The magic of guitar music 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 b

Guitar players bring joy to men and women with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias living in nursing homes. Two days a week, in one-on-one sessions, a guitar and voice teacher plays memorable music for residents at the nursing home.

Guitar music can bring back fond memories to those in nursing homes.

Guitar month is coming up. This is a perfect opportunity for you to invite a guitar player to enrich the lives od your residents.

If you can not get a live person to come in , show a video of a guitar plauer or play a cd of guitar music

Dementia support groups

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]

HERE ARE FOUR ONLINE SUPPORT GROUPS YOU MIGHT TRY

http://dementia.supportgroups.com/

https://www.alzconnected.org/

http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Dementia/support-group

https://www.caring.com/support-groups

Why socializing may delay 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

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

A recently concluded five-year study of a thousand initially healthy seniors yielded some remarkably upbeat findings.

 Go to church, volunteer for a charity, have lunch with friends – in other words, get out of the house and interact with your neighbors – and you’re 50 percent more likely to ward off signs of dementia. For the most socially active seniors, the ones getting out of the house all the time and doing more for and with others, the statistics are even better. They are 75 percent more likely to fight off mental impairments.

Whether or not the findings of this study stand the test of scrutiny, it is always a good idea to heed what Christ Jesus saw as the two great commandments. The second of the two is perhaps especially applicable here: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Mark 12:31).
True, neighbor-to-neighbor love might, on the surface, appear as pretty casual – a friendly chat over the back fence, the get-together of a few friends for a barbecue, or a neighborly game of cards. Beneath those superficial niceties, however, is the truth of that second commandment. It goes deeper and involves harnessing thought to a holy purpose, to a healing action.
Living real neighborly love at times pushes an individual beyond his or her comfort zone, while fulfilling that holy purpose and meeting that neighbor’s need. One might, for instance, seek out practical ways to buttress someone’s hope that they are not forgotten, that life has not passed them by, that unhappy events have not drained their life of meaning.
Both the giver and the receiver of second-commandment-impelled actions are blessed. Both parties may even feel as if they’ve reaped a spiritual bonus – that hopeful feeling of having done something good for another. The defeating of old limitations and the winning of new freedoms is furthered.
One characteristic of various mental afflictions is their claim to march on unopposed, as if no power could halt them. Look at that claim closely though, and you realize it is a bid – albeit an unsuccessful one – to break the first commandment. It is a bid to pass itself off as all-powerful. But wait! Just because the carnal mind claims a disease has power does not make it a valid claim.
Look at what Jesus said of the first commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30). There is one God. One ever-active Mind and Life. One power that is pure Spirit, and one creation that is purely spiritual. Your role is to love the one true God. Then the delusion that there are other powers begins to loosen, eventually to fall away entirely.
Consider a few truths that originate in the Mind that is God, and that abide at the core of your being – the truths of your spiritual clarity and focus; of your inerasable vitality and recall; of your God-given capacity for crisp and clear reasoning. These are native to who you truly are as the idea of pure Mind, the expression of unfading Life.
When you are out of the house and socializing with friends, it’s a great time to realize these spiritual truths. When you are in the house and alone, it’s another great time to realize them. Each spiritual truth lets in the light. The right resolve to remain active and alert comes into focus.
Monitor founder Mary Baker Eddy, because of the extraordinary demands on her time, had little opportunity for an active social life, especially during her later years. Yet she remained keenly active, purposeful, and alert all the way through a long and uniquely productive career. (For instance, for several years she gave a free pair of shoes to each needy child in her community.) Her primary work, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” has been the cornerstone to the prayers of countless readers, many of whom have sought, and found, freedom from a whole range of mental impairments.
Whether the book is new to you, or you come to it as an old friend, here is a passage to launch you, or launch you anew, on your journey to see healing for yourself, a loved one, or a neighbor. A marginal heading next to the passage announces it’s about “Immortal memory.” The passage itself reads, “If delusion says, ‘I have lost my memory,’ contradict it. No faculty of Mind is lost. In Science, all being is eternal, spiritual, perfect, harmonious in every action. Let the perfect model be present in your thoughts instead of its demoralized opposite. This spiritualization of thought lets in the light, and brings the divine Mind, Life not death, into your consciousness” (Science and Health, p. 407).
With this, the haze retreats. Your God-bestowed capacities come into sharper focus. Healing dawns.
From an editorial in the Christian Science Sentinel.

Why is breakfast important

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

Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

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

March is National Breakfast Month

The American Dietetic Association says breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Despite the healthful benefits, breakfast may be the meal that is most often neglected or skipped. Eating breakfast not only aids in weight management, it fuels the body to help provide energy, better concentration and problem-solving ability throughout the day, according to the food and nutrition experts at the American Dietetic Association.

WHY BREAKFAST?

Forty years of breakfast related studies show that jump starting the day with breakfast benefits everyone -- children, teens and adults. "Eating breakfast is very important for the brain and the body first thing in the morning", said Los Angeles registered dietitian Gail Frank, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "Breakfast skippers often feel tired, restless or irritable in the morning."

