Feelings of joy...

I just finished my usual newspaper column in the South Shore Senior News for April. The editor Greg always gives columnists ideas on what to write about. This month's idea struck me as a good subject to explore here too; that of laughter and positive emotions. Research shows that even if a person with memory loss doesn't hold on to the content of a pleasant movie, the positive feelings last for hours. The opposite is true of negative movies.
In the hospital I work in part time we are promoting sensory modalities; those evoking calm and pleasure through the senses. This treatment is especially helpful for persons who have experienced trauma through life (many if not most with mental illness have continuously experienced trauma) and persons with cognitive disorders. For the person with trauma, it taps the amygdala (a-mig-dil-a) to respond to positive experience instead of the negative ones remembered. For the person with dementia who now often cannot initiate, plan or execute a formerly pleasant activity,sensory experiences calm and bring joy. There we use music, rhythm like dance and exercise, smells like lemon or lavendar (even bakiing cookies),visual items like pictures and tactile sensory items like fur, suede or velvet (maybe a puppy or kitten). These therapies reduce psychiatric symptoms, confusion and restlessness by inserting positive emotive experience into the patient's life.
Have you used these activities, especially in the late afternoon when persons with dementia often are feeling lost, confused and sometimes slip into delirium.
When my father in law was restless and confused in the evening due to his Alzheimer's disease, we put a can of coins in front of him to sort. He was a 'candy man' so quite used to handling coins. Within minutes, he was 'remembering' the positive memory of his work and doing something very familiar, humming a tune as he did. This replaced the confusion and prepared him for sound sleep.

Caregiver Education a Must

We at StilMee are very pleased to announce a new coach, Janet Williams, who is based in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. We believe every caregiver of someone with a cognitive disorder needs education. How stressful it is when a caregiver sees things changing with their family member or friend and doesn't know how to help. Relating to a person with Alzheimer's disease is unique, counter-intuitive, and seemingly not common sense. I call the communication approach uncommon common sense. When one knows how the brain has changed and what is now difficult for the person, the caregiver learns that now what s/he knows is common sense; Alzheimer sense! The brain cannot hold onto information taken in, cannot attend to or concentrate easily on a task, is unable to adequately control impulses, and perhaps have trouble even understanding what is being said. This must be a scary place for that person. We as caregivers, sensitive to the new needs of the person, must change the way we relate or we in essense dishonor the person. If you live in Dallas/Fort Worth, call Janet (go to our website www.StilMee.com for information. If in the Massachusetts state, call the main office 617-328-3440 or go to the website and choose your coach. We want to make sure no caregiver has to go the journey alone.