3/4 inch or 1 inche pvc  piping.

You can buy 10 foot lengths of the pvc. An employee at the store or a maintenance person can cut the pipe into 3 to 4 inch segments. The pipe segments may have to be sanded. If they are not too jagged, sanding the pieces can be an activity.

If you determine that someone might get hurt sanding, then have an employee do it.

When the pieces are ready to use, put them in a container, and let one or more residents build something.

CARD GAMES 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,


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


Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Before you begin to design or use an activity with persons with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia, it is of the utmost importance that you know their likes and dislikes. You should know their strengths and weaknesses. Also helpful is knowledge of the persons’ past life and experiences.

Here are several activities that can be done independently or in small groups with most, early to mid-stage, dementia folks

These activities use a deck of playing cards and are especially good for persons who love numbers, have worked with numbers, relate to numbers, like to play cards, or have played cards in the past.

SORTING the cards: by suit, odd and even numbers, by colors or any original way that might be thought of

A lower functioning dementia person might enjoy counting a group of cards. Somehow just touching and looking at the cards bring back pleasant memories

MATCHING-you will need two decks of cards

Give the dementia person a number of playing cards(more for those with early dementia. Two cards for those with significant memory challenges)

Then show him a card. See if he can pick the matching card.

You can see if (s)he can match a sequence of cards.

Here is another game needing two decks of cards. You will need several people playing to have the most fun. Pass out four cards(more for those with early dementia, less for those with significant memory challenges) to each person playing. Keep the cards face up Pick a card from the second deck. Whoever has that card, will turn the card face down. The first person to turn all their cards over is the winner. You can also play a community game where there is no winner.

PICKING a number(s) of the day or week-Start small-pick only one number. Relate the number to something significant-for example if 2 is picked say: We can remember 2 because we have 2 eyes, arms etc.

Then when asking them to recall the number periodically throughout the day. Say: It is the number of eyes you have.

Some may remember the number without the cue. Some may not remember the number but know that a person has 2 eyes.

Either way connections are being made in the brain to replace the ones that have been lost.

PLAY SIMPLE CARD GAMES

Here are a few suggestions

War, Crazy eights, Old Maid (take 3 of the queens out of the deck), Go Fish, Twenty-one, or make up a game.

This is the perfect opportunity to get children involved. Dementia folks love children.

However, the children should be educated about dementia.

No matter what games you play or exercises you do, remember to put a positive spin on everything. Have meaningful dialog throughout the sessions. Conversation is extremely important for the memory challenged person. Also place the emphasis on fun.

Many books have been written about preventing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. They strongly suggest keeping the mind active. If a person already has memory challenges it is equally if not more important that (s)he keep (her)his active.

Using a deck of cards is an easy way to help the minds of those with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia, stimulated.

Doing this will slow the mental decline associated with the disease process 

Action alert:Nursing Home Alzheimer's Care

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 twoFollow alzheimersideas on twitter


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

Alzheimer's Association


Action Alert

Nursing Home Alzheimer's Care

Bill 3947, An Act relative to dementia Special Care Units (SCU) in long-term care facilities is poised for a vote in the State House of Representatives. We want to be sure that it reaches the floor of the House ... AND PASSES.   

Please contact your state representative and ask him or her to support the quality care that people with Alzheimer's and their families deserve.

Your call will make a difference.

Thank you.


Look up your state legislators 

Making a word search

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


To make a word search draw a grid that has room for 20 letters across and 20 letters down. Have those who are able, write the words in the grid either horizontally, vertically or to make it challenging, they can write the letters diagonally or back words. Then have the participants fill in the blank spaces with random letters. Now you can make copies of a few of the word searches and hand them out for everyone to solve as a group or individual activity.

Natiomal Nursing Home Week 2012

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]

AHCA

Celebrating the Journey is the theme for National Nursing Home Week® 2012.

Throughout the week, skilled nursing care centers nationwide will plan events to

honor the lives — and milestones — of the people they care for and the staff who

serve them.

Celebrating the Journey reminds us that every life should be honored, every life’s

story needs to be told and that every day we have the chance to begin writing

a new chapter. Whether the day is filled with comedy or drama, nursing home

residents and caregivers are co-authors and leading characters in each other’s

life story.

Today is about living life to the fullest, irrespective of age, infirmity or disability.

There is no fixed formula to follow or guide the process, just the quiet routines

of daily caregiving, meals, activities and, let’s hope, visits from family and

friends. They bring the joy that comes from the heart of a loved one.

Our goal in Celebrating the Journey is for you, the resident, to feel satisfied at the

end of each day that staff cared for you and about you – not just as a patients,

but as a person with stories to tell and new chapters yet to write. That’s because

tomorrow the journey begins anew and we journey together, me and you.

