Image: sxc.hu

• Record the memories
• Jot them down
• Pull out pictures and have the patient tell you about them (if they’re able)
• Make some scrapbook pages with these memories
• Involve the whole family so they can have memories of doing this with  the Alzheimer’s family member
• Take the patient to July 4th events if they’re capable
• Prepare foods the family member did or enjoyed on these occasions in earlier years
• Join in any July 4th activities at the nursing home, if your family member resides there.

What do you do to remember the Fourth of July as you parent your parent?

Post from: Blisstree

July 4th for Alzheimer’s Parents

Image: sxc.hu

I’ve taught scrapbooking and family history activities at a local nursing home and enjoyed this experience as much as the patients seemed to.

We made a scrapbook with a page for each resident who attended the sessions.  Using photos taken by the nursing home staff over a period of time, an activity coordinator and I arranged the pictures, chatted with the residents about them, and encouraged each patient to choose colors and embellishments.  Each did as much or as little as they could.

We kept the procedure very simple. using materials I compiled.  I also provided a family history questionnaire that we filled out with the patients as they finished the scrapbooking page.  They really enjoyed chatting about the memories these questions evoked.

The scrapbook we produced was kept at the nursing home, as something the residents could look at again and again.

Does anyone have similar experiences they would like to share?

(I do put together the supplies for these scrapbooking and family histories, along with instructions, so others, in their home or in nursing homes, can become involved in activities of their own.)

Post from: Blisstree

Scrapbooking with Alzheimer’s Patients

“No,” I replied, “It’s too confusing for her.”

After discussing the situation with the staff and assessing Mother’s condition myself, I never took her back to our home from the nursing home.  In her case, she was 275 miles from her home because I had to move her to mine in another state.  Mine never became “home” to her, and she really couldn’t understand why she had stayed with Jim and me for several months.

Living a Life in the Past

By the time she was in a nursing home, she had transported herself to a former life.  Bringing her to our home would have been very confusing for Mother.

So….we celebrated holidays with her at the nursing home.  The staff there planned festivities, special family dinners, New Year’s parties, Mother’s Day buffet, Thanksgiving dinner.  At first Mother thought we took her to a fancy restaurant when we all dined in the home’s gaily decorated activity room.

When the grandchildren and I joined her for parties, she tapped to the music, wore fancy hats, enjoyed tea and cookies.  “What nice children,” she remarked and smiled at the festivities.

I realize Mother enjoyed these times, even though she might not know where she actually was.  We often attended parties of the past (in her mind) and visited people she once knew. 

Your/Their Home Isn’t Always Best

If I had insisted in taking her the 20 miles to our home and had her join our celebrations, she may have become very confused.  She had developed her comfortable, familiar world at the nursing home.

Therefore, don’t feel you must take your Alzheimer’s family member to your home, to her home, to a relative’s home, or even out to eat if they have gone beyond the present into the past.  They actually may be happier if you joined them at the nursing home, as Mother was.

I look back on these times and remember them with peace and happiness, too.

(Amazon image)

Post from: Blisstree

Not Home for the Holidays – Celebrating in the Nursing Home

My grandchildren and I enjoyed tea parties with my mom when she resided in the nursing home.  They became a ritual, even after Mother no longer really knew what it was all about.  She smiled and chattered and seemed to enjoy the children.  From this evolved memories the youngsters and I shall treasure.

Why not plan tea parties for your family members in the nursing home?  Victorian tea parties can be such fun.

Read about one my friend planned for her mother at Seasoned Citizen Activities.  You may enjoy organizing one for a family member.  Perhaps you can find someone who does this on a regular basis…hosting tea parties.

(Image from Art of Appreciation Gourmet Gift Baskets)

Related Posts:

Tea Parties for Alzheimer’s Patients

Tea Time at Alzheimer’s Notes – Caregivers Sharing

Tea Time at Alzheimer’s Notes – Tea Time With Mother

Post from: Blisstree

Plan a Victorian Tea Party for Your Alzheimer’s Patient

Moving an Alzheimer’s family member to a nursing home presents a heartwrenching challenge for many people.  Some have made promises that they would never do this.  Others feel it’s their responsibility to care for their parent, spouse or sibling at home.

However, there comes a time, I realized, when I couldn’t care for my mother, and she couldn’t care for her sister any longer   Mother was developing Alzheimer’s when I had to make other arrangements for the sister with Alzheimer’s who lived with her.

Mother finally needed more care than I could give her when I moved her to the nursing home full time.  I had to realize I wasn’t superwoman and there was a point when both of us would become unable to function.

I had to make the decision for both Mother and Auntie.  I also had to help Mother adjust to Auntie being away from her.  These did turn out to be decisions that resulted in good care for both ladies and were decisions they eventually accepted with grace.

Moving one’s family member to a nursing home isn’t an easy decision.  It becomes emotionally draining and sometimes objectionable to other family members.  

