AlzHub

Free Publication: Visiting Someone With Dementia / Alzheimer's

Visiting with someone that has Alzheimer's or dementia can cause some anxiety for a lot of people.  Probably most people.  Both friends and immediate family wonder what to do or say, how to act, what the visit will be like.  This anxiety keeps a lot of people from making visits.  More out of the fear of the unknown than anything else. 

I came across a very good publication from Baycrest called: Visiting with Elders: Strategies to help you have a meaningful and rich visit with an elderly loved one that helps answer most of the questions you may have.  It is an amazing resource that takes the mystery out of your visits and helps you make your visits something everyone hopes they will be.

From the Baycrest website:

Baycrest has produced a free online resource to help families learn new ways of communicating and interacting with an elderly loved one who has Alzheimer's or other dementia. 

As our elders live into old age, with increased likelihood of chronic illness, institutionalization becomes a necessary choice for some for the provision of care. Families and relationships will continue, though ways of connecting with one another may change. These can be difficult and emotionally stressful times, but there are many ways to have a positive and meaningful visit.

That's right, this information is free.

Follow the link below to go to the website where you can click the link to read or download the publication:

Visiting with Elders:  Strategies to help you have a meaningful and rich visit with an elderly loved one.

Memory Book

Mom always liked reminiscing about things she remembered from years ago, especially her parents, sisters and the house my sister and I grew up in.

Like most Alzheimer’s patients, mom’s long term memory was pretty good while her short term memory was very bad.  But sometimes even the people, places and events from long ago would get mixed up. 

One day, while looking at online photo printing services, I saw that one of the products they offered was a photo book.  What a great idea.  I could get some photos together and make mom what I called a Memory Book.

I went through all our family photo’s and picked out some of her parents, her sisters, dad, their wedding day, relatives that we saw all the time, our old house, pets, etc. and put them all together in the book and labeled them so she could always read who and what they were even if she couldn’t remember.  I even put them in chronological order as a guide to when things happened even though I wasn’t sure she’d notice.  I thought maybe on some level that would help. 

The book was a hit.  When mom asked about someone or something that was in the book, I could bring it out and we’d look through it.  It never failed to bring a smile to her face.  Being able to see the photo’s really helped her memory too.  When she saw the photo's she remembered names of people that I had forgotten.

Of course, when she put the book away in a drawer, she’d forget about it.  Out of sight, out of mind.  But I was always able to find it pretty quick.  We were able to spend a lot of time looking through that book together.

--I made and purchased my book (typically called photobooks on the websites) through Shutterfly.com.  The quality was very good.  Now that mom’s gone, that book means a lot to me.  There are several other online photo printing services that have something very similar such as:  KodakGallery.com, Photoworks.com and Snapfish.com.

Technorati Tags: Reminisce, photo book, memory book, photos, photography

Brain Exercises

There's a never ending stream of articles about how exercising your mind can help to ward off or delay the onset of Alzheimer's.  Unfortunately, other than crossword puzzles or reading, these articles don't really give much in the way of examples of some exercises for your mind.

I just came across a review by Ted Kreiter in the January/February issue of the Saturday Evening Post for a book called What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Alzheimer's Disease by Gayatri Devi, M.D., and Deborah Mitchell.

I'm pointing out the review itself because it provides specific examples of three types of brain exercises: language boosters, memory boosters, and visual/perceptual boosters.

These are exercises that I haven't seen in any other articles about Alzheimer's although I have done a couple of the language boosters before.  These are also exercises that everyone can do and seem like a good idea regardless of whether Alzheimer's prevention is your motive or not. For me, some of these brain exercises are the kinds of things I haven't done since I got out of school.

Check out the review, give these a try and have fun!

Secrets of Voice-Over Success: Top Voice-Over Actors Reveal How They Did It - Joan Baker

Joan Baker has written and released a new book titled Secrets Of Voice-Over Success: Top Voice-Over Actors Reveal How They Did It.

While the subject of the book may not be Alzheimer's related, all of the author proceeds from the book will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association in honor of her father.

David Hyde Pierce, Emmy award winner and national board member of the Alzheimer's Association, has written the forward to the book.

Links:

Secrets of Voice-Over Success : Top Voice-Over Actors Reveal How They Did It

Sentient Publications

David Hyde Pierce & New Author Sensation, Joan Baker, Host Book Launch Party for Joan's Secrets of Voice-Over Success

The Sunshine On My Face

When dealing with someone with Alzheimer's, it can be hard sometimes to come up with activities or even things to talk about that aren't too difficult or confusing to the Alzheimer's sufferer. 

When I saw the book "The Sunshine On My Face"; I knew that this was written by someone who not only saw a need, but understood the need and found a way to fill it.

I've watched my mother go from reading all the time to rarely reading now.  It's too hard for her to comprehend and remember paragraphs, much less complete novels.  When I talk to her or tell her something, I need to try and distill it down to one sentence when possible.  Beyond that, I start to lose her attention.

That's why I knew that this book was written by someone who was familiar with Alzheimer's.  The words and ideas are short.  One sentence.  Easy to follow and relate to.  The author calls her book a "two-lap book", which means that when you sit next to each other, it's large enough to fit over both laps.  This is a great way to interact and engage them in reading the book with you.

This is one of those ideas that seems so obvious once you see it.  I put a link to the book in the left sidebar.  Check it out.

Patti Davis interview on KPCC

President Reagan's daughter, Patti Davis, visited Kitty Felde at public radio station KPCC on Feb. 1. 2005 to talk about her book The Long Goodbye and the impact of her father's battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Click here to listen.  The interview is a little over 20 minutes long.