Enhancing Quality of Life with Thoughtful Support

Dementia is a degenerative condition which affects memory, thinking, and behavior. It often leads to confusion, anxiety, and difficulty in performing even the most routine of daily tasks. What was once easy, coming as second nature, can suddenly feel difficult and tedious. Providing sources of comfort and reassurance is essential for the peace of mind and wellbeing of individuals living with dementia.

Comfort items—objects or materials that provide emotional or physical solace—can play a role in brightening the spirit and enhancing the quality of life for dementia patients.

Types of Comfort Items for Dementia Patients

Stuffed Animals and Soft Dolls:

Soft, cuddly objects can evoke feelings of safety and companionship. For some patients, a plush animal or doll may serve as a surrogate for loved ones, offering comfort during times of stress or confusion.

Weighted Blankets:

They provide gentle, even pressure, which can have a calming effect and improve sleep quality. Weighted blankets may also help reduce restlessness and promote relaxation.

Fidget and Sensory Objects:

Items such as fidget blankets, activity aprons, or textured balls are designed for tactile stimulation. These items keep hands busy, reduce anxiety, and can help prevent agitation or repetitive behaviors.

Photo Albums and Familiar Objects:

Personal photos, favorite books, or familiar household items can trigger positive memories and provide emotional comfort. These objects help ground patients in their personal history and identity.

Aromatherapy Items:

Scented pillows, sachets, or diffusers with calming scents like lavender or chamomile can help create a soothing environment. Aromatherapy is known to reduce anxiety and promote relaxation in many dementia patients. Aromatherapy can also be used to stimulate appetite. Scents such as ginger and citrus are common appetite stimulants.

Music and Audio Devices:

Personal music playlists, nostalgic songs, or calming sounds can stimulate memories and emotions, which often improves the mood and reduces agitation. Music stimulates the brain and activates skills that would otherwise be forgotten such as dancing to a beat, whistling, humming and clapping.

Tactile stimulation:

Worry stones or other items that can be soothing to hold or touch give seniors a sense of peace and comfort.  Soft stress balls that can be squeezed can release endorphins resulting in calming and pain-relieving effects. These items are physical distractions that help keep the mind off of stressful thoughts. Additionally, the repetitive motion of squeezing these items can strengthen muscles in the hands and improve dexterity.

Familiar clothing items:

A favorite sweater or scarf, shawl or lap blanket may bring reassurance during an anxious time.

Night lights or soft glowing lamps:

Reduce fear and confusion during the evening and nighttime, with soft, comforting light.

Simple crafts:

Easy puzzles with large pieces, coloring books or other craft kits can encourage engagement and provide gentle mental stimulation while fostering a calming environment.

Choosing Appropriate Comfort Items

Not all comfort items are suitable for every dementia patient. Consider the individual’s preferences, stage of dementia, and any safety concerns including choking hazards and allergies. Items should be safe, easy to clean, and free from small detachable parts. Involving the patient in selecting their comfort items, whenever possible, ensures personal relevance and increases the benefits the items will bring to them.

Caregiver Tips for the Use of Comfort Items

1. Observe Responses: Pay attention to how the patient interacts with comfort items. Positive responses include smiling, relaxing, or engaging with the item; negative responses include agitation or refusal.
2. Rotate Items: To maintain interest, rotate comfort items periodically. Introducing new items gradually can also provide novelty without causing overwhelm.
3. Personalize Choices: Whenever possible, personalize comfort items with family photos, favorite colors, or familiar textures and scents.
4. Maintain Hygiene: Comfort items should be washed or sanitized regularly to ensure health and safety.
5. Involve in Routine: Incorporate comfort items into daily routines, such as bedtime or quiet time, to help establish consistency and security.

Thoughtful selection and use of comfort items can make a meaningful difference in the lives of dementia patients and their caregivers, fostering moments of joy, calm, and connection even amidst the challenges of memory loss.

Need more support for your loved one? Book a tour of a Bethesda memory care community near you.

The post How Comfort Items Soothe and Support Dementia Patients first appeared on Bethesda Health Group.

Step One: Research the Diagnosis

Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are subjects that many people avoid. In fact, according to a national study, more than half of people choose not to pursue an examination even when they believe something might be wrong. They fear such a diagnosis of dementia would equate to the end of their life.

However, facing the possibility of dementia or Alzheimer’s early is important. An early diagnosis means having access to treatments that can improve symptoms and slow disease progression. Also, early diagnosis provides more time for the patient and loved ones to learn about the disease, find support, and prepare for the future.

