Tag Archives: Alzheimer’s disease

Family Caregiver, Senior Care Professionals, The Family Caregiver

Five Technology Innovations for Elders Living With Dementia

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Technology can support safety and security for elders living in their homes.

Dementia is not only challenging for the person experiencing it, but it is also stressful and unsettling for loved ones.    However, as modern technology evolves, there are more options when it comes to caring for elders at home.

Technology cannot replace in-person care, however,  it can be a tool to help caregivers feel more secure.   Here are the top 5 technological innovations to consider if you have a loved one living at home with dementia.

1.    GPS Location and Tracking Devices

Sadly, seniors with dementia have been known to wander and get lost, placing themselves in danger. GPS tracking devices are an important technology for caregivers to consider.  The tracking device will send an alert when the elder has left a certain area and is capable of locating the person and notifying emergency personnel if necessary.

2.    In-Home Cameras

In-home cameras allow elders to be monitored at all times.  Some allow you to talk to your loved one, and others will alert you when there is movement in the room. In addition to checking in on your loved one, you will also be able to make sure that there are no intruders and that he or she has locked the doors, turned off the oven, and any other minor task that could put him or her in danger. Consider installing these cameras in multiple rooms of your loved one’s home and be sure to get the entire room in the range of view.

3.    Communication Aids

As modern technology evolves, the way that humans communicate has also evolved. For some family members that do not live close to their loved ones, technology will help them stay connected.  Family members should ask their loved one’s caregiver to assist with connecting via Facetime, Skype, or Zoom for a video-chat visit.

4.    Motion Sensor Lights

Motion sensor lights have the ability to save lives as elders,  and especially those with dementia, are subject to falls at night. Seniors often trip and fall in the dark and the injuries that they suffer from these falls can be life-threatening and altering. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. Motion lights are a technological solution to this issue.

Motion lights will detect movement in a room and can make getting around easier.  Instead of risking a fall walking to a light switch, the lights will turn on as soon as the elder stands up.  This technological innovation will help to support a safer environment for older adults.

5.    VitalTech

This cloud-based platform is an outstanding innovation worth considering. Launched in 2018, this technology comes in the form of a band worn by the elder. In addition to medication reminders, the VitalBand can also track:

  • Vital signs; heart and respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, etc.
  • Falls
  • Sleep quality
  • Physical activity

In case of injury, or when vital signs are questionable, the band will contact emergency services, allowing for 24/7 safety. Without delay,   information can be tracked and reported to medical providers.

Technology Advantage

It may be helpful to implement technology options to assist with caring for a loved one living with dementia and offer you more peace of mind.

About the Author

AGE-u-cate welcomes Kelsey Simpson as a guest contributor.

Kelsey Simpson enjoys writing about things that can help others.  She currently works and writes for Comfort Keepers, in-home senior care.  She lives in South Jersey and is the proud companion to two German Shepherds and spends her free time volunteering in dog shelters.

Family Caregiver, Hospital Professionals, Senior Care Professionals

Validation in Dementia Care: Thank You, Naomi!

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Validation helps caregivers step into the world of a person with dementia, creating understanding and empathy.

The most powerful communication tool I’ve learned is Validation. Created by Naomi Feil, Validation is a method of communicating with people with dementia. Stepping into the world of the elder leads to understanding, therefore easing distress.

I’ve distilled the concepts of Validation into two questions.  They help me respond to someone with dementia who is confused and distressed.  First, I ask, “What is this person’s reality at this moment?”  The answer gives me a clue into her world at the moment, and then I can be with her in her world.

Then I ask, “What is she feeling right now?”  I can’t see a motion picture of what’s going on in her mind, but there are clues about how she is feeling. What is her facial expression, body language, or voice intensity telling me?

Now comes the action part.  First, I reflect her reality and then acknowledge the feeling.

Let me illustrate with a story about a woman in a skilled nursing facility where I provided Compassionate Touch® sessions. At around four o’clock, she fretted about getting home to make supper for her family.  Pacing the hall, she asked everyone how to get back home. As time passed, the more anxious and upset she became. The staff was expected to take her to dinner at five o’clock, not an easy task when she was so determined to leave.

What is her reality?  It’s time for her to get home to make supper for her family.  In her mind, her family would be back soon, and she needed to be there for them. Now that I understood where she was at the moment, I could be with her in her world.  What is she feeling? She seemed frustrated and increasingly angry and fearful.

