Remember the dad with dementia on Father's Day

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

Activities directors, other healthcare professionals and caregivers whether you make a gift for a loved one or client with dementia, or not, you want to give a gift that will keep on giving

If you have a group, you can design and have the women give the men gifts or you can have the woman with dementia make a gift or card for her husband, son or friend who comes to visit

Here are some ideas- but before you read them
remember

Finding the right gift for the man with dementia this Father's Day is easy. There are many wonderful items you can buy or make that will make the time you spend together meaningful.

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 men with dementia will love. This book shares a plethora of ideas and resources for you, the gift-giver. Men with dementia do love babies.

Another gift a dementia dad will fancy is a classic musical video or DVD. He will enjoy watching something from the good old days and singing the songs played throughout the picture. Here are a few suggestions: Top Hat, Swing Time, Follow the Fleet, or Shall We Dance.

Next is a sing a long CD or audio cassette of his favorite songs. One with Mitch Miller is a wonderful choice. You may want to get a sing a long video where loved ones can see and hear performers singing songs they love. A good seies is the Sing Along with Frank Woehrle series.

Here is another idea. Give him hand lotion, a manly scent, of course. Just be aware of any allergies or pain issues he might have. Give him a relaxing hand massage talking about how good the hand massage feels and maybe about the good old days, as well. Yes, men love hand massages

If you cannot afford or do not have time to get these gifts, give the gift of yourself. No matter how hard it is for you to visit, he will appreciate your company even though he may not be able to express it. Take him for a walk. Sing some favorite songs together. Give him a hand massage. Just share some quality time with him. You will both feel better.

Do remember to be upbeat animated and excited about visiting. No arguing, please.

These gifts are simple, inexpensive or free, and can be enjoyed by all.

Kindling human connections

Activities directors, other healthcare professionals and caregivers here is an interesting article I found in the
Jewish News of Greater Phoenix
Conference offers spiritual approach to dementia
VICKI CABOT
snippet of song, a snatch of Hebrew verse, a squeeze of the hand.

Each has the capacity to kindle the vital human connections often lost or diminished by dementia. Exploring our ability to find and nurture those contact points, as a source of strength and comfort for both those with dementia and those who love and care for them, is the focus of an upcoming conference sponsored by The Deutsch Family Shalom Center of Temple Chai in collaboration with Hospice of the Valley (HOV).

"Finding the Sacred in the Journey of Dementia: Comfort and Care for Jewish Families," funded by a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation, is set for April 25 and 26 at Temple Chai. It includes a Saturday evening coffeehouse featuring music, poetry and a staged dramatic reading, followed by a Sunday afternoon of informational presentations and workshops. Speakers and facilitators include Maribeth Gallagher, a psychiatric nurse practitioner who is the dementia program director at HOV, and Rabbi Sheldon Marder, chaplain of the Jewish Home in San Francisco, who has created innovative ways to infuse geriatric care with Jewish spirituality.

Sharona Silverman, Shalom Center director, explains that the impetus for the conference came from a growing awareness of the increasing numbers of those with dementia and their families and a sensitivity to their needs. According to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, dementia is a general term that describes a group of symptoms such as loss of memory, judgment, language and other skills due to damage or death of brain neuron cells. Alzheimer's is one of the diseases that can cause dementia.

"Listening to our congregants, I could see the impact on them and their families," she says. A focus group last fall, followed by an HOV program earlier this year, reinforced her perception of the need to provide a communal response. HOV offers excellent nondenominational programming to a wide range of groups, but Silverman sought to provide a specifically Jewish response.

Temple Chai congregant Cathy Shalen, a focus group participant, emphasized the importance of addressing dementia in the community.

"People don't talk about it," says Shalen, who is caring for a family member in the early stages of dementia. Availing herself of resources, attending conferences and participating in a Shalom Center support group has helped immeasurably.

"I wish I had gone earlier," she says, noting the reluctance to confront dementia and seek help. "I could have been better prepared."

Silverman says the conference aspires to help the community understand the needs of those with dementia and the necessity for providing support for the individuals and their families.

"We want people to not feel so alone," she says, "and help them learn about some of the tools that can help."

The Saturday evening reading from "Greenland," an original work by Devorah Medwin, will help to initiate conversation and inspire communal response.