What is dementia and Alzheimer’s disease?

Dementia is a group of symptoms involving a decline in mental abilities, such as reasoning and remembering, that significantly interferes with daily life.

Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia, results from the loss of connections between brain cells, which eventually die. Other causes of dementia include Parkinson’s disease, vascular diseases, and chronic drug use.

In most cases, dementia cannot be cured. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, and its destruction of cells in other regions of the brain leads to failure in bodily systems which, coupled with advanced aging, are fatal.

Resources for Dementia Caregivers

When dealing with a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, it is important that you learn all that you can about you or your loved one’s condition. There are many sources of information for caregivers and those who are living with dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Two books that can be helpful when caring for a senior with dementia:

• The 36-Hour Day by Nancy Mace and Peter Rabins. This is a self-help guide for people caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and other memory impairments.
• Creating Moments of Joy for the Person with Alzheimer’s or Dementia by Jolene Brackey. This book speaks about living and creating joy, moment by moment, in the life of a person who has dementia.

For more information about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, there is also the Alzheimer’s Association.

Step Two: Foster the Senior’s Independence

As a dementia caregiver, you may feel the urge to do everything for your senior loved ones. However, it is beneficial for seniors with dementia and memory loss to feel independent and continue with any daily tasks they can manage. It is important for the senior’s physical and emotional health to let them to do as much as they can for as long as they can.

Even if your senior loved one is not as self-sufficient as before, while caring for a senior with dementia, give them simple tasks to try on their own. A few ideas include:

• Help your senior loved one order from a menu by making suggestions
• Put out clothing options, so they can choose their own outfit
• Invite the senior to tell stories and share memories

Check out these additional tips from the Mayo Clinic for dementia caregivers.

Step Three: Build a Support System

When caring for a senior with dementia or Alzheimer’s, you will need a helping hand now and again. Don’t be afraid to reach out to family members and friends for help. When they ask what you need, have a list prepared. For example:

• Grocery shopping
• Yardwork
• Cooking
• Cleaning
• Taking your loved one to their next medical appointment

Even having someone sit with your loved one while you take a walk or run some errands can help you recharge and prevent burnout.

Visit the Alzheimer’s Association – Greater Missouri Chapter to discover additional support resources.

Step Four: Make Time for Yourself

Serving as the caregiver of a senior with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, especially if you are the only caregiver, can take its toll. If you are suffering from the symptoms below, seek help from a professional or reach out to your support system:

• Sleeplessness
• Reduced ability to concentrate
• Mood swings
• Depression
• Weakened immune system

Caring for a senior with dementia is a hard job no matter how special the person you’re caring for is. There will be times when you will feel frustrated and sad, and that’s okay. Just remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup.

If you need assistance caring for a senior with dementia, Alzheimer’s, or any form of memory loss, contact Bethesda. Our memory support communities in the St. Louis area provide support to caregivers and families of seniors.

Contact us or schedule a tour to learn more.

The post Dementia Caregiver Tips: Four Steps for Caring for a Senior with Memory Loss first appeared on Bethesda Health Group.

At many senior care communities, memory support is available and tailored to the specific needs of the residents living in those communities.

Advantages of a Memory Support Community in Assisted Living

“Mild cognitive challenges start to become more and more apparent as we age,” says Lea Ann Coates, Residency Counselor at Bethesda Hawthorne Place, an Assisted Living and Memory Support community in St. Louis. “This becomes an issue when forgetfulness starts to affect an individual’s ability to complete basic daily activities.”

When seniors move to assisted living communities, however, this worry can be resolved easily. For example, reminders from staff can be part of each resident’s care plan — something as simple as a prompt for changing clothes or a knock on the door when it is mealtime. The support could also be something much more critical to health and well-being, like complete medication management.

“Our support minimizes memory challenges for our residents and focuses on maximizing their abilities,” says Lea Ann.

However, there may be a point when memory issues become a safety concern in assisted living. Some typical red flags include:

• Residents losing their ability to find their way around the building
• Confusing day and evening hours
• Packing a bag or suitcase
• Trying to get ready to go to work
• Looking for a formerly-owned car
• Expressing the need to meet their children (who are now adults) at the school bus

“When our staff starts to document these thoughts or actions, it becomes time to assess for a move to a secure memory support neighborhood, because safety could be potentially compromised,” Lea Ann says.

