Summer House Residents Join in Harmony

Joyful Hearts chorus uplifts participants


Tomoko has memory challenges. For the past year, she has lived at Summer House at Villa Gardens, the memory care community in Pasadena. Although Tomoko sometimes struggles to recognize family members and recent events, she can recall all the words to Amazing Grace, America the Beautiful and other favorite songs. And for her longtime friend, Esther, singing together offers a powerful point of connection for the two of them to share.

“It was important for me to join her in the chorus as her buddy,” Esther said. “I can see a difference in her mood when she comes here to sing.”

Twice a week, Tomoko, Esther and about 20 residents living at Summer House at Villa Gardens and Villa Gardens Health Center, many with memory challenges, rehearse side by side with their “buddies” in the Joyful Hearts chorus. 

“Now is the time for the magic to begin,” exclaims Sheen Sanchez, a professional choir director with experience working with people

diagnosed with memory impairment. As Sheen raises his arms and his accompanist begins tapping the piano keys, suddenly residents who entered the room having difficulty holding a thought or stringing even a few words together, sing tunes ranging from patriotic favorites, holiday classics and American standards.

"We know that music is stored in a part of the brain that's last affected by memory illnesses," says Lucy Jones, Summer House manager at Villa Gardens. “It’s our way of increasing fun and engagement through music and the social experience.”

Volunteer ‘buddies’ play a key role in socialization and singing support for the residents. ‘Buddies’ include fellow residents, community volunteers and/or family members who also participate.

“Music makes the heart come alive,” Sheen said. “Residents are responding with enthusiasm. We choose well-known songs from an era the majority remember. That makes it easy for singers to participate.” 

Many studies show involvement in participatory arts programs have a positive effect on mental health, physical health, and social functioning in older adults, regardless of their ability. Musical aptitude and appreciation are two of the last remaining cognitive abilities that are found with musical memory shown to survive relatively well. As such, music is increasingly being lauded as one of the best ways to move beyond the disease and reach the person at all stages of dementia – providing an important channel of communication when others are challenged.

“Our goal is not perfection,” said Bonnie Stover, director of volunteer services for Front Porch, who helped organize the Joyful Hearts. “We emphasize the joy found in the process of weekly participation in the rehearsals and the socialization that goes along with it. We have provided professional training and support for our volunteer buddies as well as staff assistance at all rehearsals.”

“It’s been a positive experience,” said volunteer buddy Mark Jolley.

“I’m happy to be here to support (Summer House resident) Roy.”

Rehearsals will continue through the summer and fall. Sheen plans to merge the Joyful Hearts with a youth choir, Los Angeles Young Ambassadors, which he instructs, culminating in intergenerational community performances in August and in December.

Joyful Hearts is a collaboration among Summer House at Villa Gardens, Villa Gardens Health Center, FACT Foundation, California Lutheran Homes and Community Services and Front Porch Volunteer Services.



© Front Porch Communities and Services 2017

 

How Sharing a Life Story Helps Dementia Caregivers

Conveying personal info lets others connect with your loved one

 

By Mike Good for Next Avenue

 

Thinkstock

One day while I was volunteering at a local adult care center, we had a new visitor who was confused and very unhappy that her daughter had left her there with us. She was agitated and was trying to leave.

Luckily, when they first arrived, her daughter had handed us a one-page life story about her mother who had dementia. After reading it, I was able to more easily connect with the lady.

Sharing Your Knowledge

As we discussed her career as a teacher, her agitation slipped away and we ended up having a very nice conversation. Without that knowledge, things would have been more difficult for both of us.

If you’re the primary caregiver of a person with dementia, you know your loved one’s likes and dislikes. You can read their moods. You know their routines and the people in their world. Nobody can care for them the same way you do.

But the act of sharing your loved one’s life story empowers others to better understand his or her traits, to connect and to provide better dementia care. In turn, you receive peace of mind when you take time for yourself.

A Different Reality

The reality of a person with dementia often slips into a past era of their life. For instance, it may be typical for the person to prepare for work each morning as they did for many years. Or they might start preparing to send their children off to school although their kids are fully grown and have left the nest.

When the people around them don’t understand this different reality, they often struggle to accept what seems like strange behavior. They may even try to correct the person and get in the way of their routine. This type of intervention generally causes the person with dementia to become further confused and agitated.

Losing the Ability to Hold Conversations

In addition to living in the past, at some point, the person with dementia will likely lose their ability to start and hold a conversation. This loss of communication, coupled with living in a different reality, puts them at further risk for becoming isolated in their own world.

 

However, when those around them know their life story, values and quirks, they can more easily join them in their reality. This flexible companionship generally results in a more peaceful experience with fewer negative behavioral issues.

