Easy hat craft and games

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

These simple hats can be made from paper plates and can be decorated by participants

 The first step here is the same for any of the hat designs. Just fold the plate in half and cut the hole for the head (remember to leave a little part where the center design is still attached to the brim.) It’s best to guess the hole size a little on the small side, because if it doesn’t fit then you can always trim the hole a bit bigger.

Once you have the first cut made, you can then decide what you want your hat decoration to be. In this case the shamrock is symmetrical, so keeping the plate folded in half makes it easy to cut the shamrock leaf symmetrically. Once you’re done, open it up and decorate it any way you like. At this point I like to hand the cut out plates over to the participants to decorate, However, higher functioning residents can cut out the designated design.

Options for these kinds of hats are only limited by your imagination.

These hats can be used for a couple of interesting games.
Number shuffle.
Divide the participants into two teams (this works best if you have a minimum of five players in each team) Make the basic circle paper plate hats in advance and number them for however many people are in each team. Put the plate hats on the participant’s heads so that they cannot see their own number. Then see which team can line themselves up in numerical order. Alternately for a lower functioning group, just have one set of numbered hats. Then see if they can see who has number 1 etc by asking if the number on their hat is number 1. The rest of the group can tell the designated participant if the number on his hat is higher or lower than he guessed. Keep going until he guesses the number on his hat. Then he can pick who guesses next. Keep going for the designated amount of time or until everyone has guessed. Then you can put the participants in numerical order by the number on their hats. There are many adaptations to this game. If you need any, just leave a question in the comment section.

Guess Who.
Each person wears a hat with the name and picture of a character/real person on the front that they cannot see. Everyone else can see who they are though. Each person gets to ask “yes/no answer” questions to the group to try and guess who they are, such as “Am I fictional?” or “Am I human?” etc. If the answer to your question is yes then you get to ask another question. If the answer to your question is no then it is the next person’s turn to start asking their questions. The winner is the first person to correctly guess their secret identity.

Again you can modify this game for a lower functioning crowd. Just leave a question in the comment section.

Autumn craft: A simple centerpiece

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

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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Autumn gardens are filled with the makings for bouquets and arrangements that can be placed outside or, when it turns cooler and the holidays approach, brought inside for a centerpiece. Try an arrangement with the following late-blooming flowers, vegetables, berries, fruits, and leaves:

Flowers
Sunflowers, asters, dahlias, zinnias, hydrangeas, September flower, sage, autumn bugbane

Vegetables and herbs
Pumpkins, winter squash, gourds, peppers, winter wheat, dill, sage

Berries and fruits
Cranberries, beautyberries, nandina, baneberries, porcelain berries, crabapples, blue cohosh berries, apples, pomegranates, mandarin oranges

Leaves
Colorful leaves from trees such as maple, oak, and magnolia; bushes such as viburnum and burning bush; or vines such as grape leaves and porcelain vine

Fall activities and dementia

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

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







Get your subscription to Activity Director Today's e magazine

There are many types of activities that can be done in the fall with those who have dementia. Many of the activities can be done with other long term care residents as well

Activity Director Today displays activities for September, October and November, all of which are done in the fall

For example:
school begins in the fall
There are all sorts of activities related to going to school
The song School Days is a nice way to begin an activity based on going to school

Check back for more

Nursing home inspections find failings in care delivery

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

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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Don't let this be you

By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter

Failure to provide enough activities for residents with dementia, insufficient staffing, and failure to provide safe and appropriate care to residents are some of the failings highlighted in 32 nursing home inspection reports.

Of the 32 reports, the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) found evidence of good practice and compliance with the regulations and standards in 26 centres.

However, evidence of non-compliance was found during six inspections. Residents’ needs were not always met in line with the regulations and standards in these centres.

Inspectors identified non-compliance in areas such as staff training; notifications required to be sent to Hiqa; governance and management; health and social care needs; policies and procedures; residents’ rights, dignity, and consultation; and health and safety and risk management.

However, non-compliance relating to nursing assessments and care plans were repeated findings of this later inspection..

In the latest inspection, carried out in May, Hiqa found that the provision of activities did not meet the needs of residents, particularly those with dementia.

“Based on evidence gathered in this inspection, inspectors formed the view that the location and provision of activities was dictated by the routine and resources of the centre, not by residents’ interests and suitability,” said Hiqa.

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‘Armchair karate’ to help dementia residents

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

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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“Residents absolutely loved it. It helps them to exercise. It also helps their well-being because their chairing each other around,” said Ms Mielnik.

The Oaks Care Home resident Ann Lillico testing her punching power on pads held by carer Elizabeth Morton.

“It is difficult because all of the residents have dementia so it can be difficult to communicate,” she said. “But when they see the others doing the activity it makes them want to take part as well.”

“I never would have thought elderly people would enjoy something like this,” she added.

As all of the residents have dementia, the activity is one of many to help them stay active and brainstorm their minds through physical activities and recreation, said those behind the initiative.

Meanwhile, the care home also hosts a range of other activities, with the help of local charity MIND Active.

For example, every month the home hosts an activity centered around food, where they focus on different cultures and their cuisine, including an Italian night where residents had the opportunity to make their own pizza.

Meanwhile, other activities revolve around, gardening, letter writing, crafts and exercise.

MIND Active aims to use “mental stimulation” to promote elderly inclusion, mostly in South East Northumberland.

It provides a choice of community-based activities, where guests can enjoy musical entertainment, raffles, quizzes, and outdoor activities.

“We successfully lift the mood of loved ones, carers and those with dementia”

Stephen Ward

In February this year, MIND Active also teamed up with Whitehouse Farm Centre near Morpeth to host regular visits to dementia patients.