Memory Support Neighborhoods in Assisted Living

A memory support neighborhood is a secure environment for residents whose memory challenges are beyond the occasional to moderate age-related forgetfulness.

In this setting, even though residents live in their own apartments, they need prompting, reminding, re-directing, and sometimes re-purposing for most of their activities of daily living. There is concern that should the resident leave the neighborhood without supervision, he or she would be unable to find their way home or may even exit the campus.

“Consistency is key in a memory support neighborhood,” says Lea Ann. “This means keeping activities, mealtimes, and personal care as close to a routine as possible. Residents become familiar with the ebb and flow of the neighborhood. This decreases the opportunity for confusion.”

Many memory support neighborhoods also tend to be home to fewer residents than their assisted living counterparts. Such is the case at Bethesda Hawthorne Place. “This means staff has more time to get to know residents, have more interaction with them, and provide more personalized attention due to their increased need for direction,” Lea Ann says.

The physical layout of the community is also important to make walking and way-finding easy. At Bethesda Hawthorne Place, the neighborhood is in the shape of a rectangle, so there are no dead-ends. That keeps residents from becoming frustrated by the need to turn around at the end of a hallway or having that hallway lead directly to an outside door that they are unable to exit.

“Increased activity provides focus and keeps the mind from repetitive thoughts that might be worrisome,” says Lea Ann.  “Our neighborhood makes it very simple for our residents to keep moving.”

Learn more about the advantages of a memory support community in Bethesda’s assisted living. Contact us today!

The post Advantages of Assisted Living Communities Offering Memory Support first appeared on Bethesda Health Group.

Delirium is often confused with dementia, which is defined by the Mayo Clinic as “a gradual decline of memory and other thinking skills due to damage or loss of brain cells. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease.”

The two conditions share similar symptoms, which may make it difficult to distinguish between them. Complicating matters is that they can exist separately or together, and the fact that people with dementia are more prone to delirium than those without dementia.

Symptoms of Delirium

While dementia is a progressive disease that worsens over time with no recovery, people can recover from delirium. Delirium onset occurs without warning and may last hours, weeks or months. It manifests itself in many ways, including:

• An inability to focus
• Being easily distracted
• Withdrawal or lethargy
• Poor memory of recent events
• Difficulty speaking, reading or writing
• Disorientation
• Hallucinations
• Agitation and restlessness
• Sleep problems

Emotional disturbances can include:

• Anxiety
• Paranoia
• Depression
• Anger
• Euphoria
• Apathy
• Mood shifts
• Personality changes

Additional symptoms can include restlessness, pacing and the refusal to cooperate, which is referred to as hyperactive delirium. At the other end of the spectrum, hypoactive delirium is marked by inactivity, sluggishness, drowsiness or a dazed demeanor. Mixed delirium (both hyperactive and hypoactive delirium) can also occur. Many symptoms are shared by both conditions, including memory and language problems, and behavioral changes.

If your senior loved one shows signs of delirium, contact a physician, as the cause could be from a life-threatening illness. Discovering the underlying problem is necessary for treatment. As a family caregiver, your observations of your loved one’s behaviors will be critical to the diagnosis.

Causes of Delirium

Besides illness, contributing factors such as changes in metabolism or medications, or new infections or surgery, can lead to delirium. About a third of all seniors experience delirium during a hospitalization, and that number rises to 70% of seniors in intensive care units. The Mayo Clinic lists other factors that include:

• Alcohol or drug withdrawal
• Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
• Fever
• Exposure to a toxin
• Malnutrition or dehydration
• Emotional distress
• Pain

According to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, risk factors also include being 70 years old or older, past episodes of delirium, problems with seeing or hearing, and seniors who are taking five or more medications per day.

Testing and Recovery

Finding the cause of the delirium may require many tests—blood tests, X-rays, brain imaging, and EKGs. Physicians will ask questions about the senior’s medical history, past illnesses, and other details about the patient’s health.

Once a cause is found, recovery can happen rapidly, or issues with memory and other cognitive challenges can persist for months.

What Can Family Caregivers Provide?

