Coin Trivia

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Here are some coin trivia questions

If these questions are too difficult, make up your own such as
Which president is on an older quarter?
Which coin is the biggest?
Which coin is worth the most money?

If these questions are too difficult, then use questions
giving a choice of two answers, such as:
Which coin is worth 10 cents, the quarter or the dime?

Hip\
Pocket
Change

Happy National Coin Week  National Coin Week was started to help people get to know about numismatics…the hobby and study of coins and paper money.
In 1983, President Reagan set aside the third week in April as a time for people to think about coins.  Why?  Because collecting coins can help you learn about science, history, and important people, places, and events.  Besides, lots of people find that collecting coins is just plain fun!

Fun facts Leonardo Da Vinci

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• Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 and died on May 2, 1519. He was Italian.
• Different to a typical surname you might think of today, "da Vinci" simply means "of Vinci", the Tuscan town where he was born.
• He lived during the Renaissance, a cultural movement that led to important developments in areas such as art and science.
• Leonardo d Vinci is perhaps best known as a painter, with his legendary works including the Mona Lisa, the Vitruvian Man and the Last Supper, among others.
• Leonardo da Vinci wasn't just an incredible artist, he was an inventor, scientist, mathematician, engineer, writer, musician and much more. Talk about talented!
• His conceptual drawings included plans for musical instruments, war machines, calculators, boats and other ideas. Many of these plans were limited by the level of technology at the time.
• Flight was of particular interest to da Vinci. He studied the flight of birds and created plans for flying machines that resemble hang gliders and helicopters.
• Many of Leonardo da Vinci’s machines have since been built and tested, to varying levels of success.
• He became an expert in the anatomy of the human body, studying it in detail and creating hundreds of drawings to help explain his thoughts.
• The Vitruvian Man is a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci that describes the relationship between human proportions and geometry.
• Da Vinci wrote in the opposite direction to what is normal, meaning you’d need a mirror to read it properly.
• The Mona Lisa is perhaps the most well known painting in the world. It is a half-length portrait of a woman who, along with the composition, background and other details, has been the subject of much speculation and discussion. It is believed that Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa around 1503. It has been on permanent display at the Louvre Museum in Paris for over 200 years.
• In 1994 Microsoft founder Bill Gates purchased perhaps Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous scientific writings, the ‘Codex Leicester’. It contains explanations of water movement, fossils and the moon among other things.
• Famous Leonardo da Vinci quotes include:  "He who thinks little, errs much."
• "Movement will cease before we are weary of being useful."
• "What is fair in men, passes away, but not so in art."
• "Drawing is based upon perspective, which is nothing else than a thorough knowledge of the function of the eye."
• "Good culture is born of a good disposition; and since the cause is more to be praised than the effect, I will rather praise a good disposition without culture, than good culture without the disposition."
• "I know that many will call this useless work."

How to Deal With a Difficult Nursing Home Resident

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Jae Ireland



Step 1Check with the resident's doctor to rule out any medical reason as to why he would be acting out, such as Alzheimer's disease. It may be a medical condition that can be remedied with therapy or medication. Once a medical cause is rule out, you can focus on other ways to cope.

Step 2Take the time to get to know the resident. What are her likes and dislikes? What things can calm her easily? What type of past does she have? Taking the time to get to know the resident may create a special bond for you, resulting in a calmer and happier resident.

Step 3Engage the resident in activities that he enjoys. Take special care that he is invited to nursing home events and outings, as well as individual activities such as reading or working in the arts. Taking the resident's mind off of his surroundings and circumstances may result in a less difficult resident.

Step 4Make sure that the resident has plenty of visitors. Residents can sometimes become difficult when they are bored or feel like they are forgotten. If there isn't family around to visit the resident, try asking for volunteers in your community to come for a visit two or three times a week.

Step 5Discourage bad behavior by not rewarding it. Make sure to not respond with a reaction or anger. Instead be patient with the resident, and try and see things from her point of view

National Volunteer Week is Coming

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]

National Volunteer Week is April 7-13

Points of Light
National Volunteer Week is a time to celebrate people doing extraordinary things through service. Established in 1974, National Volunteer Week focuses national attention on the impact and power of volunteerism and service as an integral aspect of our civic leadership. The week draws the support and endorsement of the president and Congress, governors, mayors and municipal leaders, as well as corporate and community groups across the country.
Through programs such as the President's Volunteer Service Award, Daily Point of Light Award and the Extra Mile – Points of Light Volunteer Pathway, we recognize individuals, families, nonprofit organizations and government entities and the tremendous impact they are making on our country's most critical challenges year-round.

