Another way to trigger happy memories in those with dementia

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

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



caring.com

hand care

What you need:

Hand scrub (you can make your own with a tablespoon each of melted butter and sugar), warm water, washcloth, towel, lotion

What to know:

• Paying attention to the hands is pampering that can inspire both alertness and pleasure.
• Men and women alike respond to this activity. Touch is a wonderful way to make your loved one feel loved and secure.
• Start by placing a warm washcloth over the hands. This feels good and relaxes in a nonthreatening way.
• Next, apply the scrub to gently exfoliate the hands.
• Rinse and dry with a towel. Apply lotion (scented, if you think your loved one won't mind or has a favorite).
• Alternative: If your loved one has interest and the patience for it, you can finish the activity with a basic manicure (filing or cutting and buffing nails) and/or nail polish.

Alzheimer's Disease: Improv Keeps Patients in the Present

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

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

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ABC News/health

By KATIE MOISSE

Once a theater enthusiast, Wolfgang Roth now struggles to follow his favorite plays. Since he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease four years ago, Roth's memory has continued to fade. But at improv classes, the retired professor still lights up in the room.

Monday mornings, 80-year-old Roth meets up with the Memory Ensemble -- an improv group for people with early stage Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. For 90 minutes, the ad-libbing actors transform a tiny room at Chicago's Northwestern University into a spontaneous stage where fleeting memories matter not.
"He has a ball," said Roth's wife, Mary Beth. "It's fun and it keeps his brain active."
For the Roths, the lighthearted improv sessions help lift the heavy burden of Alzheimer's -- an unstoppable disease that plagues 5.4 million people in the United States.
"Until we have a cure and a treatment to prevent Alzheimer's, one of our missions is to help people cope and live with this disease," said Mary O'Hara, a social worker at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Improv, she said, is one way to do just that.
"There aren't a lot of programs that are specifically designed for individuals with early stage disease. These people are told by doctors to stay active, keep their brains active and stay socially engaged. But memory loss makes it harder to do those things."

The Memory Ensemble, run jointly by the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center and the Tony Award-winning Lookingglass Theater Company, lets patients exercise creativity and wit despite failing memories. It's all about the present, said O'Hara.
"Improv is just all about being in the moment and being spontaneous, and there's no right or wrong answer," she said. "For someone with memory loss, it's a really good fit because they still have imaginations and come up with wonderful ideas."

Alzheimer's Disease: Improv Keeps Patients in the Present

Even if confusion creeps in, the group just goes with it. When playing a student, Roth was told he had to stay in and study for a test.
"He said, 'Intestine? What are you talking about?'" Mary Beth recalled. "Everyone thought he was so funny, and he is."
In its early stages, Alzheimer's disease leaves its victims very much aware of the inevitable memory loss that will penetrate their relationships, their identities.
"It's very devastating when someone finds out they have this," said O'Hara. "When people hear 'Alzheimer's disease,' they picture people in the later stages; not someone who's physically healthy and wanting to do things. This is a chance for patients to share in something new together and know they're not alone."
Roth rarely remembers the events of the class. But his wife debriefs him over lunch.
"It's a joy to do this with him," Mary Beth said. "It's a chance to see my husband in public, showing his vulnerability less. It just feels more like the old Wolfgang."
The Memory Ensemble also allows caregivers to connect with each other.
"It's like a support group for me," Mary Beth said. "It alleviates some of the stress, the isolation. I feel like they're helping me maintain my mental health."
O'Hara is using surverys to measure the impact of improv on patients' quality of life. She hopes her research will generate credibility and funds for similar programs nationwide.
For the Roths, the 90-minute class makes missing memories and an uncertain future irrelevant -- however temporarily.
"It's affirming. It helps him feel good about himself," said Mary Beth. "He comes out very positive and upbeat, chattering to the others and to me. He's just happy."

Focus on:Certification with easyceu

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

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

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

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Creating Mad-lib stories

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

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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Mad-libs are fun to create and can generate much laughter for those with dementia and others living at a long term care facility


wisegeek.com

Mad-Libs™ can be fun for all ages. By creating short stories with key words removed, MadLibs™ allows your audience to create silly short stories.

A traditional Mad Lib™ uses a short subject story, such as a letter home from camp, facts about dinosaurs, or the moon. From the story, key words are removed in several categories, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, numbers and people’s names. One player or group leader can see the story, and is in charge of getting words from other players that fit the missing categories. No one but the person with the Mad Libs™ story should be allowed to know the subject or any other details of the story. Once all the empty spaces are filled, the completed story is read aloud, and generally the laughing begins.

Here is one

A day at the zoo

Word List

_________________Adjective

_________________Noun

_________________Verb(past tense)

_________________adverb

_________________adjective

_________________noun

_________________adjective

_________________verb

_________________adverb

_________________verb(past tense)

_________________adjective

Today I went to the zoo. I saw a ____________(adjective)

_____________(noun) jumping up and down in its tree. He

_____________(verb: past tense) __________(adverb) through the

large tunnel that led to its __________(adjective)

__________(noun). I got some peanuts and passed them

through the cage to a gigantic gray __________(noun)

towering above my head. Feeding that animal made me

hungry. I went to get a __________(adjective) scoop of ice

cream. It filled my stomach. Afterwards I had to

__________(verb) __________ (adverb) to catch our bus. When

I got home I __________(verb past tense) my mom for a

__________(adjective) day at the zoo.

A way to trigger happy memories in those with dementia

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

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


caring.com

Old Sayings or Adages

What you need:

A prepared list of sayings (or a good memory for old adages)

What to know:

• Finishing sentences from prompts can feel good, and using well-worn adages that are deeply embedded in memory makes it easy.
• Start by bringing up a complete old saying: "A penny saved is a penny earned." Talk about what that means. This can be a wonderful jumping-off point about saving money, living through the Depression, piggy banks, and so on.
• You can couch this activity as a game or make it more naturally part of conversation: "I thought of this old saying but I can't remember how the whole thing goes, do you know it?" Or, "What's that old saying you used to tell me when I was a kid? A penny saved is what?"
• Sample sayings:
• "Penny wise and... pound foolish."
• "The early bird catches... the worm."
• "Early to bed, early to rise... makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
• "Pretty is as... pretty does."
• "Seen but not... heard."
• "He who lives by the sword... dies by the sword."
• "The way to a man's heart... is through his stomach."
• "A stitch in time... saves nine."
• "Ask not what your country can do for you... but what you can do for your country."
• "Many hands make... light work."
• "An ounce of prevention is worth... a pound of cure."
• "If you can't say anything nice... don't say anything at all."

Essential Tips for Dementia Caregivers (part 2)

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

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

Marguerite Manteau-Rao

6. Put your emotions out, either in writing, collages or other expressive art forms.When emotions run strong, and you don't know what to do anymore, one practice is to put your emotions out through simple, expressive art techniques. No need for fancy supplies. You can journal, you can write poetry. You can do self-collages, tearing images that grab you in old magazines and placing them on a sheet of paper, without giving too much thought to it. You are turning off your rational brain and letting your heart speak through words or found images. The point is not to be a poet or an artist -- it is about you literally "expressing" what is inside of you.
7. Share your joys and struggles with other care partners like you.
There are plenty of support groups out there, where you can find emotional relief in the telling of your story and the sharing of your joys and your struggles. You need to guard against the temptation of isolation, however. As a family caregiver, you are at high risk of depression and consequently are more likely to be tempted into retreating and not reaching out to others for emotional support. A good rule of thumb is this: The less you want to socialize, the more you need it for your own sanity and also the well-being of your loved one.
8. Get others to help you.
If it takes a village to raise as child, it takes a whole care team to provide good care to a loved one with dementia. It is not humanly possible for a single person to do this, particularly as the years unfold and your loved one requires more and more assistance cognitively, emotionally and physically. If you are someone who has always prided herself in being self-sufficient, you will have to shift your attitude. Getting the help you and your loved one need is a sign of psychological strength. There are many who are there to help you: geriatricians, neurologists, geriatric care managers, nurses, home health agencies, other family members, physical therapists, psychotherapists, financial planners, volunteers, etc.
9. Get enough sleep, eat well and exercise.
As important as your emotional health is keeping your body strong and healthy. With the stress from dementia caregiving, one may be tempted to eat not enough or too much, or stop exercising altogether. Worries about your loved one wandering or accumulated nervous fatigue from a long day of care may dampen one's ability to sleep. Associated with these lifestyle changes are recent statistics from the Alzheimer's Association showing that caregivers are at a substantial increased risk for hypertension and cardiovascular disease. You need to remember that your physical health comes first. Make it a point of having only healthy foods in the home and of walking as much as possible.
10. Validate the person's reality.
The person's experience of the world and their relation to it has changed, and there is nothing he or she can do about it. You, on the other hand, have it in you to make some adjustments. Not doing so will only cause more suffering for your loved one and more trouble for you, since your loved one will have to act out his or her suffering in one way or another. Yes, you may be attached to the idea of your loved one as your husband, but if he insists on calling you his daughter, go with the flow and remember that for him, you have fallen into the more general "love" category. The fine distinctions we usually make between various roles no longer apply.
11. Still see the person as a whole person, and behave accordingly.
Beware of falling into the trap of positioning the person as incompetent, as a child or someone who is no longer there. Holding these ideas will act as a self-fulfilling prophecy and influence your behavior in such a way as to cause the person to behave more and more as if there is no one there. Rather, operate from the premise that the person is still very much there, no matter what it may look like from the outside. Do not expect anything and welcome the surprises when they come, as they often times do with persons with dementia. A smile, a word, a sentence, singing an old song, dancing -- you never know.
12. Meet the person's five universal emotional needs.
Regardless of their cognitive, emotional, physical state, human beings all have five universal emotional needs: 1.) to be needed and useful, 2.) to have the opportunity to care, 3.) to love and be loved, 4.) to have self-esteem boosted, 5.) to have the power to choose. When caring for your loved one, make sure that each of these needs is being met. Failure to do so will negatively impact his or her well-being and will lead to either shutting down or agitation. For someone who no longer speaks or moves, honoring that person's need to be needed may mean telling them how sitting next to them brings you a sense of peace.
13. View the person's difficult behaviors as expressions of unmet needs.
Adopt the point of view that any behaviors, particularly difficult ones, are the person's attempt to communicate distress, using the limited means of communication at their disposal. They are not being difficult, they are simply telling you that something needs to be attended to urgently. Too much noise or not enough, a brief that needs to be changed, being thirsty, not being "seen" for the person they are, pain somewhere in the body, temperature that's too hot or too cold, a sense of personal space that's being invaded, words that don't come out as intended ... so many possible reasons to get upset that may not be obvious to you. You need to become a detective and figure things out. But before you do, take your loved one's distress seriously, not personally.
And remember, this is not just for you alone to practice. Instead, get the whole care team to join you, and together become more mindful and understanding. It will be good for you, and it will be good for your loved one.

Thanksgiving activity

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

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


Its hard to believe, Thanksgiving is almost here

Here are song links for the Thanksgiving Alzheimer’s activity

“We Gather Together” lyrics and music

“Now Thank Thee All Our God” lyrics and information

“Count Your Blessings”, lyrics and music

“This is the Day”(Video with music) lyrics

“Count Your Blessings”, lyrics and music