There are some things that family caregivers can do to help their senior loved one experiencing delirium:

• Keep their room quiet and calm
• Encourage them to rest and sleep
• Make sure they are comfortable
• Make sure they have their glasses and hearing aids
• Encourage them to get up and sit in a chair during the day
• Emphasize drinking plenty of fluids
• Help them eat or drink if they need assistance
• Explain where they are and why
• Read to them
• Bring them familiar items

Memory Support at Bethesda

Bethesda’s memory support communities offer an easy-to-navigate environment, a full activity calendar, and staff that keeps residents involved and engaged with each other. The highly trained and experienced staff members understand the interplay between dementia and delirium and continually monitor the physical and emotional health of the residents there.

In keeping with its commitment, Bethesda’s memory support communities are not just a place to protect and support people with dementia. It is a place where human needs are met and interaction is encouraged by the facility’s design and philosophy of care.

For more information about our memory support services, contact us today. And find more resources on Bethesda’s Alzheimer’s and Dementia blog.

The post How Delirium Can Affect Your Senior Loved One first appeared on Bethesda Health Group.

But what about the brain itself? Although life expectancy has more than doubled since 1900, our “mindspan”—how long we stay cognitively healthy—hasn’t kept pace.

Forgetfulness, slower processing, and feeling less sharp plague most of us as we age. One in five people develops mild cognitive impairment, a decline in thinking skills beyond normal aging, which may or may not advance to dementia. After 65, your odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease are one in 10.

It doesn’t have to be that way, mounting research suggests.

“The very term ‘age-related memory loss’ may be a misnomer,” says neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson, Founder and Former Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian.

Time and genetics alone don’t erode brain functions. How we spend our lives managing the modifiable risk factors that affect our genes is highly significant for our brain health, researchers say.

That’s why you’re likely to hear a lot more in the coming years about brain health and what you can do to improve your own. Educating the public on this is, in fact, one of the four core purposes of the Centers for Disease Control’s Healthy Brain Initiative, which kicked off its 2023-2027 road map for public health agencies, says program leader Lisa McGuire, PhD.

Brain Health: Stop Thinking There’s Nothing You Can Do

“Awareness of the steps to improve cognitive brain function is at least a generation behind that of heart health,” says cognitive neuroscientist Sandra Bond Chapman, Chief Director of the Center for BrainHealth^® at the University of Texas at Dallas.

When our fathers and grandparents died of a heart attack or stroke, we chalked it up to tragic luck. Clogged arteries, high blood pressure and high cholesterol were considered normal features of aging before 1948, when Congress commissioned researchers to begin tracking the cardiovascular lives of some 5,200 residents of Framingham, MA.

The Framingham Heart Study (now three generations old and still going) introduced the phrase “risk factors” to the medical lexicon and helped prove which prevention tactics work.

Today, it’s the brain we’re “in the dark” about. In a review of public awareness studies by PLOS One, a nonprofit, peer-reviewed, online scientific journal, nearly half of the respondents mistakenly believed Alzheimer’s disease is a normal process of aging that you can’t do anything about. In reality, a third or more of dementia cases can be delayed or  prevented by lifestyle factors, according to a 2017 report sponsored by the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care.

Read on to find out what we can do to help our brains stay in shape.

Use Brain Health to Motivate Your Health Habits

Advances in neuroimaging kicked off this new era of brain health by allowing scientists to see inside the brain. Intervention studies on how lifestyle affects brain function are newer still.

One of the largest such investigations to date, the BrainHealth Project, will task researchers across more than a dozen institutions with studying 120,000 subjects over the course of several years to find out how cognitive training, sleep, nutrition, exercise and more can extend mental strength over time.

What’s already clear: All health roads lead to the brain. “The No. 1 cause of cognitive decline is healthy people letting their brains decline,” says Chapman, the BrainHealth Project’s director.

That’s powerful motivation the next time you’re tempted to skip a workout or not opt for a healthy meal, do nothing about stress or  loneliness, or avoid treatment for conditions like depression, anxiety, diabetes, and sleep apnea.

Resist Too Much Habit and Routine

A particular challenge from midlife and beyond is the brain’s natural inclination to steer toward efficiency. It figures out the easiest, most comfortable ways to get something done and hits repeat.

But while toweling dry in the same mechanical pattern every morning allows you to get on with the day quickly, running your whole life as a creature of habit—doing the same things, seeing the same people—deprives the brain of something else it craves: newness and challenge.

Hallmarks of brain-stimulating activities that improve cognitive abilities, according to a 2017 report by the Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH) are novelty, high engagement, mental challenge, and enjoyableness.

If you like crosswords, fine, but push beyond to new games and challenges. Good examples from the GCBH: Tai chi, researching genealogy, picking up an old hobby you dropped, making art, and community volunteering. When activities include a social component, so much the better.