Take action

• Share your stories – Tell us about the impact volunteers are having in your community or through your organization.
• Learn more about these volunteer recognition programs and how to nominate volunteers for awards.
• For more information on National Volunteer Week, please contact Jennifer Geckler at jgeckler@pointsoflight.org.

National Vokunteer Week: Sample Letter to the Editor

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

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

National Volunteer Week is April 7-13

[ORGANIZATION NAME] Announces Recognition Plans for 2019 National Volunteer Week

Local Volunteers Encouraged to Celebrate Service During National

Volunteer Week

[CITY/STATE, MONTH DAY, 2018 – 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, 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

Celebrating Baseball Day with those who have dementia

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

The season of spring is here. A person’s fancy turns to baseball.
In fact we celebrate Baseball Day in April. On my activity calendar, I have it co-inside with a home team’s game. My home team is the Boston Red Sox.

So what can we do to make this day special even for the non baseball fan.

First, we can plan a party.
This is always fun even if we do not do everything we plan.
We can make invitations and decorations.

We can read a poem about baseball at the party or at another time when it fits into your schedule.

A good poem is Casey at the Bat

How to Apply a Person Centred Approach to Dementia Care

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A symposium in April helped change the thinking about nursing homes. The theme of the discussion, called "Creating Home in the Nursing Home," was person-centered care and living surroundings.

With this theme in mind, accomplish person-centered care in a nursing home by creating a homelike atmosphere.and centering residents' care on their interests, talents and preferences. Understand the individuality of each resident with dementia. An atmosphere that works for one person may not work for someone else. Preferences and needs may change from day to day. Awareness of the whole person challenges the caregiver. Bringing a smile to the faces of people who have dementia rewards those who care for them.

Instructions

Step 1 Get a family history of the resident's past interests, jobs, siblings, children and hobbies by talking to family members, friends and the resident.

Step 2 Communicate with the resident in a way that he can best understand, using verbal reminders, gestures, written messages, or whatever it takes. He may have trouble finding words. Fill in the blanks for him. At the same time, compliment him.

Step 3 Observe the resident in his new environment. See what time he gets up naturally. Detect his current likes and dislikes. Determine what his behaviors are and what sets off problem behaviors.

Step 4 Nip agitated behavior in the bud. Divert and redirect. Do something to stop the unwanted behavior, then redirect him to another activity.

Step 5 Set his new room up with favorite items from his former home. Provide him with necessities like a television, clock, easy reading material or other things that delight him and improve his quality of life.

Step 6 Discover tips for environmental modifications that make life easier for the resident and the caregiver.

April is Occupational Therapy Month

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Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire

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

ehow

According to an article in “Age and Ageing” from 2004 in volume 33, pages 453-460, “occupational therapy interventions for elderly people in the community results in positive outcomes.” Nearly one-third of occupational therapists (OTR) and certified occupational therapy assistants (COTA) work with the geriatric population. They do a lot of types of treatments and activities, using many strategies. The main goal of helping those in the geriatric population is for them to regain or maintain the highest level of independence possible. It is the hope of most elderly people to stay in their homes as long as possible.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy commits to improving and maintaining the highest level of function possible of its clients so that people can have healthier, more productive and satisfying lives. Occupational therapy dedicates itself to quality health care which includes disease prevention, staying well and rehabilitation services for individuals across the lifespan. As people age, they use more occupational therapy services as a rule.

Effectiveness

Occupational therapy has been proven effective for the geriatric population, with a number of medical conditions and surgical recoveries. Besides working with individual people to increase their strength and regain important life skills, occupational therapists work with a geriatric community to counsel families, local governments and community groups to make sure that each group is doing its part to help older adults maintain their independence.

Conditions

The most common diseases, conditions and surgical recoveries that OTRs and COTAs are involved in for the elderly include: arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), stroke, broken shoulder, wrist, hip and knee replacement as well as repair or replacement of these body parts, depression, diabetes, sensory impairments and dementia. The key in geriatric care is to avoid these injuries and illnesses to begin with. To do this, OTRs and COTAs focus on adapting and modifying the performance of activities of daily living that have become difficult or impossible to do because of age-related changes, disorders or disabilities. Occupational therapy provides help with other activities that relate to geriatric clients that still work. They also find ways for elderly patients to be involved in leisure and social activities that are dependent upon the patient's capabilities and interests.

Settings

It is the aim of occupational therapy to improve the ability of elderly people so they can stay in their home. If institutionalized care is required, occupational therapy can enhance their lives there by helping them to maintain their highest level of function there, even if full recovery from a health issue is not possible.

