Pets of many kinds help entertain and bring a smile to the lips of Alzheimer’s patients.  I saw my mom develop an affinity for a cat and dog she never had before.  They became almost the center of her life.  When we had to move her to our home 275 miles from where she was living, we brought her cat.  This helped Mother adjust much better than if we’d found another home for Kitty.

When Mother lived at the nursing home, I saw how residents responded to the cats and dogs that visited on “pet day.”  Perhaps the animal reminded them of a pet they recently had.  Or it might bring back memories of a pet from childhood.

However, dogs can serve another purpose, as related at Alzheimer’s Weekly in She Changed Our Lives.  Here, Roberta Bienenfeld tells the story of Nyja, an Alzheimer’s Assistance Dog and how she has helped Jerry Alexander become more active again. 

This concept of Alzheimer’s Assistance Dogs is connected with Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) and enables the Alzheimer’s patient to be more independent and more animated (in a positive way).  Read Jerry and Jan Alexander’s story and learn how Nyja added brightness to an otherwise bleak future.  Nyja didn’t solve all Jerry’s challenges by any means, but enables him to be more mobile and for Jan to be less house bound.  They even went on an Alaskan cruise with Nyja. 

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

Assistance Dogs for Alzheimer’s Patients

“My future is dwindling away,” he comments when asked if he’s afraid of the days ahead.

Al Martinez’s younger sister had this disease, too, so this explains his great interest in promoting awareness and the Sunday Alzheimer’s Walk through downtown LA, where he and Buddy Epstein discussed the ramifications of Alzheimer’s.

If you want to learn, from an Alzheimer’s victim’s voice, what it feels like, so you can better understand what they’re going through, you’ll find this article very informative.  I discovered, when caring for Mother and Auntie, that the more I learned about Alzheimer’s and what my family members were experiencing, the better I could care from them.

Post from: Blisstree

Alzheimer’s From the Victim’s Voice

At the San Luis Obispo County website, we learn about Martha and Catherine Talavera, Siblings Take on the Challenge of Caring for Their Ailing Mother.  When their mother, Frances,  experienced several strokes and needed full time care, the sisters responded by changing their lives and all three living in Catherine’s home.  Martha gave up her job while Catherine works full time from her home office. 

You can read more about their story, why they decided to change their lives and where they’re finding support and encouragement. Each family’s situation is different, but perhaps you can glean some insight by reading about Martha, Catherine and Frances’ story.

Post from: Blisstree

One Family’s Solution for Caregiving

I so often tried to discover what it was like inside Mother’s mind and thus understand what she was facing…where she was (what era) that day, who she thought I was, what she liked and disliked.  If we could have talked about her disease while she was able to communicate verbally, it would have helped us both.  But I didn’t know to ask her at that time and she didn’t know to tell me.

I did try to learn as much as I could about Alzheimer’s and found one book, Living in the Labyrinth, written by an Alzheimer’s victim, available at that time very helpful. 

Liz’s post, People With Alzheimer’s Disease Speak Out , got me thinking again about the

 necessity of caregivers learning from the patients, whether the caregivers are professionals or family members.

Post from: Blisstree

Learning from Alzheimer’s Patients

These speeches may be a few years old but they still speak volumes about what it’s like to have Alzheimer’s disease.

Read Norma, Marilyn, and Cynthia’s speeches to get more insight into what life with Alzheimer’s disease is really like.

Post from: Blisstree

People with Alzheimer’s Disease speak out.

Created by Mike Bockoven and Scott Kingsley, Living Through Windows is a fantastic and moving multimedia presentation profiling the patients, families, and staff at Third Phillips.

Post from: Blisstree

Alzheimer’s Disease: Living Through Windows.

“This is a campaign to raise awareness and funding for the sacrificial volunteer work of hundreds of thousands of quilters who provide quilts for sick babies, orphans, homeless people, nursing homes, cancer and Alzheimer’s patients, soldiers and victims of disaster – those most in need of the touch of God’s love and comfort that quilts represent.”

This event will climax a month of quilting events, including those surrounding Centennial Stitches – Oklahoma History in Quilts.

Post from: Blisstree

Alzheimer’s Quiltmakers Included in Charity Quilt Day

Eventually, they asked me to put together a small photo album with pictures of family members, as well as her most recent home and girlhood home, if possible.

All of this helped the staff know my mom better and hopefully care for her better.  I felt this showed they cared enough to get to know each Alzheimer’s patient.

A news article recently appeared in the Express and Star, a UK newspaper, Patient details to help care, about learning more about Alzheimer’s patients in order to give better care.

“Nurses are being asked to find out about the hobbies and work history of patients at Dudley’s main hospital to help improve treatment.”  To achieve this, relatives have been asked to fill out questionnaires.  This should enable staff to meet the needs of the patients better and provide individualized care.

It is difficult for staff of hospitals, nursing homes and nursing homes to know each patient individually, especially if it is a large establishment.  However, something like these questionnaires keeps the information at their fingertips (maybe a “mouse click” nowadays) to enable them to personalize care.

Post from: Blisstree

Take Time to Know the Alzheimer’s Patient

I was fortunate that all my family members, and my husband’s parents, who needed either assisted living or nursing home care, received good treatment.  There were minor complaints…such as one person finding fault with the food and desiring to help the chef cook.  But she admitted she couldn’t taste food like she once did, whether at the assisted living, in restaurants, or when still in her own home.

On the other side of the spectrum, we encounter reports like the one Mona Johnson refers to on The Tangled Neutron, a layperson’s input about dementia and eldercare.  Mona discusses an article in Forbes that analyzes the nursing and assisted living situation.

With the increasing senior population, the need for more senior care and need for more nursing and assisted living homes, as well as staff, we are reaching a situation where most of these residences will be run by larger corporations rather than by a family or small organization.  Families of Alzheimer’s patients will need resources to research which are best for their relative.         Since everyone is different, families differ, and situations do, there is not one right choice for everyone.  Research and learn, ask questions, and become involved in your family member’s care.

Post from: Blisstree

Concern Over Nursing Homes for Alzheimer’s Patients

You may hear on the news how a patient got outside and wandered away from a nursing home or their home. They seem to have some instinct, some radar, that tells them when someone isn’t in the room.

I had trouble with Auntie and Mother concerning this.  Mother even learned to take a broom handle and slip open a hook above her normal reach on a door.

In the nursing home where Mother lived for nearly nine years, there was a keyed elevator.  One had to insert a key to use it.  That way the residents couldn’t simply push the button, open the door, slip in and descend to the ground floor.  However, many would find the key, so the staff continually had to change its location. 

(I didn’t have to worry because Mother was in a wheel chair much of the time she lived there, so didn’t try to escape.  However, she did try many escape maneuvers when she resided in a previous home for a few months.  She even packed her suitcase and set it outside a back door, then slipped out another door and was “caught” crossing the parking lot with her bag.

“I almost fooled them,” she told me.)

Post from: Blisstree

Keeping the Keys Out of Reach of Alzheimer’s Patients