Be Aggressive About Blood Pressure

In 2018, a groundbreaking study became the latest persuasive link between heart health and brain health. Researchers at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, showed for the first time that lowering blood pressure can significantly reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Standard medical care had long included a systolic blood pressure of above 140 as the target defining hypertension and requiring treatment. (Systolic pressure is the first number in a blood pressure reading, as in “140 over 80.”) In 2017, that definition was revised to 130 by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology.

The more recent, long-term, large-scale SPRINT-MIND clinical trial, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, found that the more aggressively high blood pressure was treated toward reaching a systolic pressure below 120, the lower the risk of MCI. Treatment measures included a combination of not smoking, medication management, nutrition counseling, social and cognitive stimulation, and exercise.

Work Your Brain Harder, But Not by Multitasking

Your brain grooves on doing—but only one thing at a time. Multitasking stresses it.

Researchers say one better alternative is a cognitive exercise called “strategic attention.” The Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training program at the University of Texas at Dallas, advises this: Every day, pick two substantial tasks requiring fairly deep thinking. They might be tracking and analyzing your household budget, planning a vacation, writing a memo, or following a complex new recipe.

Then carve out two 30-minute sessions to focus without interruption. Turn off email alerts. Shut the door. No quick scrolls through your news feed that will take you off your task. It takes up to 20 minutes to refocus after a disruption.

Over time, you’ll find that you’ll achieve much more, and much more quickly, with improved attention. It’s the equivalent to your brain of a good workout at the gym.

Do (the Right Kind of) Nothing

It’s not all about activity. The brain needs two kinds of downtime to function optimally: rest and sleep.

Rest means taking intentional breaks from active thinking. Try taking five minutes, five times a day, to sit still and do nothing, Chapman says. Other routes to mental R&R include mindfulness, meditation, and yoga Nidra (also known as iRest and sleep yoga).

Not least, there’s sleep itself. Our awareness of how important it is to the brain grew with the discovery of the body’s glymphatic system—a kind of internal trash-hauling system. The system’s pace increases by more than 60 percent during sleep, a possible link to why getting more sleep is linked with a reduced dementia risk. Alzheimer’s prevention experts recommend eight to nine hours a night, Isaacson says.

Bethesda is dedicated to providing the best level of care for seniors living with Alzheimer’s or experiencing memory loss. To learn more, contact us today and find more health and wellness tips on our blog.

© Next Avenue – 2025. All rights reserved.

Originally published on February 6, 2019 by Paula Spencer Scott for Next Avenue.

The post Our Brains Need Exercise, Too first appeared on Bethesda Health Group.

What Is Telemedicine?

Telemedicine refers to health care providers delivering clinical health services and information to patients remotely, using smartphones, tablets or home computers.

The Sooner, the Better

Seniors with chronic conditions and other health challenges cannot afford to ignore or delay seeking treatment due to transportation issues, fear of exposure to illnesses, or mobility limitations. Telemedicine addresses these concerns by providing a secure safety margin, along with continued attention to the physical and emotional challenges seniors face. It also offers ease and convenience while still providing access to a wide range of services.

Ease and Convenience

For many seniors, traveling to their physician’s office can be exhausting — finding transportation, navigating the walk to the office, waiting, and then being driven back home. Through the advancement of telemedicine, seniors can receive care and attention in the comfort of home. This is particularly beneficial for those who live in rural locations, which may require significant travel time and the corresponding costs. Not only can a senior communicate with their doctor, but they can request medication refills and schedule future appointments.

Telemedicine visits are conducted on a secure network that meets the same privacy standards as you would find in a physician’s office or hospital. Also, if the senior consents, a relative or friend can participate in the call.

Telehealth Solutions Provide a Wide Range of Services

A large number of health concerns can be addressed via telehealth solutions, including:

• Allergies
• Chronic illness management, including diabetes and high blood pressure
• Coughs and colds
• Follow-up visits
• Medication questions, adjustments/refills
• Mental health
• Minor infections
• Pain
• Rashes
• Sinus problems
• Sleep problems
• Specialist referrals
• Vomiting and diarrhea
• General wellness

Telemedicine is great for seniors with everyday health questions, those who need follow-up checks, or those who want to discuss symptoms and issues that are not life-threatening. Also, a telemedicine visit can reveal to the physician if an injury or illness is severe enough to require more intensive in-person care by a health professional, or even a visit to the emergency room.

