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The "D" word

5/4/2019

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"Friends, family are uncomfortable and say they don’t know how to behave ‘normally’ around me anymore.”

“People no longer ask your advice on anything. They talk to the person you are with and not you.”

“People avoid conversation once you start showing you are having a word or thought retrieval problem.”

Nearly one in four people living with dementia,
conceal or hide their diagnosis, citing stigmas as the main cause.

With ageing populations the world over, demystifying and challenging negative attitudes around dementia is becoming increasingly important, from the language we use to describe dementia and the service environments we create, to how we bring about awareness and education.
The loss of identity, independence, and feeling marginalized by friends, family and society, can often lead to despair, loss of self esteem and social withdrawal. The invisibility of many people with dementia to the public gaze only magnifies this.

Dr Sarang Kim and her research team at the Australian National University, are utilizing a couple of approaches in the Dementia Stigma Reduction (DESeRvE) study. The education plus contact approach involves participants learning factual information about dementia in order to replace inaccurate stereotypes, in addition to watching video clips reflecting what it’s like to live with dementia and what it’s like to care for someone with dementia. This study aims to form an evidence base for the feasibility of dementia-related stigma campaigns to educate the general public. The study is supported by the Hazel Hawke Research Grant in Dementia Care from Dementia Australia.

Hazel Hawke once said, “It is very important that we look at what we can do, rather than what is impossible to do.” In this spirit, when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Hazel used her own experience to raise awareness about dementia and tackle the stigma surrounding it. She set up a charity for care and research of Alzheimer's disease that continues to give today, translating her compassion into action.


REFERENCES
Liu, D., Hinton, L., Tran, C., Hinton, D. and Barker, J. (2008). Re-examining the Relationships Among Dementia, Stigma, and Aging in Immigrant Chinese and Vietnamese Family Caregivers. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 23(3), pp.283-299.
Milne, A. (2010). The ‘D’ word: Reflections on the relationship between stigma, discrimination and dementia. Journal of Mental Health, 19(3), pp.227-233.
Overcoming the stigma of dementia. (2012). World Alzheimer Report. [online] Available at: http://www.alz.co.uk/research/world-report-2012
DESeRve study.pdf
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The A to Z of Alzheimer's Disease (AD)

19/2/2019

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What are the genetic risk factors of AD?
How do hyper-phosphorylated tau proteins contribute to Alzheimer's?
Why can't she remember the death of her husband?
Why can't dad differentiate between a brush and a fork?
or recognize his children?
How is he unable to read, write or draw anymore?

Find attached a detailed summary of the science behind the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease. AD: Neuropathology and symptoms
Alzheimer's Disease neuropathology and symptoms.pdf
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Women and Dementia: A Global Research Review

5/2/2019

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.The prevalence of dementia worldwide is increasing. The impact on women will be greater than for men. Women make up a larger proportion of the older population: 62% of people aged over 80 are women.

• More women live with dementia than men. Women are more at risk of developing dementia and the symptoms they live with are more severe.
• Women provide a substantial proportion of informal care to people with dementia, with around two thirds of primary caregivers overall being women. The effects of being a caregiver, on health and well being as well as the financial impact is therefore likely to be greater for women.
• The formal care workforce is predominantly female, particularly in dementia care, providing the majority of health and social care in the community as well as in hospitals and care homes.

Information sourced from Women & Dementia: A Global Research review
Women and Dementia: A Global Research Review (2015).pdf
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Talking about Dementia with children

26/1/2019

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With 900,000 Australians expected to be living with dementia by 2050, what  types of questions will children be asking as they come to know someone living with dementia?

Published by the Mental Health Foundation, UK; "The Milk’s in the Oven" is a beautifully collated and informative booklet about dementia for children and young adults.

The Milk's in the Oven.pdf
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The impact of age on cognition

28/11/2018

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Do brain cells die as we age?
In a healthy brain, brain cells change shape over time, however there is limited actual cell (neuronal) death. Up to 10% is considered a normal part of ageing. Symptomatic dementia occurs when there is a 40% or more loss of neuronal connections in the brain.

What happens when our brain cells (neurons) change shape?
As we age, our neurons undergo structural changes that leads to less efficient connectivity and information processing. Consequently, gradual cognitive changes result as part of normal ageing, like struggling to multitask and hear and understand speech in background noise.
In Alzheimer's disease, brain cells (neurons) change shape in a different way to healthy ageing and by a different process that eventually leads to neuronal atrophy (cell death).

