Purple Thumb Club

Nurturing Growth in Dementia Care

October 2020

In the last issue, the White Rock journey was described. It was summarized by saying letting go of  “what was” and embracing “what is” will provide connection and meaning to both the person with dementia and those that care for them.

A person with a Purple Thumb knows what the person with dementia CAN do and creates opportunities to utilize these strengths.  As I watched my Dad, I created the first “I CAN” list for him in 1995. The idea has been shared at many workshops , with staff and with many families.  It is part of every life story assessment that I complete.  Creating the “I CAN” list involves understanding the brain that remains in Alzheimer’s Disease or  other dementia.  As you read Ted’s list, what are the types of things he can do?

Ted’s “I CAN” list looked like this…

I can’t read a book or a magazine anymore….BUT I can read the headlines when you hand it to me.

I can’t play bridge or cribbage anymore…BUT I can sort a deck of cards or maybe match pairs

I don’t remember solids or stripes when playing pool…But I can hit the ball when you remind me

I can’t remember the steps to fix my coffee or remember to get it…BUT I can stir it when you give it to me

I can’t have a garden anymore BUT I can pick pretty flowers and smell them

I can’t remember the score of the baseball game…BUT I can cheer for a home run!!

I can’t follow the conversation at the dinner table BUT I can look at familiar pictures

I don’t know what day it is BUT…I can smile and say “Good Morning”

I can’t tell you about my college football games, BUT I can still kick it when you give it to me

I can sing, I can dance, I can pat a kitten, I can sort, I can sweep, I can rake, I can pick up trash.

Give me the opportunities to do the things “I CAN”

By identifying preserved abilities, activities can be created and adapted to provide meaningful interactions. The following list will guide you as you create the  “I CAN” list for your loved one or the person with dementia that you assist.   Observe and note abilities in each of these areas, then create the opportunity. If tearing is an “I CAN,” then offer activities that use that skill such as tearing newspaper for animal shelters, tearing tissue paper for art projects, ripping up old mail, tearing strips of cloth for braiding.

Physical movement and “Body memories” such as being able to

• Walk
• Sweep
• Rake
• Dance (what steps?)
•  Kick
• Clap
• Rub
• Pat, press or stamp
• Fold
• Cut
• Tear
• Stir
• Shake
• Pick and place
• Write
• Color or paint
• Pour or scoop
• Imitate movements

Rhythm and music memories such as

• Singing lyrics,  finishing titles and first lines
• Repeating rhythmic patterns and sounds
• Drumming
• Swaying and moving to tunes
• Tapping
• Humming
• Playing an instrument
• Dancing to familiar tunes

Creative and Imaginative strengths “feeling and beauty memories”

• Telling stories
• Expressing a feeling
• Commenting on a painting
• Appreciating beauty/art appreciation
• Telling a joke, laughing
• Expressing through color with paint, crayons, paper, shapes
• Listening to poetry
• Connecting to objects in the environment/birds/clouds/flags/trees/sunsets/weather/sky/sunset

Communication and “social norm “memories

• Responding to social interactions with others
• Smiling
• Shaking hands
• Waving
• Showing compassion and love
• Demonstrating nurturing and caring
• Looking at pictures
• Making a yes/no response
• Participating in spectator activities
• Participating in “life activities” meals, coffee group, party
• Making  gestures of friendship and caring

Procedural memory “habits and routines memory” and “autobiographical memories”

• Reading a sentence (font size 30)
• Reading words
• Spelling and letter activities
• Recalling historic and geographical information/landmarks
• Watching TV or a movie
• Repetitive activities such as
•             Opposites, go-togethers, cliches, Bible passages, nursery rhymes, states and capitals, math                      facts, advertising slogans
• Reminiscing of important early life events
• Doing habitual leisure and hobby movements and actions (sewing, piano, basketball, golf, pottery)
• Matching activities/color/words/pictures
• Sorting activities/household/leisure/cards
• Looking at pictures and photographs
• Enjoying and nurturing pets
• Cooking, food preparation and mealtime routines (use templates)
• Worshipping and church related activities

Sensory Memories

• Smelling a pleasant scent (vanilla, coffee, lemon, leather, cookies, bread, lavender)
• Feeling soft textures, holding comfort objects
• Hearing familiar sounds and music
• Seeing soothing lights/bubble lamps

After reviewing this list of possible strengths, write your own “I CAN” list and continue to nurture growth in dementia care.

The post The “I CAN List” appeared first on ActivTimes Consulting.

The journey of my Dad’s Alzheimer’s Disease lasted 12 years. The journey was filled with many kinds of moments and many lessons were learned.

FRUSTRATING MOMENTS when he would not take a shower or when he wore the same corduroy pants everyday,and not the ones you just gave him for his birthday!

EMBARRASSING MOMENTS like the time at a large gathering when heput his arm around my son, as if to impart some “grandfatherly wisdom,”but instead pointed across the room and said:

“You see that lady over there, she must weigh 400 pounds.”