I walked with her, asking simple questions about her family and what they liked to eat for dinner.  I acknowledged her feelings, saying, “it’s so frustrating to be late.” I used humor, “my son thinks he will just starve if I’m five minutes late with a meal!” She nodded and laughed with me.  At one point, I reassured her with touch by gently stroking her back and holding her hand. She became more present in the immediate moment, and she let go of her fixation on getting home.

What created the shift in her was not so much what I said, but rather that she felt seen and heard, therefore, validated. We walked again, but this time to the dining room where she joined her friends for dinner!

How do you feel when someone validates you?

Ann Catlin, OTR, LMT: For twenty years, Ann led in the field of skilled touch in eldercare and hospice. She has nearly forty years’ clinical experience as an occupational and massage therapist. She created Age-u-cate’s Compassionate Touch program and now serves as a Master Trainer and training consultant.

Senior Care Professionals

Alzheimer’s Disease: What Would Maslow Say?

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Human needs remain intact regardless of age, situation, or condition.

Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist who taught that survival needs must come before social or spiritual needs. Alzheimer’s disease impacts all these needs, for instance, as in a woman named Faye.

The need for physical survival. Faye relied on caregivers to assist with physical needs. 

The need to have personal security and to feel safe.  Faye didn’t recall recent events, so she didn’t realize where she was. Memories of past experience faded.

The need for a sense of belonging and connection to others. Faye had been active in her church.  The move to a nursing home separated her from familiar people and consequently became withdrawn and anxious.

The need to express feelings and have them acknowledged.  Alzheimer’s decreases a person’s ability to express thoughts. Faye was frustrated because care-partners didn’t understand her.

The need to give to others and to be treated with respect.  We all need to feel useful. We thrive with mutual understanding and respect.  However, people with Alzheimer’s may believe they have nothing to contribute.

The need for a sense of self and a connection to spirit. Many assume that Alzheimer’s robs people of their identity.  Although memory and cognition become impaired, it appears that the person living with dementia seems to retain a sense of self—the essence of who he or she is.

In conclusion, understanding human needs may help us to be a little more empathetic with people living with Alzheimer’s disease.

Ann Catlin, OTR, LMT: For twenty years, Ann led in the field of skilled touch in eldercare and hospice. She has nearly forty years’ clinical experience as an occupational and massage therapist. She created Age-u-cate’s Compassionate Touch program and serves as a Master Trainer and training consultant.

Faith Community, Senior Care Professionals, The Family Caregiver

“Remember This” Changes the Conversation about Dementia

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Dementia Friendly Fort Worth recently sponsored Remember This, a participatory performance experience by the Texas Tech University School of Theatre and Dance.  Created and produced by Dr. Tyler Davis, Genevieve Durham DeCesaro, Rachel Hirshorn-Johnston, and Dr. Annette Sobel,  Remember This is about changing the conversation about dementia.

Remember This is poignant, inspiring, humorous and creative.  

Remember This is designed to spotlight conversations about and perceptions of dementia by using a myriad of performance approaches, including dance, improv comedy, and scripted theatre taken directly from interviews with people living with and around the disease.

The creators worked to research and publicize the humanity, as opposed to solely the tragedy of the disease, by approaching it as a set of interwoven stories.  Remember This is designed to promote a larger and louder public conversation about people living with dementia as well as the communities (e.g. caregivers, families, community business owners, hospitals, etc.) who care for and serve them.

The creative ensemble that performed, several who had loved ones with dementia, was simply an amazing work of art.  Hats off to the visionaries, researchers,  and creative minds of Remember This.  Having young people share in the dialogue is expanding the generational reach of dementia.

Thank you to Dementia Friendly America, of which Dementia Friendly Fort Worth is a part of, Alzheimer’s Association and many others who are changing the conversation to the broader public about dementia – how to better understand dementia,  openly accept persons living with dementia as vital members of the community, and to help those caring for persons with dementia.  And finally, to provide more funding for training, support, resources, and research – all urgently needed to meet the fast-growing numbers of persons living with dementia and those caring for them,  in the U.S. and throughout the world.

Pam Brandon is President/Founder of AGE-u-cate Training Institute and a passionate advocate for older adults and those who serve them.  Pam is the creator of the internationally acclaimed Dementia Live® simulation and awareness training program.