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Dementia Caregivers Find Life in the Losses

Posted by Administrator on 1/12/2013 to Daily Living Tips
I was alerted to a wonderful, amazing video today, showing how a family coped with the diagnosis of Alzheimer's for their 57 year old dad. The film is shot by one of the sons, Chris Wynn, and shows the ups and downs of their journey.
 
What I like about this video in particular is that it shows how the family still found ways to connect and incorporate activity with their dad/husband. Music had been important to their dad and they were able to continue to use music to bring out singing, dancing, and wonderful times with friends and family. No doubt this family had many moments of struggle, heart ache, frustration, and grief, as well, along their journey; but these dementia caregivers did not let that be their full story.
 
Currently, their are no magic drugs on the market to cure Alzheimer's. All we have are finding ways to cope, adapt, and interact to meet the needs of the person living with dementia - and really, this extends to meeting the needs of the family. Music therapy can be a wonderful way to connect with a loved one, as it is a failure-free activity. What other dementia activities have you tried that bring joy and sucess?
 
If you’d like to use this article in your own newsletter or on your web site, you are welcome to reprint it in its entirety with an active link to our web site and the following author info: “By Monica Heltemes, Occupational Therapist and Owner of MindStart. Providing cognitive stimulation, engagement and joy for people living with dementia - visit www.mind-start.com."
 

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5 Comments

Suzanne
Date: 1/15/2013
This is a touching story and illustrates how music can help people connect even when Alzheimer's progresses.
MindStart
Date: 1/15/2013
Thanks for sharing, Suzanne!
Kathy
Date: 1/26/2013
This story reminded me so much of our own journey with my father. Thank you for sharing.
Lauretta Kalor
Date: 1/26/2013
I use the ability to read and the memory of songs with my clients who have memory loss. I make a flip chart of iconic songs first line only on an A4 page. I show the chart 1 song at a time and everyrone ususally starts singing after they have read it and then we might have a discussion on a particualar song- it can be the national anthem, a prayer or and old favourite "If you were the only girl in the world" etc. This activity has endless uses and its a lot of fun.
MindStart
Date: 1/27/2013
Thanks, Lauretta and Kathy, for sharing your thoughts. Great idea on using a flip chart with song names!

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