ANXIOUS MOMENTS like hearing that he was looking in the dining room for breakfast at 3am or when you let him walk the dog in your neighborhood, but frantically RUN around the corner and say you’d like to join himbecause you are afraid he will get lost.

SAD MOMENTS when you realize the type of relationship you had is over.

DIFFICULT MOMENTS when you pray he won’t really understand that his money is running out and he will need continued care.

GUILTY MOMENTS when you decide that you must forward his mail when you learn he has been sending cash to all solicitors. He is the target of scams. Yet, he looked forward so much to getting his mail.

PANIC MOMENTS when driving became unsafe and he found another set of keys that nobody know he had or he figured out a way to get the tire fixed after you let the air out!

OH NO MOMENTS when what you thought what would work did not!! He loved giving Christmas checks to his 8 grandkids, so we “thought” we would help him out with this and prepare the checks and put them in envelops for him to give. He became very angry.

JOYFUL MOMENTS when you sing and dance together, share a favorite meal or go for your weekly ice cream cone, his favorite outing!

MEANINGFUL MOMENTS when you see grandkids connect with compassion and love with their granddaddy (even though he cannot remember who they are)

FUNNY MOMENTS when everyone can laugh… We laughed the time we visited him when my son had long hair and a hat on. As I introduced the kids to him (“It’s your grandson Chris, he came to say hello”), he stopped and said laughing,“Oh, I thought he was a girl!”or the time I had flown from Dallas to New York to visit and said “I was in the area and just dropped in for a visit!”

EXCITING MOMENTS when we watched baseball on TV together, when he cheered over and over for the homeruns his team, the Boston Red Sox, kept hitting. Actually it was the replay each time, but, for Dad, total excitement!

SPECIAL MOMENTS when his face would light up from across the room at the sight of a familiar face. When you realize that deep inside the HEART remembers even when the mind does not.

SPECIAL AHHA MOMENTS when you realize that your DAD is not the person you once knew, BUT this new guy is kindof FUN. It is possible to embrace meaningful moments.

For Dad, he called them “FLASHES.” He would say that the thoughts came like a flash bulb going off and then they were gone.

In the 12 years he struggled with the challenges of Alzheimer’s Disease, he was an active participant in LIFE for most of them.

• He continued his love of walking and won a medal in the CT Senior Olympics
• He continued his lifetime pattern of helping others by folding church programs
• He continued to demonstrate his social graces by picking up trash, pushing in chairs, and trying to hold doors open.
• He continued to love his country and the flag that represented so much to him. Even when he could no longer get the words out, he was always pointing to the flags.

As the disease progressed the activity that became his most cherished was walking along the beach and searching for the perfect white rock. His collection grew and grew and grew 1-2-3 containers.

BUT what we noticed was what the white rocks meant to him. They gave him peace and strength and meaning.

He proudly showed off his white rocks. Our job was to enable and validate his efforts.

Our job as caregivers and professionals is to find or create the opportunity for each person to be successful, to connect with meaning to objects and people in the environment and to use their strengths. You are the catalyst to improve quality of life in the face of Alzheimer’s Disease.

It’s not easy to let go of habitual patterns of relationship, to accept that your Dad or other loved one cannot “do”what they once did. Letting go of “what was”and embracing “what is”will provide connection and meaning to both the person with dementia and those that care for them.

The post The White Rock Journey appeared first on ActivTimes Consulting.

Having a “Purple Thumb” means having a special skill and ability to help a person with dementia thrive, grow and bloom.

Learn more about the Purple Thumb Club Here.

The post The Purple Thumb Club appeared first on ActivTimes Consulting.

The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), in collaboration with
Natalie B. Davis, ACC, CDP, CADDCT, hosted the Meaningful Activities to
Increase Quality of Life Training at five regional venues in Texas in June and July

This training was designed for all nursing facility staff including activity directors, licensed nurses, certified nurse aides, and ancillary staff. Ms. Davis provided attendees with evidence-based best practices that will assist them in implementing individualized activities that reflect each resident’s preferences, customary habits, and lifestyle. Participants also learned how to develop person-centered activity programs that are both meaningful and relevant.

The training is now available online. The materials used in this online course were originally developed by HHSC in collaboration with Natalie B. Davis ACC/EDU CADDCT CMDCP for this federally funded grant project administered by HHSC.

Link To Learning Portal

This training will assist activity directors, certified nurse aides, and other nursing facility staff in providing their residents with individualized activities that are important to their preferences, customary habits, and lifestyles. Participants will be provided with information on the federal requirements for providing person-directed activity programs that are in line with providing a high quality of care and quality to the residents including understanding the resident’s abilities; defining activities; the lifestyle assessment information; guidelines for activities in a person-centered environment; and individualized life story templates.

For more information about how to implement the “ME” Project contact Natalie B. Davis ACC at meprojectforquality@gmail.com or info@activtimes.com.

The post “ME” Project appeared first on ActivTimes Consulting.