The impact of age on cognition, Murman. D (2015)




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The use of life stories and its influence on persons with dementia

25/10/2018

 
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Grondahl et al, 2017.pdf
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Grøndahl, V., Persenius, M., Bååth, C. and Helgesen, A. (2017). The use of life stories and its influence on persons with dementia, their relatives and staff – a systematic mixed studies review. BMC Nursing, 16 (1).

Dementia is an important predictor of nursing home admissions. Due to progressive dementia symptoms, over time it becomes difficult for persons with dementia to communicate their wishes and participate in decisions concerning their everyday lives. Their well-being, sense of dignity, integrity and personhood are at risk (Grondahl et al, 2017).

Creating people’s life stories is particularly important in dementia care as it enables us to see the person beyond the dementia. The process of making a life story enables the voice of persons with dementia to be heard. However, enabling persons with dementia to tell their own life story can be a challenge due to factors such as memory loss, dexterity and visual loss, and impaired ability to communicate. Joint authorship is referred to as a way of supporting the ability of persons with dementia to contribute to their own story.
After a life story process, persons with dementia often report feeling more positive. Life story work helps aged care staff to see the person with dementia as more than a patient as it enhances their understanding of the person for whom they are caring for (past jobs, likes, dislikes and interests.) Family members can be included in the process and provide personal family photographs, and often appreciate that life story work can make their loved ones feel more visible, present and heard.

Life story reminiscence questions.pdf
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Life story colouring & collage sheets.pdf
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Balance & Alzheimer's disease

9/10/2018

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Alzheimers disease is marked by changes in memory, language and behaviour, however there's an increasing awareness of changes in mobility and its' correlation to cognitive decline. Having worked in dementia units of aged care facilities, I've seen the gradual changes in people's walking abilities. What starts off as a change in gait and stride, can over time lead to missteps, imbalance and falls, increased falls and then the reliance on tub chairs and wheel chairs for mobility.
Part of the story of what helps us to maintain balance involves the vestibular system of the inner ear. This is made up of three semicircular canals, a saccule and utricule, all of which are attached to the cochlea. These three structures, all have tiny hairs (stereocilia) that play a big part in motion detection. These layers of micro hairs within the three structures are arranged in bundles and poke out into an internal gelatinous liquid (endolymph). When this liquid moves, in either of the three structures in response to head and/or body movement, the tiny hair cells bend and send nerve signals to our brain to tell us how to auto correct to find balance.

With Alzheimer's Disease, balance is impaired, not by actual deterioration or damage to the vestibular system but by the inability to access neuronal information.
Neuronal information is inaccessable as neurofibrillary tangles and plaques in the brain of people with Alzheimer's, serve as a barrier to slowing down and eventually blocking the information needed to make readjustments to posture to find balance in movement and gait. But that's just one part of a bigger picture.
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Making memories... a brief introduction to the brain

21/9/2018

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Once Iris learned how to forge cheques, there was no turning back.
Her new skill set became part of her learned memory.
She would never forget the sight of her first set from Tiffany’s.
It was forever etched into her visual cortex.


Memory is the ability to use the past in service of the present. It is the sum total of what we remember; experiences, facts, skills and habits. It is the record of a life lived. Experiences that are emotional or prolonged are what our brains deem worthy of saving to long term memory, however our memories are not fixed entities, but rather they are transformed over time, changing as we revisit them and by our current point of view.
Long-term memories are stored throughout the brain as groups of neurons that are primed to fire together in the same pattern that created the original experience, and each component of a memory is stored in the brain area that initiated it (e.g. groups of neurons in the visual cortex store a sight).

Remembering requires many parts of the brain to work together.
The brains inner layer (hippocampus and parahippocampal regions) work with the brains outer layer (cerebral cortex) to organise, store and retrieve memories. The repeated firing of neural circuits back and forth between the inner brain and the outer brain allows an experience to be recalled and consolidated from short term to long term memories. The simultaneous firing of all these groups constructs the memory in its entirety.

The most commonly associated symptom of Alzheimer’s is memory loss. Alzheimer's does not affect all memory capacities equally.

