By Helen J Bate B.A. Dip.Arch. B.A.(Hons)
The difficulties of
visiting people with dementia/Alzheimer's in a care home are well known. It is
often hard to find things to talk about. Conversations can be repetitive and
stilted. The life of someone with dementia/Alzheimer's living in a care home, can
appear to have little in common with normal life in the ‘outside world' and
there may be few topics that encourage shared, meaningful and enjoyable communication.
This can be hard for relatives, and visiting can become less and less fun, and
sometimes unfortunately, less frequent.
When people with dementia/Alzheimer's
have younger relatives, grandchildren or great grandchildren, this problem can
be even more acute. Although it can be a great joy for people with dementia/Alzheimer's
to have younger visitors, the needs of the children concerned must be addressed
if these visits are to be successful. The youngest children can be distracted
and engaged with toys, and can be watched at play by the person with dementia/Alzheimer's.
The person with dementia/Alzheimer's
may enjoy joining in with the young child, playing with a pop up toy or playing
simple interactive games such as ‘Row the Boat'. That may be enough for this younger
age group.
However older children
over around 4 years of age may be more successfully occupied if they are taking
part in shared and appropriate activity with the adults around them. This will
also be more interesting, joyful and engaging for the person with dementia/Alzheimer's.
This type of activity can be compiling scrap-books, looking at suitable
illustrated books, or doing art activities together.
For scrap-book
activities, all a care home, or relatives, need to provide is a work table, a
supply of old magazines, birthday cards, and perhaps bits of fabric and ribbon,
a loose leaf folder with sturdy pages, some child friendly scissors, crayons or
felt tips and some glue sticks.
Then someone with dementia/Alzheimer's may happily spend an hour with
young visitors working together on a scrap-book that can provide the person
with dementia/Alzheimer's with something to keep and look at again and again. It
can make the visit enjoyable for a child and so help to make visits longer and
more frequent. It is also nice for the young visitor to feel that they are
‘helping Granny' in this way.
‘Colouring in' is another,
and less ‘messy' art activity that is easy to organize and easy to take part
in. Although adult appropriate colouring sheets can be hard to find, Pictures
to Share produce a range of designs that are suitable for adults and visitors
can bring in their own child appropriate colouring books if they choose. Then
all that is needed is some crayons or felt tips and a suitable work table. All
ages understand the principle of ‘colouring in', especially children, and it is
often enjoyed by those with dementia/Alzheimer's because it is not too
demanding and like all art activities, it can be very engrossing; a great way
to relax and spend an enjoyable hour. There can be lively discussions about
what pictures to choose, what colours to use, or talking about each other's work
and where to display it, and this can in turn lead to all sorts of other
conversations.
Research carried out
by Pictures to Share, a social enterprise established to develop visual media
for people with dementia/Alzheimer's, has shown that their range of illustrated
books are a great way for children to engage with relatives with dementia/Alzheimer's.
The adult usually has experience of reading ‘picture books' with children and
they will naturally sit next to a child and share a book. They will sometimes
take turns to read or help each other out, and they will naturally talk about
what is in the pictures. Because
the books are accessible for the person with dementia/Alzheimer's, and yet are
also attractive to all ages, both adult and child feel that they are taking
part, contributing and enjoying the experience.
These types of
activity don't require a ‘proper conversation' to be maintained, but they can
create a sense of shared activity that can be enjoyed by both parties and
maintain a sense of the person with dementia/Alzheimer's still being able to
offer something to the relationship.
It can be even more
difficult to encourage teenagers to engage with a relative in a care home, and
here the internet can be a fantastic tool. ‘YouTube' has an endless resource of
musical clips from old films or performances by well-known singers from all
eras, and teenagers have the interest and the understanding of the technology
to access this. This can help to give the teenager a sense of purpose during
the visit and can be a really enjoyable entertainment for the person with dementia/Alzheimer's
and other visitors. All that is required is internet access (something that in
this day and age, should be available in all care homes) and a laptop that can
usually be brought from home. Pictures to Share have some clips on their website to help
get started with this activity. These range from Elvis songs, songs from The
Sound of Music and other popular musicals, Rock and Roll favourites, hymns, and
many more. Youngsters can find funny clips to show, and possibly slightly
shock, their elderly relative, and this can all add to the sense of real fun
and engagement. YouTube is a wonderful resource for people with dementia/Alzheimer's
and totally interactive; all that's needed is a bit of knowledge of the
internet.