jerusha

Be careful..My friend works for a hand surgeon. His business is way up because of the wii,,lol. He is not complaining. People who do not know the correct stances or physical dicipline that goes along with these sports(people who have trained for years like tennis pros) end up with hand injuries. Not good for Alz/dem. Attention span is not there. Although I wish I could afford one for myself..but I would prolly end up in the Dr.'s office myself afterwards. Jerusha

HMMM, they sound like all 27 of my residents!!! Try that one!! lol... I work at an Assisted living facility for Alz/Dementia. I am the A.D./ I spend all day with my residents, most who have the same M.O. The Validation theory works better than the reality orientation theory. Let me explain. There is no arguing. The man who is looking for his wife? Tell him she will be back later. Tell the other one, that the bus will be here in an hour. Every time he asks, tell him it will be an hour, so just relax and have some coffee, or sit down and wait, or whatever you need to say. Reality orientation does not work. Telling a res with alz/dem that there is no bus, or that his wife wont be back for 8 hours, or that they are who they are , at so and so place, and you are who you are, and they are who they are and bla bla bla,,DOES NOT WORK. Validation theory does. It is this..."I need to catch the bus now, right now" instead of saying that there is no bus,,,say.."what color is the bus? Does it come by here often? Is the bus driver nice? Where does the bus go? Is your wife on the bus? How much does it cost to ride the bus now adays? When they answer these questions just say "oh"..and ask em another...then say "Oh really?" Intervene the questions with questions about themselves, like "where did you grow up?" and get them on a different track as you intertwine questions about the bus, or their wife or whatever they are obsessing about with questions about themselves. Before you know it they have forgotten about the bus, or their wife. Once you get to that point, you take them to an activity, sit them down. Iknow it is hard. It is not easy. If you can do this you are a miracle worker,and that is your job right? Too bad miracle workers get paid crap!!..lol...keep practicing this technique. It will not work at first. It may not work till the 40th time. But there WILL be a point where it will work. The wanderer and the "walker"? WALK THEM! Im like, "you wanna walk? Hell ...we gonna WALK!" I walk the crap outta them. Hopefully your facility has a walking path, if you are taking in wanderers, you better. After 6 laps, they will tire and eventually want to take a break. Time. People need time to adapt to change. It can take a month or so for res to get used to new surroundings. Assimulating a new client or resident is an investment. Over time, like any person adapting to change, they will adjust. Meds??? Some res arent on the right meds. Someone who is anxious all the time could benefit from an antidepressant or antianxiety drug. That is what they are for. Tell the family member the symptoms and have them tell the doctor. I am completely against overmedicating for the comfort of the caregiver, but if the resident is nonresponsive to behavior therapy there may be other problems that you are not aware of like depression or anxiety and the proper dosage of the proper medication does wonders for the residents well being. You just have to do all that you can to make them comfortable and healthy and safe. GOOD LUCK!

Hi there, Im Jerusha , 34 yr/female, and I just found this sight yesterday and I love the connection to other A.D.'s .Im in Imperial Beach and I was a caregiver for a year, and A.D. for a year now. Its a 29 bed Alz/Dementia assisited living. Its a challenge but I love it. Koosh balls are great for res. who are immobile. Have them hold a koosh ball. They are rubber and have these hair like stringy things on them, they come in all colors, Target or walmart. Caged parakeets or birds are good too. Set the cage in front of them and they will enjoy just watching the bird. We finally got the OK to get a bird of our own! Caring for the pet is a great activity for the higher fuctioning Alz/dem. resident. ^The ones who cannot participate in the caring love watching. Remember, with Alz/dem...even if they are not participating, the fact that activity is going on around them is very stimulating in and of itself. If they are following the activity with their eyes, they are benefiting in some way. Do not put low functioning res in their rooms and feel like you have to do one on one all the time. Bring them where the activity is! Make activity,,then have them there to watch and every so often make physical contact, like touching them or talking to them. Buy some punch balls, remove the rubber band, and hit it back and forth. My res will do that for hours if I let them. Low functioning ones love to watch from their chairs. They will follow the ball with their eyes. Good food, or special treats are great. Nothing like a peice of choc(watch for diabetics) or candy. Something that they never get. We have an occassional McDonalds night. Double cheeseburgers(99cents a peice)and reg fries(99cents a peice). Thats only $60.00 for 30 residents! They freaking love it. Never heard it so quiet during dinner time. I put McDonalds placemats at their seats . Remember, McDonalds has been around since the 40's, its nastalgic. KFC night is good too. People who usually are feeders will all of a sudden feed themselves! (its a miracle!!) I ask for extra buckets to use as centerpeices for each table. I could go on forever,,but the key is...create activity, and have the lower functioning res be there, participating or not, they are absorbing what is going on around them, wether you think so or not..GOOD LUCK!!!

I am an activity director at a small Alzheimers Dementia facility in San Diego. I lead all the activeis including morning exercises...First, say good morning to everyone individually and make sure they are awake! Make sure you are at the front of the room, with everyone facing you. Be LOUD!!!! Be energetic. Use the same music every time, and use the same routine EVERYTIME! At first it will be hard, but I promise that after the first or second week, it will get better, they WILL respond to the repetitiveness. You must persevere. Consistency and routine are crucial. I do a 20 minute routine pretty successfully every morning. I have them doing Taebo now, they really like the punching. They all remain in their chairs. I call out individual residents by name throughout and tell them how great they are doing. Sometimes I only have 4 people, the other day I had 10! (Our facility has 25 residents, very small,but cozy I love it). Be loud, energetic,,(almost manic), verbal, and consistent. Make a huge deal out of those that do it!!! And do it every day at the same time and the same place. It is amazing how all of a sudden they will respond. You can do it!

Hello all,,, Pass out fly swatters to residents sitting in a circle. Blow up a balloon and draw a big fly on it. It is truly amazing the powerful feeling you get when you have a flyswatter in your hand. Residents love hitting the balloon with the swatter, as do I,,lol....Jerusha