The first to go is short term memory
- the ability to hold information in an active, readily-available state for a short period of time.
Next affected is episodic memory
-memories of autobiographical events.
Then semantic memory
-memories of the meanings of words & facts about the world. Lastly,
P
rocedural memory
-how to perform tasks and skills.
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Beauty and the brain

16/8/2018

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
In this study, MRI imaging was used to determine whether the activity of distinct cerebral areas of the human brain correlate with the experience of beauty and ugliness. People viewed different styles of paintings (abstract, landscape, portrait and still life) as their brains were scanned for neural activity.
The results showed that:
1 – brain activity for both beautiful and ugly, is in the same cortical areas.
2 – different types of art lit up different parts of the brain.
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Neural correlates of beauty. Neurophysiol (2004) 91: 1699 –1705.pdf
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Art and Neuroplasticity: are they linked?

2/8/2018

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Inspired by a recent panel discussion I attended, Art & Neuroplasticity: are they linked?
One of the speakers sited this article by Shlegel et al.

"How does the brain mediate visual artistic creativity?
We investigated three aspects of cognition vital to many visual artists: creative cognition, perception, and perception-to-action. We found that the art students became more creative via the reorganization of prefrontal white matter ... Moreover, the art students improved in their ability to sketch human figures from observation, and multivariate patterns of cortical and cerebellar activity evoked by this drawing task became increasingly separable between art and non-art students.
Our findings suggest that the emergence of visual artistic skills is supported by plasticity in neuralpathways that enable creative cognition and mediate perceptuomotor integration."

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Schlegel et al 2015.pdf
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Dementia: A month in the life

13/7/2018

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"For those of us living with dementia, our memories are our most valued possessions... when we lose our memories, it doesn't mean we lose emotions that we feel inside."

Wendy, Kath and Christopher are three people living with Alzheimers.
This 13 minute BBC documentary: A month in the life, is a good insight into the struggle and spirit of their journey from early to mid stage dementia.


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Art and the brain in dementia

7/7/2018

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Creative engagement is a big part of my late stage dementia program, for both cognitive stimulation, and to assist in the management of anxiety and agitation.

How is making art cognitively stimulating?

Two functionally specialised pathways are essential for the processing and production of visual information.
1. The ventral visual pathway is involved with recognising what we see
    (our internal visual representations of people, animals, and objects).

2. The dorsal stream, allows us to perceive where an item is located in 
     space and to see a scene as a whole.

We apply these functions when we look at a painting and when we organise the composition of an art piece and interpret spatial location and depth.
Fine motor skills and dexterity: The cortical and sub cortical motor areas, along with the somatosensory pathways, are involved in skilful manipulation of art tools (pencils, pastels, paintbrushes.)

How does art and craft reduce agitation for people living with dementia?


Visual creativity can help people to maintain communication with others when other forms of cognitive functions are markedly impaired.

When people begin to make or paint, they can become so completely absorbed in the process that they enter a state of 'flow.'
Flow is a term coined by Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, to describe a state of happiness. When in flow, the body does not have enough processing power to think about physical feelings, such as agitation, pain or negative emotions.

In addition to making people happier, making art activates many areas across the whole brain and so can foster the integration of emotional, cognitive, and sensory processes.

This is why creative engagement is such a useful tool for late stage dementia.

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Reminiscence bump Sing alongs

22/6/2018

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I sat with my resident as we sang Rum and Coca Cola, one of her favourite songs. It was a hit for the Andrews Sisters in 1945.
My resident was 22 years old at the time. Now at 95, she is unable to articulate or remember the names of people or places. However, she remembers the lyrics to most of the Andrews sisters songs.
Why is this?
Songs that we hear as teenagers tend to remain lifelong favourites because they become hard wired into our memory during a critical time, known as the reminiscence bump. This is explained by what's called differential encoding, or an ability to store events better during early adulthood. You recall more memories from the period of 10 to 25, and the bump has a peak between 16 and 20.
Music can tap deep emotional recall. Unlike speech and remembering faces and places, which are found in specific parts of the brain, music is stored all over the brain like confetti, keeping those specific memories distributed and saved well into our twilight years.