Providers of telemedicine services include but are not limited to:

• Doctors
• Nurses
• Clinical psychologists
• Speech and occupational therapists
• Licensed social workers

Technology is constantly improving the state of home health care — for more health care tools and technology for seniors, visit Bethesda’s Technology blog.

The post Why You Should Consider Telemedicine Services first appeared on Bethesda Health Group.

Some of these services can be administered in the person’s home, but most physicians will recommend rehab at a skilled nursing community for safe, medically supervised rehab services.

The Bridge From Hospital to Rehabilitation Therapy

According to Michele Kimball, BSN R.N., Corporate Director of Clinical Services at Bethesda Health Group, rehabilitation in a skilled nursing community begins with a medical evaluation by nurses and physicians specializing in geriatric care. This evaluation includes an assessment of the senior’s medical condition and review of medications. The senior’s nutritional status is assessed by in-house registered dietitians in efforts to provide nutritional support to optimize overall health status and healing. The interdisciplinary team which includes physicians, nurses, therapy, registered dietitians, and social workers collaborate to develop an individualized plan of care to aid in returning the senior to the community at or as close to their prior level of functioning.

“All of these reviews and assessments tie into the overall health of the resident and their therapy plan,” Michele says. “Without considering the needs of the whole person, you’re not going to have the best results and risk re-hospitalization.”

Rehabilitation Services Make a Difference in Senior Healing

Many seniors are hesitant about rehabilitation therapy because they believe it is not as effective for those in their age group. The truth is no one is too old to benefit from physical therapy and rehabilitation. Physicians recommend it because it has proven to be an effective part of a person’s recovery.

For example, if a senior has been released from the hospital after a fall, statistics show they are more likely to fall again if they quickly resume normal activity. Therapy is necessary to strengthen the body and improve balance to help prevent this from happening.

Over time, joints and muscles stiffen and weaken. Mobility decreases while pain increases. Endurance, flexibility and strength can be regained, and pain can be managed under the guidance of a physical therapist.

The training and exercise in physical therapy sessions can also help alleviate the symptoms of arthritis and control some of the effects of osteoporosis, a progressive bone disease that reduces bone density.

Therapists can offer alternative methods to complete daily tasks. Most importantly, as the senior progresses in therapy and begins achieving more goals, their self-confidence grows.

Studies show that long after completing physical therapy and rehabilitation, it still provides benefits in terms of strength, endurance, and balance; benefits that can enable seniors to remain independent in their homes  longer.

A Wide Range of Specialized Services

People often think of rehabilitation services after a fall or broken bone, but the results of the service expand much wider for seniors.

Speech therapists help with speaking skills and difficulty in swallowing. According to Michele, the breathing exercises speech therapists use can prevent a reoccurrence of pneumonia and subsequent re-admission to the hospital. Speech therapists also work on cognitive exercises that enhance seniors’ safety awareness thus assisting in prevention of falls.

Additionally, occupational therapists work to increase a senior’s range of motion, which improves their ability to perform daily tasks. Occupational therapists work with seniors to teach them how to break down daily tasks into segments that work for their individual physical functioning and endurance level, providing them with ways to safely navigate their activities of daily living.

At Bethesda Health Group skilled nursing and rehabilitation communities, an additional specialty service, Respiratory Therapy, has been added. This service has been effective in reducing reoccurrence of respiratory illnesses that lead to re-hospitalizations. In addition, the respiratory therapists provide education on worsening signs and symptoms of respiratory illness, breathing exercises and even have seniors bring in-home equipment such as CPAPS to check functioning, cleanliness and proper understanding of the machine. After all, seniors that breathe better move better, ultimately optimizing their therapy sessions.

The Caregiver and the Reluctant “Rehabber”

Seniors decline rehabilitation for a variety of reasons. If inpatient rehab is recommended, seniors who were previously hospitalized may not want to be bothered with any more treatments outside their home, and they may not understand the basis for the therapy. Not only can this be frustrating for caregivers and loved ones, but declining recommended rehab can lead to permanent loss of function and diminished quality of life for the senior. Therefore, it is important to explain why therapy and rehabilitation are needed. It may help to include the senior’s physician in the discussion as well.

Fear may also be an issue. Seniors may ask themselves if rehab will be painful, or if they will ever return home after rehab is over. Caregivers and family members must explain that the therapy is temporary and an important part of the healing process that should not be skipped.

