Thanksgiving gifts 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 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

Get your loved one with dementia a perfect gift to enjoy on Thanksgiving or anytime.

Over 5.5 million Americans are living with dementia. Is one of them someone you know or a client of yours? Get him/her or anyone with Alzheimer's disease or another dementia, a gift that will keep on giving.

Of course, person appropriate offerings are the best. This means matching a gift to a persons interests and abilities, However, there are some presents that will make them smile no matter what.

One such gift is a book by Susan Berg called Adorable Photographs of Our Baby -- Meaningful, Mind-Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones and Involved Professionals, This book features baby photographs that seniors with dementia love. This book shares a plethora of ideas and resources for you.

Another gift dementia persons will fancy is a classic musical video or DVD especially a musical love story. A classic movie of this type is Rogers and Hammersteins movie, Carousel (1945) or South Pacific (1949)

Any Roger's and Hammerstein movie is a good choice, However matching their interests and favorite actors and actresses should simplify the gift giving process. You can even discuss some of the movies to get a better feel for the one they might like the best.

A video sing along is great for persons who has Alzheimers disease or another dementia. Even if they were not music lovers in the past, music is extremely therapeutic for them. Often non-verbal folks with dementia will sing along to a song that is familiar to them. Russ Carlton has a series of videos that will enchant a person with dementia.

A music download or CD is another good choice. Just as with the movies, talking about songs often brings to light a good musical selection. There are some by Mitch Miller that are favorites of many. Also Broadway tunes are a preference of those with Alzheimers disease or a related dementia.

Especially for a lower functioning person with dementia is the gift of hand or body lotion. Any kind will do. Just be aware of any allergies or pain issues he/she might have. If he/she can tolerate it, those with a pleasant scent work well. Give him/her a relaxing hand massage talking about how good the hand massage feels and how much you love this person,

If you cannot afford or do not have time to get these gifts before Thanksgiving, give the gift of yourself. No matter how hard it is for you to visit a dementia person, he/she will appreciate your company even though he/she may not be able to express it. Take him/her for a walk, sing some of your favorite songs together, or share some messages of love. Just spend some quality time with a dementia person. Both of you will feel better. Do remember to be upbeat animated and excited about visiting.

A phone call or a Thanksgivings day card will do if there is no way you can visit in person. At least they will know you are thinking of them. Then visit on another day.

So no matter what you do, do not forget your favorite friend with dementia this Thanksgiving because it will make you and her feel good. What could be better than that?

Order most of the products mentioned in the article at Amazon.com or from the artists directly

Songs about hats

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

Hat Day is in September

by HATREVIVALIS

Where did you get that hat?

by Several Artists

Top hat white tie and tails

by Fred Astaire (originally) and others

You can keep your hat on

by Joe Cocker (and others)

Mexican Hat Dance

by Several Artists

Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat

by Bob Dylan (principally)

Without a hat

by the Fraggle Rock people

The bird on Nellie’s Hat

by Maidie Scott and others

I have a bonnet trimmed with blue

by Kathleen Ferrier (and others like Hattie Jaques)

Any Place I hang my hat is home

by Sammy Davis Junior and others

All Around My Hat

by Steelye Span

Easter Parade

Get Happy

Johnny (or Johnnie) Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet

Put on your old gray bonnet

Stuffed Animal Costumes

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]

Stuffed Animals

Stuffed Animal Halloween Costumes

As Halloween approaches, the need to find a creative Halloween costume is felt more and more vividly. So why not combine your love of stuffed animals with your desire for a fabulous Halloween costume? Check out our list of creative stuffed animal Halloween costumes for adults or kids.

• Noah's Ark Halloween Costume

All you need for this funny Halloween costume are a bunch of your favorite stuffed animals, an old laundry basket, and some paint and cardboard. To make the base for this stuffed animal Halloween costume, cut a hole in the bottom of the laundry basket big enough for you to fit through. Cut out and paint pieces of cardboard to be attached to the laundry basket to make it look like a boat or Ark. You could even paint, "Noah's Ark" on the side of the boat. Then, it's as simple as putting all the stuffed animals in the laundry basket (thus surrounding you as you wear the laundry basket/boat). If you have sets of two stuffed animals, that's all the better!

• Goldilocks and the Three Bears Halloween Costume

A fun Halloween costume for a girl is to dress up as Goldilocks and carry around three teddy bear stuffed animals (preferably of different sizes to emulate Mama teddy bear, Papa teddy bear, and Baby teddy bear). Then the girl puts her hair in pig tails, dons a blue little girl dress, and perhaps paints on freckles or red rosy cheeks.

• Mother or Father and Stuffed Animal Babies Halloween Costume

You could also construct a Halloween costume to be any animal you like, and then carry around stuffed animal "babies." This can be a particularly cute stuffed animal with a parent duck and duckling stuffed animals, or a cat or dog with kitten or puppy stuffed animals.

• The Cat's Out of the Bag Halloween Costume

If you're looking for a funny stuffed animal Halloween costume, how about being the cat let out of the bag! What you need is some kind of bag to wear, anything from a plastic garbage bag to a laundry bag. Just cut a hole in the bottom of the bag so that you can put your legs through. The top of the bag should be around your neck. You could attach it to your clothes with a safety pin. Then attach a cat or multiple cat stuffed animals to the outside of the bag with string. And thus the stuffed animal cats are out of the bag!

Babies make those with dementia smile

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



There are so many things in life that make us smile, but one thing that will almost always make us smile is the sight of a baby. Most residents light up when a baby is around! It makes their day to see little ones, and is a reminder of when they were parents or just when they were younger.

It is often a rare occurence that a child or baby would come into the facility. This is where you come in. :) There are two things you can do to help residents who love babies.

For higher to mid-fuctioning residents:
See if there is a local Mom's Group in your area. There are so many groups around that most areas have at least one group in their area.

If there is no group or you want an easy alternative get my book Adorable Photographs of our Baby and read my articles at care4elders

No bake easy Hamantaschen recipe

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]

ReformJudism

Hamantaschen doesn't have to be difficult to make! Here's a way to let your residents make their own.

Ingredients: 

Soft, pliable whole wheat or white bread

Jam, soft butter, cheese spread, or peanut butter

Directions: 

Take soft, pliable slices of bread and use a large, round cookie cutter to cut out circles. Then, using a spoon or butter knife, fill the center with one or two of the above toppings. Pinch into a triangular, hamantaschen shape

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