Find attached a selection of The Andrews Sisters sing along sheets and corresponding painting pages for:
Bushel & a Peck, Hold tight, Run Rabbit and Rum & Coca Cola,


Andrews Sisters colouring sheets.pdf
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Read aloud Poetry in dementia care

9/5/2018

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As I went from resident to resident, reading aloud the well known children's poem, she followed me too. She sat at a distance and quietly listened. When I picked myself up to visit the next resident, she did so too, once again seating herself at a distance, sitting quite still as she listened along to The Owl and the Pussy cat again.
The use of poetry might seem counter intuitive, given that people with dementia lose their language, yet studies show that poetry enhances the exchange of people with dementia. From facial, verbal and other bodily responses, its' effect can be seen.
Reading aloud to people with dementia has been found to stimulate memories and imagination. Poetry has the potential to unlock memories and emotions, sometimes remembered as poems that were read by parents or grandparents, and sometimes as poems that people were woo-ed by or wed to!
Poetry recitation was part of the curriculum throughout schools up until about 1950. The response is more visible yet when you read poetry with a group of people living with early onset dementia. People read and recall along with you, mouths visibly moving to 'I wondered lonely as a cloud' by Wordsworth and laughing along quite heartily to the antics of the Triantiwontigongolope!



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Healing words - A study of poetry interventions in dementia care.pdf
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Late stage dementia and sweet cravings

15/4/2018

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Food is a language that can unlock memories for a person living with dementia. From a young age, we begin associating memories and feelings to different dishes, as meals are one of the constants that bring us together as a shared human experience.

Many people with dementia experience weight loss as a result of appetite loss. Medical problems that cause weight loss in dementia can include: chronic infections, constipation, depression, medications, pain and thyroid disease. As the disease progresses, taste buds diminish (to as little as 10%), insulin levels in the brain drop, and some people experience intense cravings for high calorie foods.


Recently I've been focusing on providing visually appealing high calorie Trifles for my end of life, late stage dementia residents. Trifles are a dessert made with fruit, jelly, sponge, custard, cream and a dash of sherry. They were a popular dessert from the 1950's through to the 1980's. We have been making Trifles of different textures and flavours, from Madeira with mango jelly to Berry filled Jelly Roll with custard and cream combinations. To the delight of the residents, seated and watching as the trifles are assembled layer by layer, we have reminisced about trifles past; with or without sherry? With tinned fruits and flavoured jelly? For special occasions or regular family get togethers?
In addition to serving up high calorie treats, memories have been found and shared from a time when fridges were a new household item and desserts were made with blancmange, canned fruit and tinned cream.

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Resident looking at a 1970's Trifle Recipe Card
Understanding late stage dementia and Caring for someone with dementia (Eating) help sheet
Understanding late stage dementia.pdf
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Caring for someone with dementia - eating.pdf
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1950's Reminiscing in Elderly Care

24/2/2018

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For the month of February, I have run a "Back to the 50's" program with my residents.
We've looked at 1950's headlines and remembered Elvis, Marilyn, The Space Race and The Queen's Coronation.
We've looked at Laurie Richards photo's from the 1950's and reminisced about laundry day, supermarket shopping, black & white television and the pace of life.
We've coloured in Blues, Soul and Rock and Roll colouring sheets as we've listened to Nina Simone and danced a little to Little Richard.
We finished up the month with famous weddings from the 1950's and remembered wedding days, wedding traditions and even wedding songs. One of the ladies shared a little rendition of 'Always.' It was the icing on the cake!

Days may not be fair Always,
That's when I'll be there Always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But Always.

Always, by Ella Fitzgerald

My 1950's reminiscing resources can be found HERE. Enjoy!
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Remembering 1950's everyday life

17/2/2018

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For the month of February, we went back to the 50's. We remembered Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, the Queen's Coronation, the 1956 Olympics, the space race and so much more. However, I found my residents were most engaged when our reminiscing of the 50's shifted from the news of the time to the everyday life. Perhaps these were the memories best preserved?
We used a selection of Laurie Richards photo's as visual prompts to start the stroll down memory lane.
Laurie Richards was an Australian commercial photographer from the 1950's to the 1970's. His photo's have been archived by Museums Victoria. As he was a commercial photographer, the setting is staged for product placement, from the hills hoist and lawn mowers, to type writers and televisions, making them a great reminiscence prompt for remembering everyday life from the 1950's.

Here are some of the memories found:
Laundry
“Monday was laundry day. The men went back to work, and the women to laundry.”
“You didn't wear high heels! It was barefoot with basket and you put everything all the way along the one line, then popped a stick up along the middle to lift the whole thing up.”
“We used starch to stiffen collars and doilies.”