Breakfast is the first chance the body has to refuel its blood glucose levels, also known as blood sugar, after eight to 12 hours without a meal or snack. Glucose is essential for the brain and is the main energysource. Blood glucose also helps fuel the muscles needed for physical activity throughout the day.

"Breakfast is also very important for weight loss and weight management," Frank said. "You 'break the fast' of not eating for the past eight to 12 hours. It helps curb your hunger and prevent binge eating later in the day. Breakfast is important to manage your weight and potentially lose weight by eating less calories throughout the day."

America quiz

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

Use these trivia questions

Kids celebrate America

How well do your residents know America?

Even those with dementia will know the answers to these questions

What is the capital city of America? Chicago, IL New York, NY Washington, DC Los Angeles, CA

Who was the first American president? Thomas Jefferson Abraham Lincoln John Adams George Washington

In which city is the Empire State Building located? Washington, DC New York, NY Seattle, WA Dallas, TX

What is the smallest state by area in America? New Jersey Delaware Connecticut Rhode Island

What state is the Liberty Bell located in? New York Illinois Pennsylvania Massachusetts

How many stars are displayed on the American flag? 52 50 51 48

What state is Mount Rushmore located in? South Dakota New Mexico West Virginia District of Columbia

Which explorer discovered America? Marco Polo Amerigo Vespucci Christopher Columbus Francis Drake

How many stripes are displayed on the American flag? 12 10 13 15

Which president was responsible for freeing the slaves? Theodore Roosevelt George Washington Grover Cleveland Abraham Lincoln

Name That Tune

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

Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

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

An Easy To Do Activity That Appeals to a Wide Variety of People

A great activity that can be adapted and modified easily is a form of Name That Tune.

Everyone loves music and trivia. This activity incorporates both.

First get a list of song titles from the era most potential participants are familiar with.

If you are not familiar with the songs yourself, you may want to purchase a CD or get some from the library to familiarize yourself with the songs. You may want to use these CDs during the activity if necessary.

Set up the room if you need to. Have the CDs ready to play if you need them.

Invite folks to come to the activity.

When I invite residents to an activity, I do not ask them if they want to come. I say, Come on, lets do something fun, together.  If they are hesitant, I tell them that I need their help.

I have a number of other ways to get resistive folks to an activity. I find as long as you are running a quality activity, once people gets there, they will enjoy the activity.

After the group is assembled, make sure to greet everyone. Tell your audience how happy you are that they are there. Greet each person by name. Remember you need to be enthusiastic about what you are doing

Now you are ready to start the activity

Instead of playing one or two notes or playing the game like hangman, (You could play these ways as well), you say the first word of the song title. See if anyone can finish the title. If not, say the second word of the title and so on until someone gets the title. If they are having a hard time, give other hints. To allow the meek resident a chance, ask the other members in the group to give the meek person a chance to name the song. Even if someone else shouts out the title, still ask the shy individual to say the title of the song. Be extremely complimentary to this person, as well, to boost his/her confidence.

After the song title is guessed, ask, who can sing it. Sometimes we only sing the first line. Sometimes we butcher the song, but then we have a good laugh.

Continue playing the game in this manner, singing the familiar songs, or singing them with a CD, for the allotted time period. I usually do it for about an hour

Throw in a little trivia if there is a lull in the action. For example, if the song is about summer, I ask the participants to tell me their favorite season and why they like that season. I always tell the story of how I hate winter.

I just go with the flow. Thus, the group is different every time.

Easy modifications:

During a particular holiday include some holiday song titles

For example, around Valentines Day, include some love songs; around Christmas include some Christmas carols etc.

Then after a song title is named, ask if is a holiday song and why.

Sometimes you get some pretty interesting answers. This is another opportunity for laughter.

For lower functioning individuals:

Name two song titles and ask which one starts with the word you just mentioned

Sing the first line of a song. Then see if they can sing the next part.

If they are nonverbal, you can say the answer for them. However before saying the title, say, I can tell by (name of participant)’s smile that she thinks the title is (whatever the song title is).

Then you might want to gently squeeze this person’s hand or give him/her a hug

When you are finishing the activity, make sure you thank all for coming. Tell them what a good job they did. You might ask what the audiences’ favorite part of the activity was

Click here for song titles and words

Sarah’s Favorite Songs

http://barbarasmithoccupationaltherapist.com/sarahsongs.html

You can also do an internet search for song titles, purchase a song book, or get song suggestions from your potential audience on another occasion. 

How to have the Best Possible Relationship with Those who have Dementia (Part 1)

Make sure you check this out 

How to have the Best Possible Relationship with Those who have Dementia (Part 1)

Are you looking for more activity ideas for February??

Alzheimer's Care Guide

The magazine for Alzheimer's Caregivers. Each issue includes a CE training article with quiz, plus free downloadable activities and educational materials.

IN THE JAN-FEB ISSUE:

• Activities ideas for Jan-Feb, by Susan Berg.

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

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


Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be