Did you know that reading poetry aloud is good for the brain? In addition to stimulating memories and emotions, poetry enhances cognitive function. Reading poetry aloud is also good for our general wellbeing. Dr. Michael Mosley, in his BBC Radio 4 Podcast ‘Just One Thing’ discusses how, “Reading poetry can reduce stress and help give you words to express the things you’re feeling. And reading a poem out loud has been shown to be a surprisingly simple way to activate your relaxation response and bring about a sense of calm. It’s all to do with the way it slows and controls your breathing rate, which in turn stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system and can lead to many beneficial effects.”
Sit down with someone you love, and enjoy the ‘beloved poetry read-along’ found in our fun and games channel. The poem you’ll enjoy together is Robert Frost’s Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.
I would love to hear how you enjoy it! And I encourage you to consider adding poetry to your daily routine. Print out favorite poems, or get poetry books from the library. When possible read them together, or take turns reading lines or stanzas. Use the poems to initiate conversations, or to inspire an art project.
Read together. Breathe together. And maybe even make a little poetry of your own!
Yesterday I attended the Dementia Innovation Summit here in Washington State. It was an incredible day of learning. Most of the attendees were primary care providers eager to understand more about dementia, and how to support patients experiencing memory loss and cognitive change. I had a table at the event where Zinnia was on display, and was delighted by the PCPs who stopped to watch and said things like, “I had no idea something like this was out there,” and “Okay. Where do you sign up,” and “I have a family that this is really going to help.”
We recognize that many families living with dementia look to their PCPs for tips about resources. We also recognize that PCPs are very busy people who don’t have the bandwidth to seek out resources to share about.
If you find Zinnia helpful, please tell your healthcare providers about it so that they can help other families. We would be more than happy to provide them with materials to hand out, or a free subscription to play on the TV in their waiting room.
In addition to impacting a person’s physical and cognitive abilities, dementia has an effect on their interest in, or ability to initiate activities. These could be activities that are part of daily living, like bathing, eating, and dressing. These could also be activities done for enjoyment, like reading, making art, or exercising.
When supporting a person with dementia, our role is to help them engage in activities of all kinds, for as long as they can. We do this by focusing on what they are still able to do, and modifying activities as needed to allow them to continue enjoying success.
Let’s take a look at how we adapt activities to make them dementia-friendly.
Ken’s morning routine has always included making the morning coffee. Today, instead of water he poured cream into the machine. His care partner wants to take Ken’s job away from him.
As care partners we need to consider how the losses that come with dementia feel to the person with the diagnosis, and help them enjoy successes whenever possible. One of the best ways to do this is to help them maintain their routine. Ken might be able to successfully make coffee if his care partner plans ahead and puts some supports in place. She could put a well-labeled jug of water next to the coffee machine. Post an easy-to-follow list of steps. Join Ken in the morning, and maybe ask if he could show her how to make coffee, because his coffee always tastes so good. Then, she can gently coach as needed.
An activity is dementia-friendly if we provide adaptations that support success, and do something with a person instead of for them.
Brush your teeth. Take a shower. Get dressed. Each of these sounds so simple, yet they’re composed of many steps. A person with dementia may not know where to start. Or they might get lost somewhere in the middle. To make the activity more dementia-friendly, consider how you can parse it into smaller pieces. There may come a time when ,’How about getting dressed,’ doesn’t work any longer. Instead, you might start with, ‘How about choosing what to wear today,’ followed by ‘Those look great! How about putting the clothes on now.’ Over time, steps might be more specific. ‘What shirt would you like to wear today?’ or, ‘Would you like to wear the green shirt or the blue one?’
Make the activity more dementia-friendly by recognizing where they might get stuck, and putting supports in place. If choosing a shirt is difficult because there are so many options, remove most of the clothes from the closet or drawer.
Be mindful about correcting the person’s choices. You can’t let Mom go out of the house wearing her bra outside her shirt. But if you’re not planning to be in public today, maybe that striped blouse and plaid pants will be just fine.
An activity is dementia-friendly if it focuses on participation, not perfection.
Add a dementia-friendly element to once favorite pastimes
There are plenty of activities that are recommended for people with dementia. Listening to music. Making art with materials that they can safely manage. Puzzles and games that have been specifically designed for people with cognitive decline. Add another layer of dementia-friendliness to activities by relating them to things that are important to the person you support. Don’t just play any old music for Mom. Create a playlist of songs that you know, or at least suspect, she would love. If she loved beaches, then maybe an art project could involve art supplies like sand, seashells and scraps of terrycloth. Puzzles and games, too, can be themed to match her passions.
If Grandma loved sewing but is no longer able to use a sewing machine, or a needle and thread, might she enjoy a visit to a fabric store? Could you pick up some sewing patterns and look at them together? Could you bring her a tray of sewing tools and ask her to explain how they’re used? If you are going to do an art project, instead of a bunch of flowers, maybe she would like to draw artfully arranged spools of thread. Maybe while listening to music she loves, you look through a sewing magazine with her
If Dad, a mad fisherman is no longer able to fish, what activities can you do with him that support that passion? Can you look through fishing supply magazines with him? Is he able to visit a fishing supply store with you, or a fish store? Could you provide a tackle box with safe-to-explore items that can be used to prompt reminiscence?
An activity is dementia-friendly if it takes into account the personhood of the person living with dementia
In general, dementia-friendly means seeing the person first, and the fact that they have a dementia diagnosis second. Treating a person with dignity, respect, and love is the first step in making their world a friendlier place, with or without dementia. Thank you for your commitment to a person whose world is so much better because of what you bring to it.