When did you realize you had to make this decision? 

Post from: Blisstree

When Did You Move Your Alzheimer’s Loved One to a Nursing Home?

Assisted Living – This generally refers to a home where residents are fairly independent, but may need help with medications, cooking, and housekeeping.  By living there, they are in a safe environment, enjoy social activities, and have meals prepared and laundry done.

Some assisted living homes are set up to give more help than others.  Some also have a nursing home on the premises where residents can move as they require more care.  My mother-in-law lived in an assisted living home for four years because she was going blind and couldn’t care for herself alone too well.

(Amazon image)

Post from: Blisstree

Alzheimer’s Word of the Week – Assisted Living

WORD OF THE WEEK

Nursing Home – a place that provides care and a residence for people (frequently older ones) who cannot care for themselves or who are extremely ill.

Many people don’t like to say the term, admit to the term, especially if an older person in their family is living there.  However, when I could no longer care for Auntie and Mother, in their advanced Alzheimer’s, I was thankful there was some place where they received excellent care. 

 I was fortunate that the homes where they lived, Auntie in NYS and Mother in NH, provided very good services and care.  I always felt the staff was concerned and cared for the wellbeing of my mom and aunt.

(Amazon image)

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

Alzheimer’s Word of the Week – Nursing Home

I discussed individual memory books for Alzheimer’s patients in my previous post.  There also are group memory projects for nursing home groups.

I conducted one of these activities at the nursing home where Mother lived and found it a pleasure for me as well as the patients.  It started out as a scrapbooking project, but I soon realized the residents (most of whom were in the mid stages of Alzheimer’s), enjoyed reminiscing about the photos and sharing with one another.

Sometimes this sharing was a monologue that might jog the memory of the person sitting next to them, too.  But the chatting and laughing that went on during these sessions was a joy for me…and it seemed to be for them as well.

A staff member and I used photos taken at the nursing home of the residents involved in various activities.  Most recognized themselves.  We would ask them questions about themself and jot down memories on a page with their photo.  Sometimes the scrapbook page only consisted of photos; other residents contributed memories we could write down.

This project can take various directions but can be something you do at home as well.  It’s something you can be involved in as a family.

Do you engage in memory projects with your Alzheimer’s patient?  Share with us.

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

Group Memory Book Projects for Alzheimer’s Patients

Preserving our memories and those of Alzheimer’s patients can lead to scrapbooking fun.  I led a scrapbooking activity for Alzheimer’s patients at a nursing home and think they had as much fun as I did.

With the help of an activity aide, we selected pictures taken of the residents as they engaged in various events at the home.  The patients exclaimed, “That’s me!”

If they were able, they cut out the pictures and selected the colors of the background.  We pasted the photos and embellishments to the pages, one or two for each resident.  Then they shared with one another before we put the pages in a community scrapbook.

This is something you also can do with your Alzheimer’s patient in your home, and with children if they’re around for the summer.  Find photos from the past or from current events.  Scrapbook these summer memories.

Even if the patient can’t participate very much, they may share memories of the past.  It could be a way to calm them for a few moments while everyone preserving memories.

You also can make a collage of memories.  Enter it into a scrapbook or frame and hang on the wall.

(Amazon image)

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

Scrapbooking Summer Memories For Alzheimer’s Patients

 Recently Liz Lewis wrote the post, Alzheimer’s or Overmedicated, which struck a chord with me.  Sometimes, in order to control or address difficult behaviors in older patients, medications are used that could give the appearance of Alzheimer’s.  This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s being done deliberately. Sometimes it could happen because of interaction between medications. However, if someone is taking medication and begins to show Alzheimer’s symptoms, check out what’s being perscribed.

I didn’t have an overmedicated problem with my mom, who did develop Alzheimer’s.  However, medication was described by her doctor to control difficult behavior as she exhibited some of the more aggressive symptoms of the illness at one point.  This calmed her and made it easier for her care at the nursing home.

Different Nursing Homes & Different Doctors

Circumstances necessitated my moving her to a different nursing home.  There they suggested removing her from this medication and trying to address her behavior in other ways.  They did not believe in using medication to control a patient.

Whether Mother simply was moving into a different, less aggressive stage of Alzheimer’s or whether the techniques used at this nursing home met with success, I don’t know.  However, she didn’t need medication to calm her anymore.  Since each person is affected differently by Alzheimer’s, it can be puzzling sometimes how to treat them for various behaviors and symptoms. 

I’m not saying it was wrong to use medication with Mother, and in the smaller dose she had.  She certainly didn’t become a zombie even though she was quieter with the medication.  I found it interesting, though, the two types of care used by different doctors and different nursing homes.

What has been your experience with medication (or overmedication) and Alzheimer’s?

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Post from: Blisstree

Check Out Alzheimer’s Patients’ Medications for Overmedication