Knowing a Dementia Patient’s Story

 

One of the points from the Best Friends Dementia Bill of Rights is that patients deserve “to be with individuals who know one’s life story, including cultural and spiritual traditions. “

When caregivers look at the whole person and his or her experiences, they can plan activities that take into account interests, values and traditions while avoiding ones that may lead to confusion and agitation.

For instance, many people celebrate Easter and enjoy watching children hunt for eggs. But to a person who has never celebrated Easter, associating a rabbit with eggs — and adding in a silly person dressed as a giant bunny — could very well seem odd and confusing.

The United Kingdom’s Alzheimer’s Society recommends families create life history books with their loved ones. Not only does this create an enriching activity for the family, but the book can later be used to inform anyone who may be caring for the individual.
 

While short-term memories are often lost early in Alzheimer’s disease, a person’s long-term memories and sense for who they are as a person can exist throughout the entire disease. Accessing their memories and embracing their reality and character is an important part of enriching the life of a person with dementia.

So while it may not be possible to ensure the person with dementia is always around people who understand them, it is possible to empower the caregivers by documenting the person’s story and sharing it.

Have you written your loved one’s story? Please share with us how you use it to improve their care.
 

Copyright© 2014 Next Avenue, a division of Twin Cities Public Television, Inc.

Front Porch is a not-for-profit support system for a family of companies that serve individuals and families through full-service retirement, active adult communities, and affordable housing communities.

 

More information is available at www.frontporch.net.

Are Your Loved One’s Dementia Symptoms Reversible?

Too often, doctors and caregivers see symptoms of dementia as permanent when the problem may be a simple infection

By Gary Drevitch for Next Avenue

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Among the myriad ways my kids have it better than me: As a child, I had only two grandparents, one of whom died when I was still very young. But my kids, at least the older two, were born with a full complement of grandmas and grandpas, plus a great-grandmother, and while the ranks of grandparents have thinned somewhat in recent years, that 98-year-old “Nanny,” my wife’s grandmother, endures.

In fact, Nanny continues to live on her own, in an Upper Manhattan apartment, with the support of her walker, a daytime home-care aide, and a delightful pet cat. She manages her finances and keeps up with her large extended family, limited in conversation only by her somewhat impaired hearing.

So it was a surprise to many of us when she recently started to show fairly sudden and pronounced signs of dementia, characterized by mood swings, a far less sharp conversational tone, and paranoia, especially about her finances. Still, given her age, many of those around her imagined that this was it, that she had finally succumbed to dementia and would face declining faculties for the rest of her life.

We were wrong.

After a few weeks, Nanny was taken to her doctor to find out what the cause of her dementia might be. As it turned out, she was not suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or, in fact, any permanent dementia-causing syndrome. She had a simple urinary-tract infection, which was treated with antibiotics, restoring her previous sharpness.

I should have been able to come up with this diagnosis. My late mother long lived with, and eventually died from complications of, vascular dementia, a condition periodically worsened by UTIs, which caused increased agitation and confusion. When the urinary tract infections were treated, the symptoms eased, although the accumulated infections probably sped up the overall progression of her dementia.

UTIs, which affect women more often than men, are common among the elderly, and easily treated with antibiotics. They represent just one of several conditions that can potentially cause dementia or delirium-like effects in that population. According to the National Institute on Aging, too many doctors make the same mistake that most relatives do, seeing dementia as a natural part of aging and failing to check for causes of what is sometimes called pseudosenility or reversible dementia. Depending on the overall health of the patient, reversible symptoms resembling dementia can be caused by high fever, dehydration, vitamin deficiency or poor nutrition, a bad reaction to medications, a thyroid problem or a minor head injury. (Learn more from Next Avenue about the link between hearing loss and dementia.) Stress or depression can also bring on similar symptoms and should be treated to alleviate the effects.

The real shame is that, as the National Institute on Aging puts it, “much pain and suffering can be avoided if older people, their families, and their doctors recognize dementia as a disease, not part of normal aging.”

Family caregivers who notice sudden, unexplained changes in their loved one’s personality, whether it be confusion, agitation, or withdrawal, should take action and contact a doctor who can explore all the possible causes, rather than throwing up their hands and accepting the symptoms as an inevitable part of aging. Keep in mind that your loved one, as he or she suffers the effects of reversible dementia, is unlikely to be able to communicate the cause to you.

With quick action, a caregiver may be able to get relief for the patient's symptoms and help a loved one, like Nanny, return to the business of watching Grand Slam tennis tournaments, playing cards, and dispensing candy and quarters to great-grandchildren.

Copyright© 2014 Next Avenue, a division of Twin Cities Public Television, Inc.

Front Porch is a not-for-profit support system for a family of companies that serve individuals and families through full-service retirement, active adult communities, and affordable housing communities.

More information is available at:

www.frontporch.net.

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