The Monarch butterfly, an intrepid traveler if ever there was one, symbolizes

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous sentiment that “Life is a journey, not a

destination.” This Planning Guide features the Monarch taking wing this spring,

as it does throughout the summer and fall. Together, let us watch the butterflies

flutter by, listen to the wind chimes and enjoy our journey.


For more ideas check out 

• NNHW webpage: http://www.ahcancal.org/events/national_nursing_home_week/Pages/default.aspx
• NNHW products: http://www.ahcapublications.org/SearchResults.asp?Cat=57
• NNHW Planning Guide and Product Catalog: http://www.ahcancal.org/events/national_nursing_home_week/Documents/NNHWeb.pdf

Best Wishes,

Television services for your group

Activities directors, health care professionals and others responsible for providing entertainment and television services to their patients’ clients or residents, here is some information you will find most useful.

There are just so many options when it comes to picking a television service provider. You can bundle television with other services like telephone and internet. But what if you just want to get the best television stations out there? What if you do not need the other services? Direct.tv might be just what you are looking for.

If you are working in a long term care facility or have a number of clients that you are responsible for, you will want to get them involved in the decision making process. You will want to know their likes and dislikes when it comes to television stations. You will want to know if your target audience likes sports, movies, regular programming, family shows, game shows or a combination of these.

Of course you have to consider the budget you have to provide the best television experience possible. Think about dx3 direct tv . I think you will get the most options for the money. I could go on and on, but the decision is yours, your clients or residents and perhaps your boss’s decision. The wise choice is www.dx3.net  

How to honor people

Activities directors, health care professionals and other organization leaders, here is some information you will find useful.

It is that time of year. It is time to honor the many workers at your company that have gone above and beyond what is expected of them.

Last month included National Volunteer Week. This month includes National Nurses Week which starts on May 6^th. The following week is National Nursing Home Week. It starts on Mother’s Day which is May 13^th. Also we cannot forget our veterans. Memorial Day is at the end of May.

All these occasions lend themselves to honoring, staff, residents and clients alike. Are you at a loss of how to honor these people? One excellent way is to get trophies for them. It is hard to pick a gift that most people will appreciate... However a trophy is the perfect way to remind people that you think they are special and worthy of recognition. Employee awards that are elegant trophies are sure to dazzle not only the recipient, but also others who see the award.

Crystal awards are especially elegant especially if you get them personalized with engraving which many companies offer for free. So remember all those worthy of recognition this May.  

Study Finds Accreditation Improves Safety Culture at Nursing Homes

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]

Research appears in May issue of Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety

(OAK BROOK, Ill. – Accredited nursing homes report a stronger resident safety culture than nonaccredited facilities, according to a new study published in the May 2012 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.

The study shows that senior managers at more than 4,000 facilities across the U.S. identify Joint Commission accreditation as a positive influence on patient safety issues such as staffing, teamwork, training, nonpunitive responses to mistakes, and communication openness. The findings that accreditation stimulates positive changes in safety-related organizational structures and processes are significant, given that few studies have examined the impact of Joint Commission accreditation in nursing homes.

The lead author of the study – Laura M. Wagner, Ph.D., R.N., an assistant professor at the New York University College of Nursing at the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing – notes that the research is “both timely and of great importance” given that senior managers, such as the nursing home administrators and directors of nursing who were surveyed, can greatly influence the culture of an organization.

“It has been suggested that the process of sustaining the level of standards compliance required for accreditation can create a safety-oriented culture within a facility, and our results appear to support this contention,” says Wagner. “Although there are costs associated with accreditation, these findings suggest that the benefits of voluntary accreditation may ultimately outweigh the extra costs.  ”

This is the second study by Wagner and her co-authors, Shawna M. McDonald, M.Sc., and Nicholas G. Castle, Ph.D., that demonstrates the benefits of Joint Commission accreditation for long term care organizations and their residents. The article “Impact of Voluntary Accreditation on Deficiency Citations in U.S. Nursing Homes,” which appeared in the March 5 issue of the journal The 

Gerontologist showed that Joint Commission accredited long term care facilities had fewer survey deficiency citations than nonaccredited facilities. A forthcoming study by Wagner and her co-authors to be published in the journal Policy, Politics & Nursing Practice shows that Joint Commission accredited long term care organizations also had better resident outcomes which continued to improve over time. The article will appear online April 25.

The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, published monthly by Joint Commission Resources, features peer-reviewed research and case studies on improving quality and safety in health care organizations.  To subscribe to The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, please call JCR Customer Service toll-free at800.746.6578, or visit www.jcrinc.com.