Activities for Early, Middle, & Late Stage Dementia – Page 2

Category: Activities for Early, Middle, & Late Stage Dementia

Look Inside Elder Care Conversations: Amping Up Your Activity Programming

Download this free sample from a module from Elder Care Conversations! This sample contains helpful information and insight on activities of daily living (ADLs), and is filled with brain teasers, trivia quizzes, word games, discussion questions, and imagination and reminiscing exercises. Elder Care Conversations: A… by on Scribd Excerpted from Elder Care Conversations: Amping Up Your Activity Programming by David…

ADLs: You Would Resist, Too, If It Happened to You

Many elders need help with Activities of Daily Living, commonly known as ADLs. They include dressing, bathing, grooming (hair and nail care, brushing teeth), continence care (also known as toileting), and eating and drinking (nutrition and hydration). These are often considered tasks to be completed, but if seen as opportunities for building relationships, everyone’s satisfaction increases. One of the phrases that is like fingernails on a chalkboard is “resistance to care,” implying that the older adult we intend to help is ungrateful and cranky. Whether or not people have dementia, people say “no”…

How to Find a Story

This is a guest post by Rosann Moore, CTRS, from www.CaregiversActivitySource.com. Mention President Dwight Eisenhower, and my dad will tell you the story of how he encountered him one time in England during World War II. While performing training drills with about 20 other soldiers, my dad saw General Eisenhower pull up in a black limousine. He got out of his car and jumped atop a tank. He gave an impromptu speech to my dad and his fellow soldiers about how they would soon do something very special. Eisenhower could not be specific with what it was…

Tips for Communicating with People with Dementia

We communicate in some way with everyone around us all day. It is easy to think of communication as spoken words, but we also communicate with writing, signs, gestures, expressions, intonation, volume, colors, sounds, and even our clothing. Impaired or diminished memory, attention and concentration, perception and visuospatial functions, hearing, and visual acuity all make it difficult for people with dementia to communicate effectively. When communicating with a person with dementia, keep these tips in mind: Ask the person, “What would you like me to call you?” Always speak respectfully and use age-appropriate language when communicating with older adults with…

30 Activities to Do in 30 Seconds or Less

Planned activities do not happen all day long. Individuals with the ability to think through how to spend their time can initiate being with others or spending time alone. Persons with dementia often cannot do this. They need help—not only in structured activity—but also in relational interactions throughout the day. These 30 simple, unstructured interactions are not on the activity calendar, but they are probably the most important of the ways that we interact with persons with dementia. Greet the person by name Make eye contact and smile Shake hands Ask someone…

Q&A with Lydia Burdick, author of ‘The Sunshine on My Face’

10 years ago you wrote the first book in the Two-Lap® Series, The Sunshine on My Face. How did you develop the idea for such a unique book? My mother had mid- to late-stage dementia, and I was feeling frustrated during my visits with her. She would basically sit in the den, have something to eat and drink, and watch TV. Mom wasn’t speaking or smiling. We were definitely not doing anything together that brought happiness to either one of us during our visits. One visit, I casually gave my mother a magazine to look at.

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