Sometimes seniors are more open to outpatient therapy, as it offers more independence and time at home. However, this may not be the best option for a senior’s condition. If this requires multiple trips to and from an outpatient rehab center, caregivers should point out it would be best to receive therapy on an inpatient basis. As hesitations arise, assure the senior that their home will be taken care of in their absence.

“Simply because someone is a senior doesn’t mean they can’t become stronger and healthier,” says Michele. “I have seen great results where medical expertise and rehabilitation services have restored capabilities that were thought to be lost forever.”

At Bethesda, we understand the physical and emotional needs of seniors receiving therapy and rehabilitation services. If your senior loved one has recently experienced an injury, illness, or hospital stay, please contact us for more information about our senior rehabilitation services.

The post Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation — Vital for Senior Healing first appeared on Bethesda Health Group.

According to Vicki Chism, Nurse Manager at Bethesda Southgate, the key is to find the familiar person that is still inside of them. “Meet them where they are currently at,” she says. “It takes patience and adjustment, but seniors living with dementia are still individuals who can and need to connect with people.”

Establishing and maintaining those connections can be challenging but are essential to improving the relationships between a parent living with dementia and their children. Here are some tips for caregivers and family members coping with dementia in a parent.

Find the Person, Lose the Fear

“People fear dementia because they don’t know what to say to their loved one,” says Vicki. “They are afraid they may say or do something that will upset them.”

According to Vicki, because dementia carries such a negative stigma, people tend to associate those living with dementia with feelings of hopelessness. “Many people believe their parents aren’t able to do anything,” she says. However, she points out, there are many ways of interacting, depending upon the stage of the disease progression.

Suggestions for Connection

At Bethesda Southgate, staff use memory books to review with dementia residents. “The books are their personal story,” says Vicki. “Families also bring photos to stimulate old memories because they are more easily recalled and enjoyed.”

If the senior loves to cook, perhaps recipes could be reviewed and tried. If they worked with their hands when they were younger, maybe a craft project would be good. At Bethesda Southgate, birdhouse kits are provided for those with an interest in building, and in the spring and summer, those who historically have liked to garden have an area they tend.

Involve their senses. Bring in music they loved in the past. Go for a short walk on a nice day. Pursue an old hobby they used to enjoy. If they are able, a mild exercise session might re-energize them.

Planning these types of activities requires an understanding of your parent’s capabilities. For example, do they still read? Do they seem to enjoy old movies? What do they talk about when you visit? Just be realistic about your expectations.

Vicki suggests it is important to allow your parent to do as much as they can on their own, regardless of the activity selected. Also, correcting a faulty memory while reviewing family history or photos may cause them to feel agitated and to shut down. Communication is far better than corrections.

If your parent is in an assisted living community or in long-term care, ask the staff what they have observed. Perhaps they can suggest some activities.

Picking the Best Time

Making the most of the moments together may also require finding a time that is best for your senior parent. Memory Support residents at Bethesda Southgate have the ability to set their own rhythms as much as possible. “Some like to sleep during the day and are awake in the evening or night, so we ask family members to stop by in the evening,” says Vicki.

Whenever you visit, Vicki notes that it is best to approach someone with dementia from the front rather than the side. “Look them in the eye, and don’t tower over them,” she suggests.

Building your relationship with your senior loved one is important. It’s also important to make sure they are receiving the care they need in a comfortable, home-like environment. Bethesda offers Home Health Care for seniors aging in place, and our Memory Support communities across the St. Louis area offer dementia care and support for those coping with dementia in a parent. Schedule a tour at a community near you to learn more.

The post How to Improve Relationships with a Parent Living with Dementia first appeared on Bethesda Health Group.

The goal of the program is to keep people in their homes, allowing them to age in place for as long as they are able by providing the services and support seniors need to maintain their independence.

“From attending doctor’s appointments or helping with medication management, laundry or shopping, we are here for one purpose — to help our residents,” says Julie Poelker, Bethesda Senior Care Coordinator. “This program is especially beneficial for residents who do not have family members living in the area. Our team is able to step in and help with tasks that the residents have trouble completing.”

For more than ten years, Care Management team members have attended doctors’ appointments with multiple Bethesda residents. For those with no family members in town, this service has helped them avoid navigating stressful situations on their own.

“We relay information from the doctor to the residents’ families,” Julie says. “In addition, our team may help with medication management and activities of daily living when the resident returns home.”