Activities Of Daily Living

Occupational therapy focuses on ADLs because they are necessary for independent living. The basic ADLs include: going to the bathroom, bathing, grooming, dressing, eating and moving from one surface to another, such as moving from a chair to a bed or bathtub. Instrumental ADLs require more complex thinking. These tasks include things like preparing meals, using the telephone, operating a computer, managing finances and medications as well as cleaning; doing laundry, going shopping, and other errands, traveling from one place to another, which includes driving. Driving is quite complicated because it includes integration of visual, physical and mental tasks and being able to coordinate these tasks, which may be mild to moderately impaired as you age. Occupational therapy may help geriatric clients with other activities to help reduce the risks of social isolation and its detrimental consequences. They do this by assisting geriatric patients to maintain social activities they know and encouraging involvement in new ones as well as providing ways to promote continued learning and other mind-stimulating activities, which help promote feelings of self-worth and may help prevent dementia.

Alzheimer's a Cold-Weather Danger

Activities directors and other healthcare professionals here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals.

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There is still at least one cold month ahead

• Stay Safe in Cold Weather

WEATHER ALERT - 9 WAYS TO STAY SAFE WITH DEMENTIA: People can lose body heat fast. That's called hypothermia. Big chills and Alzheimer's are a dangerous combination. Learn 9 ways to stay safe in cold weather.

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Losing too much body heat is a serious problem called hypothermia (hi-po-ther-mee-uh).

Protect people with with dementia from hypothermia during those months when it's cold outside. Check out these tips on how to stay safe. Share it with your family and friends.

Being outside in the cold, or even being in a very cold house, can lead to hypothermia. You can take steps to lower your chance of getting hypothermia.

Robert's storyVermont winters can be very cold. Last December I wanted to save some money so I turned my heat down to 62 degrees

WHAT IS HYPOTHERMIA?

Hypothermia is what happens when your body temperature gets very low. For an older person, a body temperature colder than 95 degrees can cause many health problems, such as a heart attack, kidney problems, liver damage, or worse.I didn't know that would put my health in danger. Luckily, my son Tyler came by to check on me. He saw that I was only wearing a light shirt and that my house was cold.

Ty said I was speaking slowly, shivering, and having trouble walking. He wrapped me in a blanket and called 911. Turns out I had hypothermia. My son's quick thinking saved my life. Now on cold days, I keep my heat at least at 68 degrees and wear a sweater in the house.

KEEP WARM INSIDE

Living in a cold house, apartment, or other building can cause hypothermia. People who are sick may have special problems keeping warm. Do not let it get too cold inside and dress warmly.

9 Tips for keeping warm inside:

1. Set your heat at 68 degrees or higher.
2. To save on heating bills, close off rooms you are not using.
3. To keep warm at home, wear long johns under your clothes.
4. Throw a blanket over your legs.
5. Wear socks and slippers.
6. When you go to sleep, wear long johns under your pajamas, and use extra covers.
7. Wear a cap or hat.
8. Ask family or friends to check on you during cold weather.
9. Bundle up on windy, cool days

STAY WARM OUTSIDE

A heavy wind can quickly lower your body temperature. Check the weather forecast for windy and cold days. On those days, try to stay inside or in a warm place. If you have to go out, wear warm clothes.

Tips for bundling up:

1. Dress for the weather if you have to go out on chilly, cold, or damp days.
2. Wear loose layers of clothing. The air between the layers helps to keep you warm.
3. Put on a hat and scarf. You lose a lot of body heat when your head and neck are uncovered.
4. Wear a waterproof coat or jacket if it's snowy.

ASK YOUR DOCTOR

Talk with your doctor about how to stay safe in cold weather. Some illnesses may make it harder for your body to stay warm. Taking some medicines and not being active also can affect body heat. Your doctor can help you find ways to prevent hypothermia.

Tips for talking with your doctor about hypothermia:

1. Ask your doctor about signs of hypothermia.
2. Talk to your doctor about any health problems (such as diabetes) and medicines that can make hypothermia a special problem for you.
3. Ask about safe ways to stay active even when it's cold outside.

WARNING SIGNS OF HYPOTHERMIA

Sometimes it is hard to tell if a person has hypothermia. Look for clues. 

• Is the house very cold?
• Is the person not dressed for cold weather?
• Is the person speaking slower than normal?
• Is the person having trouble keeping his or her balance?

Watch for the signs of hypothermia in yourself, too. You might become confused if your body temperature gets very low. Talk to your family and friends about the warning signs so they can look out for you. 