Stephen Ward, founder and project manager at MIND Active in Bedlington, said: “Living with dementia can be extremely isolating.

“At MIND Active, we have witnessed people affected by dementia benefit immensely just by being part of the community,” he said.

He added: “By offering a variety of socially-interactive events, we successfully lift the mood of loved ones, carers and those with dementia by helping them to enjoy quality time together.”

The home is part of Hill Care Group, which was established in 2001 and currently operates 38 care homes across the UK.

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

History of schools

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]

wikipedia

In the 1800s children were dressed like little adults and, in fact, treated like adults in that they were (in the lower classes) expected to go to work as early as 5 or 6. They were probably more serious than our children; working in a dangerous factory will knock lots of foolishness out of a child. There was no such thing as a teenager and no cult of children who need to be spoiled and entertained. Girls were often married at 15 or 16 and, in the middle to lower classes, boys were expected to decide at about 10 what trade they wanted to go into, so they could be apprenticed.
There was no standard or requirement for literacy; the boys in the upper classes were fluent in Latin, Greek, often French, with some Italian. They were heavily versed in the literary classics. Their less fortunate peers went to school when they could and often taught themselves after work.
Girls in the upper classes were literate and probably knowledgeable in light literature (poetry, novels, etc.) but were discouraged from learning anything more than "feminine accomplishments": playing the pianoforte, drawing, fine needlework.
Poor girls were lucky to be able to read, but often knew something the "better" girls did not: how to run a household.
These children were also raised with a greater presence of death. Dying in childbirth was fairly common and, since birth control was illegal and unreliable, childbirth was tough to avoid. It was rare for a mother, of any class, to raise all her children without one fatality.
Fathers were often killed in factory accidents--with no OSHA to monitor working conditions. The Victorians' repulsive methods of disposing of waste generated many of the fatal illnesses they suffered.
And many people died at their doctor's hands, being bled or "cupped" for all sorts of illnesses and complaints, or treated inappropriately for under-diagnosed symptoms.
I think this climate, in which responsibility was ever-present and mourning was big business, had to have a melancholy affect on children that, luckily, our children don't have.

In the early 1900s, the wealthy children attended private academies.  The schools were houses with a few rooms in them set aside for classrooms.  They were small, with only about three or four pupils in each grade.  One teacher taught several grades in just one room.  In the private schools, girls and boys were not together. They went to separate academies.

Some of the subjects the girls learned were reading, spelling, history, arithmetic, geography and penmanship or handwriting. Sometimes they learned manners and dancing, French, drawing and how to walk and act like a young lady.
The public schools, on the other hand, were free and mostly attended by the kids who were not rich.  Boys and girls were at the same school. There was a class for each grade level with about 20 to 30 kids in each class.
n 1904, children were supposed to go to school until the age of 16; however, most kids never finished the 8th grade.  They went to work in factories, farms and coalmines to help their families.  Some went to high school and a few went to college.  In those days, very few women went to college. Even the rich girls didn't all get to go to college.
From 1910 to 1940, high schools grew in number and size, reaching out to a broader clientele. In 1910, for example, 9% of Americans had a high school diploma; in 1935, the rate was 40%^. By 1940, the number had increased to 50%.^[ This phenomenon was uniquely American; no other nation attempted such widespread coverage. The fastest growth came in states with greater wealth, more homogeneity of wealth, and less manufacturing activity than others. The high schools provided necessary skill sets for youth planning to teach school, and essential skills for those planning careers in white collar work and some high-paying blue collar jobs. Economist Claudia Goldin argues this rapid growth was facilitated by public funding, openness, gender neutrality, local (and also state) control, separation of church and state, and an academic curriculum. The wealthiest European nations such as Germany and Britain had far more exclusivity to their education system and few youth attended past age 14. Apart from technical training schools, European secondary schooling was dominated by children of the wealthy and the social elites.
The United States chose a type of post-elementary schooling consistent with its particular features — stressing flexible, general and widely applicable skills that were not tied to particular occupations and geographic places had great value in giving students options in their lives. Skills had to survive transport across firms, industries, occupations, and geography in the dynamic American economy.
Public schools were funded and supervised by independent districts that depended on taxpayer support. In dramatic contrast to the centralized systems in Europe, where national agencies made the major decisions, the American districts designed their own rules and curricula
In 1975 Congress passed Public Law 94-142, Education for All Handicapped Children Act. One of the most comprehensive laws in the history of education in the United States, this Act brought together several pieces of state and federal legislation, making free, appropriate education available to all eligible students with a disability. The law was amended in 1986 to extend its coverage to include younger children. In 1990 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) extended its definitions and changed the label "handicap" to "disabilities". Further procedural changes were amended to IDEA in 1997
No Child Left Behind, passed by a bipartisan coalition in Congress in 2002, marked a new direction. In exchange for more federal aid the states were required to measure progress and punish schools that were not meeting the goals as measured by standardized state exams in math and language skills.  By 2012 half the states were given waivers because the original goal that 100% students by 2014 be deemed "proficient" prov ed unrealistic
The education and job world that young people are entering is so different from just 15 or 20 years ago, it’s not even comparable. For the first time in history we have a truly global economy and global competition. It’s completely the opposite of the Baby Boomers’ experience. Then, America was the center of the world. The Second World War had made the U.S. the most advanced and powerful nation ever seen, while our most capable competition was buried in ash and rubble. Now, not only has the world caught up, it’s educated, connected and competing for U.S. jobs that were the exclusive right of U.S. workers just a couple of decades ago.
People are all over the map with blame — bad teachers, lazy students, distracted parents, video games, junk food — which tells me no one has any real answer. I just know what I keep telling my kids: keep your eyes, ears and options open and your priorities straight because the only living you deserve is the one you earn.