Julie and her team also assist residents when they need another level of care by navigating the transition to the appropriate Bethesda community.

The Care Management program is part of Bethesda Senior Support Solutions, Bethesda’s in-home private duty agency.

For more information on the Care Management program or Bethesda Senior Support Solutions, call 314-963-2200.

The post Bethesda’s Care Management Provides Support to Residents first appeared on Bethesda Health Group.

Just as it is important to keep our bodies strong with physical exercise, we have to work our brains out too, stimulating them every day to keep them working like a well-oiled machine. The good news is that it’s a lot easier to give our minds a workout than it is our bodies. There is no need to work up a sweat, our senior loved ones don’t need special gear or expensive equipment, and they don’t need a professional trainer. All that’s required is a comfortable chair, a sharpened pencil and an armload of puzzle books, or a computer or smart phone.

Great Mind-Sharpening Games for Seniors:

Trivia

An excellent way to dust off your recall skills is to take a deep dive into long forgotten or often overlooked details of history, pop culture and general knowledge. Trivia games come in many forms, ranging from online tests of skill you can play by yourself or matched against a random opponent, to multi-player trivia games that allow you to match wits with family members during boisterous game nights.

Word Searches

Found online, in magazines, or in puzzle booklets, word searches are excellent for honing concentration and focus. Usually, these puzzles are based on a theme and that topic can help revive memories and stoke the imagination of our senior loved ones as they play.

Crossword Puzzles

What a cross-training workout is for the body, crossword puzzles are for the brain. These popular games for seniors test their memory, vocabulary skills, thought processing skills, and executive function abilities, according to a study featured on Harvard Health Publishing. The testing found that 37 percent of senior citizens who did crossword puzzles for four 30-minute sessions a week saw their cognitive skills improve two points on a 70-point scale. On average, participants improved one point in their score over 12 weeks of doing crossword puzzles. The same study found that the hippocampus and the cortex — the parts of the brain responsible for memory and for thinking which typically shrink as we age — decreased less in regular crossword solvers than in people who didn’t do crosswords.

Scrabble

Similar to crosswords, Scrabble or other online games for seniors like Words with Friends, test our memory, vocabulary, strategic decision making and other skills. But they take things to the next level of cognitive processing because you’re not given clues. Instead, players must sort through their randomly assigned letters to make the longest, most valuable words they can come up with without prompts.

Card Games

Like crosswords, card games stimulate the brain in many ways, requiring players to think about strategy and use their memory. A great benefit to playing cards is that there is a fun and challenging game available for all experience and skill levels. Inexperienced players can quickly learn how to play simple games like Go Fish and Solitaire, while more advanced players often choose to play Gin Rummy, Poker, Bridge, Cribbage or Canasta with friends or family members as part of a regular social gathering.

Bingo

Bingo is a popular game among seniors because it offers the opportunity to gather socially and enjoy good company, tasty food, and an entertaining time all at once. Bingo is proof that having fun can be good for you! The game, which consists of trying to cover numbers on a bingo card, requires players to exercise their concentration and listening skills to complete the objective.

Sudoku

Take the benefits of word games but swap the vocabulary for math and you’ve got Sudoku! Sodoku is a puzzle game that challenges players to fill in the blanks to arrange numbers on a grid in a way that uses each numeral from 1-9 to make a pattern. Soduku is fun for all ages and all skill levels, and you can find puzzles that are easy enough to keep beginners interested and difficult enough to challenge the most experienced and skilled players.

Board Games

Old classics like checkers, chess, backgammon, and countless others are fantastic options for seniors because they all require strategic thinking and focus to play. They’re also desirable because they offer a fantastic opportunity for a gathering with family or friends.

Find Your New Favorite Game!

All the games for seniors listed above offer a variety of benefits but, much like with exercising our bodies, it’s not always about what you do as much as it is about that you do something at all! Besides, if we do one thing too often, eventually, we’re going to become bored. So, it’s best if your senior loved one shakes things up and incorporates several different games they enjoy into their weekly routine to keep things interesting.

We’re more likely to keep up a good habit if we enjoy what we’re doing, so let your elderly parent be the one who chooses the game they want to play and whether they want to play it alone or in a group setting. When it comes to maintaining cognitive skills and sharpening seniors’ minds, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose as long as you play the game!

Uncover new ways to improve your cognitive health on Bethesda’s Health & Wellness blog.

The post 8 Mind-Sharpening Games for Seniors first appeared on Bethesda Health Group.