Technology
“There were only three televisions in the whole street.”
“It was mostly news and it would finish by 10pm.”
“We didn't call it a record player, it was a gramophone!”

Customer Service
“I would give my list to the shop keeper then wait and chat with the neighbours while he went around the shop getting all the items.”
“They would fill the tank and check the tyres while you sat in the car and waited.”


A selection of Laurie Richards 1950's photo's.pdf
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Remembering The Scouts

9/2/2018

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It has been 108 years since the Boy Scouts were established. With the anniversary week celebrated from February 11th, this week we reminisced about the Scouting movement. With vintage photo's of scouts cleaning cars, shining shoes and even washing an elephant, we talked about “Bob a job” week, when scouts assisted the community for the payment of a bob to raise money for the Scouting Association.
One of my residents was a former local girls scout leader and her husband a boy scout leader. She brought along to our discussion group, a felted wool scout hat, neckerchief with woggle and a Scouting for boys book.
The residents were delight to hold each item and share their scouting memories, from camping, tying knots to the community spirit of the boys scouts. All were saddened that something that was once such a vibrant part of their communities growing up and raising families, has disappeared to ipads and lap tops.

With three fingers raised we signed off with the Scout Promise.


On my honour I promise that I will do my best -
To do my duty to God and to the Queen,
To help other people, and
To keep the Scout Law.
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Bob a job vintage photos and merit badges.pdf
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Reminiscing about Cars

27/1/2018

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With a selection of Holden ad's from 1954 through to 1973, we reminisced and remembered Holden cars and cars of that era. We shared stories about road trips before seatbelts, first cars, price per gallon of fuel and all things driving, back in the day when men opened car doors, sisters were chaperoned and wives were chauffeured!


Here are some of the memories found:

“I never liked Holden cars. I worked for GM. We made Austin cars. Now that was a good car. We made 125 of them a day!”

“Dad had one of the first Holden's rolled off the line in Melbourne.”

“I had three brothers to drive me around. Mum didn't want me driving cars.”

“When we got married, my husband did all the driving, but once I got a licence, it was all me.”

“Dad had a burgundy car. He was so precious about it, that it was no pleasure to drive in at all.”

“Yes, I had a Holden Torana, 1973. It was mustard yellow!”

“I liked the Holden's, especially when they started making the sporty ones.”

Holden cars colouring sheet.pdf
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Puzzles in Dementia Care

23/1/2018

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When we think back to being kids, puzzles were a go-to for a good time. That's because when we are engaged in the process of putting together puzzles, dopamine (a feel good hormone) is released from the brain.

Currently I'm trialling puzzles at work with my dementia care residents. With Australia day as a theme this month, I've made up Australian animals laminated puzzles ranging from 4 to 12 pieces for my late onset dementia residents. Responses to the puzzles have ranged from completely disinterested, mildly amused to completely immersed.

“Ah, it's a kangaroo,” she said. This lady loves to knit. In a moment of downtime away from her knitting needles we talked about kangaroo's as we pieced together a 6 piece laminated puzzle.
Kangaroo's can jump three metres high and nine metres wide in one leap. She raised an eyebrow mildly amused.

This man lives with late onset dementia. He no longer understands the goal of activities but with step by step cuing, has some awareness of the task steps. I sat with him as we tried a four piece Emu puzzle. After I arranged the emu for him, he moved the pieces out then back in like a zooming lens, zooming out then back in for about 15 minutes, he was completely immersed in the activity. Our next puzzle will be an activity that he used to be interested in. As a young man he was a keen horse rider, so that will be a good place to start to tailor the activity more to his individual interests.



Australian Animals fun facts and photos for puzzle.pdf
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Purposeful occupation can help with reduction in agitation, physical and verbal outbursts and most importantly, promotes quality of life in our patients, especially those with middle and late stage dementia.
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Increasing the ability to recall life events in dementia care

6/1/2018

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"When we were growing up, dad grew flowers for the Easter show and my job was to count every petal on the smaller buds. He used to grow snow peas too, all along the side of the house. They grew all the way up to the roof!”
People’s artistic, imaginative and emotional responses can remain strong for years after the onset of dementia. As cognitive abilities deteriorate, creative inhibitions decrease too.
I've found this to be the case when I run my Fairy in a bell jar craft and was initially surprised by the number of men who were engaged by this activity (my residents are former war veterans.) Their frustrations and agitations would soon start to ease as we began by listening to Celtic fairy songs and smelling fresh flowers.
Colouring in is a childhood activity and an ability that many people remember and retain. Sometimes we finish up this activity with a little fairy themed poetry, but it's the stories that people share and remember along the way that is the real highlight of this childhood like reminiscence craft.

