Tag: cognitive loss

Why you should be using pre-made activity boxes

Christine’s dementia had progressed, but her very-successful morning routine was still the same. Every morning, Christine’s son would wake her up, get her seated at the dining room table, and prepare her breakfast. While he was getting that ready to go, he’d take out a box of towels from under the table. “Mom, I have a ton of laundry to do today. Can you please help me with these?” he’d ask. He’d put all the towels on the table and then watch as his mother went to work. It was a fantastic way to get her day started, wake her up a little more before breakfast, and help her to feel successful before 8 AM.  I’ve used activity boxes in every single home care or dementia care community I’ve ever worked in. They are so easy and fun to make, and they make every day better in dementia care. All you need is a bin with a lid and some imagination. I’ve filled bins with items like: Socks to sort Hand towels to fold Faux flowers to arrange in vases Silverware to organize Poker chips to stack …and much, much more. These boxes can be used to break up boredom, add some extra activities during the day, or simply provide hands-on cognitive stimulation when nothing else seems to be working. While most of us hate doing chores, many people with dementia feel useful and successful after completing these activity boxes.  Here’s the key: don’t ask if the person with dementia WANTS to do it. Ask them if they “can help you” work on the task. You’re almost always going to get a positive response.

June 29, 2018

Individuals are always individuals

I leaned against the wall, waiting for the elevator to get to my floor. The cheerful cook who had been working in the kitchen wheeled his dirty plate cart up alongside me.  He was a portly guy, nice, but kind of spacey. I had only had a couple quick conversations with him. He seemed to really enjoy his job at the dementia care community. “Martha was really talkative today,” I offered. “She’s so quick-witted and sarcastic. I love it,” I smiled at him. “Yeah, she’s great!” he agreed.  We go on the elevator and the doors closed behind us. The cook continued the conversation, “She can be really funny sometimes.” “You know what,” he added, nonchalantly. “It’s so funny, you know? It’s like, they all have different personalities! Some of them are funny and some of them are kind of mean.” This comment stopped me dead in my tracks. “Do you mean…like how they are all individual people with individual personalities and life experiences?” I clipped back, although not nearly as snarky as I would have liked my response to be. The cook didn’t catch my snark and agreed. “Yeah! It’s so funny!” he said, and wheeled his cart off the elevator as the doors opened. “See you later!” I got in my car and turned on the engine. I felt suddenly angry. What did he mean, “they all have their own personalities?” Of course they have their own personalities! They are PEOPLE! I wanted to get back out of the car, go inside, and find this man. I wanted to confront him about his comment. Sadly, though, I knew that this would be in vain. He didn’t mean anything by it—but, in a way, that was the worst part. He hadn’t stopped to think about it: the “old people” on this dementia floor were so much more than just old people with cognitive problems.  It’s a comment misconception, I think, that people with dementia just become shells of their former selves. Does that happen sometimes? Sure. But that person is always IN there. They are still individual people. 

June 29, 2017

A Tale of 5 Chairs

“It’s never going to work. They are just going to keep moving the chairs back where they want them,” a Resident Assistant argued. I had gone to another dementia care community to help them build Life Skills Stations (like a station for baby dolls, an office, a dress-up area, or other examples like these) but we had an issue. Residents kept pushing chairs into the hallway and blocking a lot of space, creating a safety hazard. It was as though they were not sure where else to sit, but it also seemed like staff had given up the good fight.  “They just move the chairs back there every single time. We put the chairs in the dining room, and the residents pull them out and line them up along the wall,” the staff member explained. “What’s the point in even trying to move the chairs?” I understood what the staff was dealing with. It seemed like a waste of time to keep moving the chairs back into the dining room when all the residents wanted to do was sit in the hallway. But what if we changed their environment? What if it looked completely different? Would the residents recall what had been there, and continue pushing the chairs into the hallway, creating a safety hazard? I moved the chairs that had been along the wall. I found two small side tables and a nice piece of furniture with drawers and moved them to the space where the chairs had been. I put them against the wall and added some plants. “Wow, that looks lovely,” a resident smiled, walking by.  None of the residents pulled chairs out info the hallway again.

March 5, 2015

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