More about activities and dementia

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

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

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


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

Crisisprevention.com

1. All activities, even unplanned ones, can be meaningful. Activities don’t have to fit in a box on a calendar or whiteboard, and they don’t have to be held at intentionally carved-out hourly intervals throughout the day. There are countless opportunities for activities often right beneath the noses of all dementia care unit staff. Making the bed. Meal time. Watering the plants. Tidying up the room. Each of these things, small and simple though they seem, can provide rich opportunities for engaging a resident who is perhaps not interested in bingo, movies, or other group activities.

2. Simplify your schedule, routine, and approach; always adapt. I always found that the simpler the activity, the better it was for everyone (including the activity director, who is nearly always pressed for time and resources). That doesn’t mean dumbing things down, it means stripping away the nonessentials and getting to the heart of what makes a successful activity: meaningful interactions and purposeful occupation. Want to host an afternoon tea? Great. Don’t burn yourself out trying to find the daintiest napkins, the prettiest tea service, or the most prestigious teas. Cups, spoons, tea, condiments, napkins, and scones are all you really need. Also, don’t try to set it all up on your own. Get the residents to help you prepare for the event so they feel a sense of ownership about the activity. Discover that no one in the group particularly likes tea? Don’t take it personally—just adapt—and bring out a pot of coffee.

3. Engage the residents. I remember walking through the halls of that first community where I served, arm-in-arm with one of the residents, who only spoke Spanish. We would have lovely conversations, even though I didn’t speak or understand Spanish. Consequently, she did most of the talking, but I listened actively. I did my best to match her emotions (if she frowned or looked angry when she spoke, I frowned too; if she seemed to be asking a question, I would nod or shake my head in agreement or support) so that she could feel comfortable about speaking freely. I think those walks may have been among the few times that she was really and truly engaged with anyone in the wing, and I was happy to foster that opportunity for her, even though “walking the halls with residents” wasn’t listed on my daily activities planner.

4. Do some field research. Talk to the family members and friends who come to visit. Talk to the residents themselves. Find out what they enjoyed doing before they moved to the facility, and organize your programming efforts accordingly.

5. Use peer mentors. In most Alzheimer’s care facilities, residents will be in varying stages of dementia at any given time. If you’re doing a group activity, consider pairing up residents who are still in the earlier stages with those who may be further into the disease process. Be sure that their personalities complement each other so that you don’t create unnecessary conflict or tension. This is an approach used often in Montessori-based dementia programming that works well in terms of engaging and empowering both the mentor and the mentee.

6. Do intergenerational activities whenever possible. Music therapy and pet therapy programs are quite successful means for getting people who rarely smile or speak to light up and communicate, but bring a baby, a toddler, or any young child into the room and everyone, everything else disappears. Deep connections are made; the presence of the young life sparks something in the residents that no other activity can match.