Medwin, a Valley writer who holds a master's in playwriting from the Actor's Studio Drama School in New York, wrote the short play about Alzheimer's while in graduate school. It turns on the reaction of three sisters to the growing realization that their mother is beginning to show signs of dementia. Valley actress and writer Debra Rich Gettleman will portray one of the three sisters in the play.

Medwin says the work explores the emotions that surface when confronted with dementia and the impending care-giving responsibilities it implies. The play, she says, is a vehicle for opening up the subject.

"Maybe people can't talk about it," she says, "but maybe a character can."

Gettleman says the play, and the transformational writing workshops that the duo will lead on Sunday, are designed to provoke discussion.

"It will open people up," she says of the dramatic portrayal, providing an opportunity for confronting issues and creating a sense of community.

Gallagher, who will speak on ways to enhance quality of life for both patient and caregiver, posits the growing need to learn about dementia as both.......read the whole aeticle

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here


For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here


For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here

Suggest Appropriate Gifts for Those with Dementia

Activities directors and other healthcare professionals 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

As an activities director, you are in a position to suggest gifts for family members to buy for their loved ones with dementia. Here is an article that will help you, other healthcare professionals and caregivers
prlog
Christmas,Chanukah and alike are the perfect chance to give gifts that are not only enjoyable but also are beneficial to persons with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. These presents keep on giving long after the holiday season is gone
First on the list of gifts 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....read the whole article

Father's day gifts for those with dementia

Activities directors, other healthcare professionals and caregivers whether you make a gift for a loved one or client with dementia, or not, you want to give a gift that will keep on giving

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

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

Get your subscription to Activity Director Today's e magazineIf you have a group, you can design and have the women give the men gifts or you can have the woman with dementia make a gift or card for her husband, son or friend who comes to visit

Remember
Finding the right gift for the man with dementia this Father's Day is easy. There are many wonderful items you can buy or make that will make the time you spend together meaningful.

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 men with dementia will love. This book shares a plethora of ideas and resources for you, the gift-giver. Men with dementia do love babies.

Another gift a dementia dad will fancy is a classic musical video or DVD. He will enjoy watching something from the good old days and singing the songs played throughout the picture. Here are a few suggestions: Top Hat, Swing Time, Follow the Fleet, or Shall We Dance.

Next is a........read all of Perfect Father's Day Gifts for the Man with Dementia

Father's day gifts for those with dementia

Activities directors, other healthcare professionals and caregivers whether you make a gift for a loved one or client with dementia, or not, you want to give a gift that will keep on giving

If you have a group, you can design and have the women give the men gifts or you can have the woman with dementia make a gift or card for her husband, son or friend who comes to visit

For ideas go here
Just substitute the word husband or a friend's name for thr word dad

Here are some other ideas- but before you read them

remember
Finding the right gift for the man with dementia this Father's Day is easy. There are many wonderful items you can buy or make that will make the time you spend together meaningful.

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 men with dementia will love. This book shares a plethora of ideas and resources for you, the gift-giver. Men with dementia do love babies.

Another gift a dementia dad will fancy is a classic musical video or DVD. He will enjoy watching something from the good old days and singing the songs played throughout the picture. Here are a few suggestions: Top Hat, Swing Time, Follow the Fleet, or Shall We Dance.

Next is a sing a long CD or audio cassette of his favorite songs. One with Mitch Miller is a wonderful choice. You may want to get a sing a long video where loved ones can see and hear performers singing songs they love. A good seies is the Sing Along with Frank Woehrle series.

Here is another idea. Give him hand lotion, a manly scent, of course. Just be aware of any allergies or pain issues he might have. Give him a relaxing hand massage talking about how good the hand massage feels and maybe about the good old days, as well. Yes, men love hand massages

If you cannot afford or do not have time to get these gifts, give the gift of yourself. No matter how hard it is for you to visit, he will appreciate your company even though he may not be able to express it. Take him for a walk. Sing some favorite songs together. Give him a hand massage. Just share some quality time with him. You will both feel better.

Do remember to be upbeat animated and excited about visiting. No arguing, please.

These gifts are simple, inexpensive or free, and can be enjoyed by all.

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here


For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here


For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here