EARLY SIGNS OF HYPOTHERMIA:

• cold feet and hands
• puffy or swolen face
• pale skin
• shivering
• slower than normal speech or slurring of words
• acting sleepy
• being angry or confused

LATER SIGNS OF HYPOTHERMIA:

• moving slowly, trouble walking, or being clumsy
• stiff and jerky arm or leg movements
• slow heartbeat
• slow, shallow breathing
• blacking out or losing consciousness

CALLING 911

Call 911 right away if you think someone has warning signs of hypothermia.

Tips for what to do after you call 911

• Wrap the person in a warm blanket.
• Do not rub the person's legs or arms.
• Do not try to warm the person in a bath.
• Do not use a heating pad.

FAQS

Your questions answered:

Q. What health problems can make it hard for my body to stay warm?

A. Diabetes, thyroid problems, Parkinson's disease, and arthritis are common problems for older people. These health concerns can make it harder for your body to stay warm. Talk to your doctor about your health problems and hypothermia. Your doctor can tell you how to stay warm even when it's cold outside.

Q. Can medicines lower my body's temperature?

A. Yes. Some medicines used by older people can make it easy to get hypothermia. These include medicines you get
from your doctor and those you buy over-the-counter. Talk to your doctor before you stop taking any medicine.

Q. What can I do to stay warm at home?

A. Try closing off any room you are not using. Also:

• Close the vents and shut the doors in these rooms.
• Place a rolled towel in front of all doors to keep out drafts.
• Make sure your house isn't losing heat through windows.
• Keep your blinds and curtains closed.
• If you have gaps around the windows, try using weather stripping or caulk to keep the cold air out.
• And, it helps to wear warm clothes during the day and use extra blankets at night.

Q. Can I get any help with my heating bills?

A. You may be able to get help paying your heating bill. You can call the National Energy Assistance Referral service at 1-866-674-6327 to get information about the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. It's a free call. If you have a computer with internet, you can also email them at:
energyassistance@ncat.org.

SUMMARY — WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT HYPOTHERMIA

1. Set your heat at 68 degrees or higher.
2. Dress warmly on cold days even if you are staying in the house.
3. Wear loose layers when you go outside on chilly days.
4. Wear a hat, scarf, and gloves.
5. Don't stay out in the cold and wind for a long time.
6. Talk to your doctor about health problems that may make it harder for you to keep warm.
7. Find safe ways to stay active even when it's cold outside.
8. Ask a neighbor or friend to check on you if you live alone.
9. If you think someone has hypothermia:
   • Call 911 right away.
   • Cover him or her with a blanket.
   • Don't rub his or her legs or arms.

WHERE TO FIND MORE INFORMATION

For information about help in your area, check with your local Area Agency on Aging. Look in your phone book or contact:
Eldercare Locator
Phone: 1-800-677-1116 (toll-free)
Website: www.eldercare.gov

For help with heating bills, contact the National Energy Assistance Referral service about the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program:
National Energy Assistance Referral Hotline
Phone: 1-866-674-6327 (toll-free)
TTY: 1-866-367-6228 (toll-free)
Website: www.liheap.ncat.org/profiles/energyhelp.htm

For more about health and aging, contact:
National Institute on Aging Information Center
P.O. Box 8057
Gaithersburg, MD 20898-8057
Phone: 1-800-222-2225 (toll-free)
TTY: 1-800-222-4225 (toll-free)
Website: www.nia.nih.gov/health
Spanish website: www.nia.nih.gov/Espanol

Visit NIHSeniorHealth.gov (www.nihseniorhealth.gov), a senior-friendly website from the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine. This website has health and wellness information for older adults. Special features make it simple to use. 

Share this with friends and family so they can learn the signs of hypothermia and how to prevent it.

SOURCE: 

• Stay Safe in Cold Weather

This free booklet is provided by:

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• National Institutes of Health
• National Institute on Aging

Patient-Centered Care for People 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

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

eHow

For people with dementia, establishing an environment that focuses on the individual's strengths, interests, preferences and particular needs will provide the best patient care. Patients with dementia can live at home, in an assisted-living facility or at a nursing home. Wherever they reside, you must concentrate on the individuality of each person who has dementia.

Dementia
Dementia is not a specific disease, but rather a group of symptoms that occur because the dementia person's brain no longer works properly. This person's memory, ability to think clearly, communication skills and behavior are affected by dementia. Because each individual with dementia has particular strengths, interests, and conduct, patient-centered care is essential.

The topic at a recent symposium called "Creating Home in the Nursing Home", elaborated on person-centered care and living surroundings. Then the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) adopted the person-centered care philosophy for all people living at a nursing home. People with dementia are less agitated if they have person centered care