If I could, the very first thing that I would do is change the word activities. In the world of long term care (adult day centers, assisted living communities and nursing homes) activities has become a word that for most people means entertainment. Entertainment might mean some music or outings but it mostly means crafts and bingo. Activities is on a calendar, on the check off list for finding a “good place”, diligently checked by regulators and highly touted in marketing materials. The problem with the word is that it has become an excuse or a label for things that are not happening or only happening at the time listed on the schedule/calendar. The schedule can even be forgotten if the “Activities Personnel” are ill or in a meeting or don’t work on weekends. When a person with Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder is experiencing difficulty navigating in a “specialized environment” the often asked question is, “where are the activities.”
For a person with Alzheimer’s or a related disorder, as with all humans, it is essential to have meaning and purpose in everyday life. Maintaining meaning and purpose can be very difficult for a person experiencing the symptoms of dementia because for them, by diagnosis, it is usually difficult to keep track of the most recent things and it is also often difficult to initiate tasks.
It becomes the responsibility of the care partner to assist the person with the disease in maintaining meaning and purpose. Through the years the description of this process most often is defined with the word “activities.” To maintain an open line of communication I have chosen to use the word activities but to expand it beyond “crafts and bingo.” For Care Partners in particular, be they family, friends or paid to partner with the person with Alzheimer’s it is my desire to expand activities to help provide the basis structure for meaning and purpose through the expansion of the word “activities”.
To begin to share the “expanded” form of the word activities, I am releasing my new booklet. It should be a resource for all care partners . The cover is done, I hope you like the title and subtitle.
The booklet/workbook should be release in August 2016, the price will be $19.95 (you print) or $29.95(plus shipping) in paperback.
Order here now for the prelease price of $14.95