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Playful Engagement in Aged Care

16/12/2017

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Laughter really is the best medicine! It helps your blood vessels to relax and expand which increases blood flow to your brain and heart resulting in stress relief and improvements to your immune system, a reduction in aches, pains and reduced blood sugar levels!
Science aside, laughter establishes/ restores a positive emotional climate and a sense of connection between people. The SMILE study, conducted by UNSW found that bringing a smile to the face of an elderly person through playful interactions can significantly reduce agitation in nursing home residents.
Trialling imaginative ways of engaging with my residents is one of the favourite parts of my job. With the lead up to Christmas am employing props: Elf on the Shelf and fun photo booth props to take portraits of my residents. The responses have been positive and varied, from making people laugh and feel at ease, to residents playing puppet with the elf. A very positive experience for all!


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Engaging and Connecting through music in aged care

12/12/2017

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Our weekly art therapist begins every session with a small warm up activity. Recently she was showing residents black and white photos of vintage Hollywood stars. A few of the residents recognised the faces immediately and rattled off their names ... Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando....
One of the women quietly muttered "I'm no good at this stuff.” We were looking at a photo of Judy Garland. I started singing a tune from The Wizard of Oz . . . "We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz..."
Her face lit up, “yes, I remember this.”
Music is uniquely effective in helping us to remember as it creates a link to a person's past. This can help us to connect with people in the present.










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Creative ageing in aged care

29/10/2017

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People living in Aged Care are often there by necessity and not choice: when families fear leaving parents alone at home who can no longer carry out self-care tasks, such as bathing, dressing or eating. Not all people entering a nursing home are in a cognitive state compromised by dementia. All residents can find nursing homes to be lacking in mental stimulation. Studies have found some residents to spend up to 17 hours a day confined to a bed/ chair, with less than 10% of their time engaged in creative activities!
People tend to focus deeply during creative activities, become more present, and forget about aches, pains, and other things that would otherwise cause agitation.
The Creative Ageing theory states that being creative not only decreases agitation, it enhances general well being and quality of life through meaningful occupation and social engagement.

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Who provides Creative Care in Aged Care?
One of the care strategies in residential aged care is to implement recreational activities to promote better quality of life and social engagement. Participating in these activities on an everyday basis can be utilized as part of a non-pharmacological treatment strategy to alleviate BPSD, as well as satisfy the basic human need for meaningful involvement in activities. These activities are carried out by Activity coordinators.

An Australian Study, by IP Demecs in 2015, found that many activity coordinators found that dementia itself can be a barrier to the implementation of activities. Only a few activity coordinators stated that creative activities should be used to overcome these barriers. Typically activity coordinators did not use creative activities for managing BPSD; they had other strategies such as one-to-one activity, redirection and alternative therapies such as massage to involve people with dementia in activities and improve apathy and withdrawn behaviour.
Creative ageing. Ilona Pappne Demecs.pdf
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The use of creative activities in dementia in residential aged care facilities in Australia: A cross-sectional descriptive study .
Ilona Pappne Demecs .
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Balloon tennis in elderly care

24/10/2017

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Frank Sinatra started to croon as I handed out a fly swatter to each of the ladies. Seated in a circle, they looked on amused as I blew up one decent sized confetti balloon. One shook it with both hands, asking how did they get the confetti in there!
I then balanced the balloon on my fly swatter before I hit it across the room. They stretched, swiped and swooshed the balloon with their swatters as we played tennis with it across the circle. Occasionally a leg would kick out to reach it. All exercised their vocal chords, hooting, laughing and singing along to the tunes. One of the ladies stood up during the game to dance slowly to a song, gently swirling her fly swatter to 'Don't fence me in'. The music had stirred some memories.

Balloon tennis in aged care, is an easy, social game, that's great for gross motor skills and suitable across different levels of cognitive and physical abilities. Even residents who can not participate in the game physically, can enjoy watching the game, following the balloon with their eyes.
Participation can help foster connections between residents and between staff and residents. It can lessen anxiety and make people living with Dementia feel more engaged with life. But most of all, it's fun!




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