Engaging People Living with Dementia
We recently published an E-Book on activities that help older adults, especially those living with dementia, reignite purpose, meaning, and joy in their lives. We encourage you to download “10 Fun and Simple Activities to Engage Those with Living Dementia”. The download is free.
At Sage Eldercare Solutions and The Hummingbird Project, we focus on enhancing the quality of life for our clients, many of whom struggle with memory loss. Sage’s Personal Care Assistants and Hummingbird’s Activity Specialists are devoted to engaging clients in meaningful activities. This blog explores the seven domains of wellness and our philosophy. This treatment framework guides our practice, offering our clients an enhanced holistic quality of life.
(and read our blog below)
Challenges Facing Those with Dementia
For many older adults, the world shrinks as they age. Mobility challenges, health issues, or cognitive decline can limit possibilities. Family members and eldercare providers often focus on addressing the physical needs of older adults. There isn’t enough time in a day to address social and psychological needs.
But it doesn’t have to be that way…
Older adults with dementia can benefit from activities designed to stimulate the many facets of wellness beyond their physical well-being. This principle is at the core of Sage Eldercare Solutions’ and The Hummingbird Project’s work. Founded over twenty years ago, our mission is to go beyond the basics of eldercare to deliver the best-in-class quality of care and quality of life for our clients.
Addressing the Person as a Whole
Sage values every client’s individuality. Regardless of cognitive status, we recognize that people are shaped by their unique life experiences, personalities, values, beliefs, and opinions. We look at well-being holistically.
At Sage and The Hummingbird Project, we consider the whole person’s quality of life, addressing more than just their physical needs. Holistic quality of life includes social interactions and connectedness, purposeful and meaningful engagement, stimulation through lifelong learning, and spirituality.
The Seven Domains of Wellness
Sage’s focus has been promoting a holistic quality of life since its founding. Over ten years ago, Sage’s Nina Pflumm Herndon and Kari Rogenski identified the seven domains of wellness as the framework for understanding holistic wellness. Delivering quality of life-enhancing services involves all seven domains. Every Sage employee is trained to support all seven domains.
The following outlines the seven wellness domains. For each domain, you will find suggested activities in the E-Book “10 Fun and Simple Activities to Engage Those Living with Dementia. We also encourage you to download our free E-Book here.
Physical Domain of Wellness
Activities that support physical wellness encourage older adults to be active, feel strong, and have fun. Of course, physical activity includes swimming, walking, running, and strength training. A Quality of Life (QOL) approach looks well beyond these traditional activities, including gardening, hikes in nature, dancing, playing with children, and yard work. This broader view offers a variety of activities that spark joy and interest.
Our E-Book, “10 Fun and Simple Activities to Engage Those with Living Dementia,” suggests taking a themed walk in nature. You’ll find detailed directions on setting a theme for walks that will engage your client or loved one.
Spiritual Domain of Wellness
Many older adults, particularly those facing health challenges, discover that their spiritual, mental, and physical health are interconnected. For people with dementia, research has revealed that spirituality provides a sense of hope and community.
A holistic approach to spirituality expands the activities that support spiritual well-being to include meditation, rituals, traditions, time in nature, reminiscing, music, and time spent with animals. In our practice, we try to recreate rituals that have been a meaningful, recurring part of their lives, whether having mid-afternoon tea or observing the sunset from a patio – helping renew a sense of well-being.
Discover how mandalas, sacred circles used for centuries in Indian and Tibetan religious traditions, can stimulate spiritual wellness in “10 Fun and Simple Activities to Engage Those with Living Dementia.”
Intellectual Domain of Wellness
Engagement in intellectual activities can enhance cognition. This is true for all cognition levels. At Sage, many families express frustration that their loved one does not remember an activity they did together and wonder whether it is worth pursuing. We believe that people with dementia benefit from the life-enhancing learning experience and the resulting sense of competence, even if they forget what they learned. It is not about retaining information. The advantage is gained from intellectual stimulation. In other words, intellectual activity yields benefits, whether remembered or not.
Intellectual QOL includes activities that support an older adult’s life experiences, wisdom, and personal passions (past, present, and future). Activities that support intellectual QOL include attending lectures in person or virtually, participating in book clubs, mentoring students, writing, and other forms of lifelong learning.
10 Fun and Simple Activities to Engage Those with Living Dementia details how to research and discuss one’s name to activate memories. Discussing the story behind an older adult’s name is a sure way to connect and learn. For another idea to stimulate the intellectual domain of wellness, check out the chapter “Build a Model Plane.”
Vocational Domain of Wellness
As older adults reflect on their lives, many measure their accomplishments by the contributions they have made to their family and community. So many people’s self-identity and self-worth are derived from their career-long work. Often, as older adults are often cared for by others, they struggle to feel they can still contribute to society and the family they used to care for. Boosting one’s sense of usefulness and self-work can benefit older adults who think they are losing control over much of their lives.
Activities focusing on vocational wellness help fulfill this need to feel like productive, valued community and family members. Reminiscing about your client’s or loved one’s career or volunteer role can be a sure way to honor their contributions.
Sage PCAs and The Hummingbird Project activity specialists dig deep to learn about their clients’ careers. They customize activities that validate their client’s vocational knowledge. For example, spending time with an attorney researching and discussing the top Supreme Court cases of the past 50 years can reignite vocational worth.
Other activities that include volunteering and civic engagement can help older adults feel valued members of society today,
Boosting one’s self-worth can benefit older adults who feel they are losing control over much of their lives.
Check out the “Remember Careers” chapter in our E-Book 10 Fun and Simple Activities to Engage Those with Living Dementia.
Creative Domain of Wellness
Creative expression is one of the best ways to engage older adults, even those with severe limitations or advanced cognitive decline. Creative QOL encompasses traditionally artistic endeavors and activities that activate the imagination, creative expression, and engagement. This can include:
- making things, from a decoration to a recipe
- engaging in an expressive process such as poetry or pottery
- museum outings to appreciate art and
- music making or appreciation.
The possibilities are endless when caregivers consider everyday creativity as part of this framework. Everyday creativity includes creative acts and expressions that occur naturally in life. Examples include preparing food, wearing makeup, choosing clothing and jewelry, and much more. Through this lens, creativity is an integrated aspect of the human experience.
A new creative expression can be unearthed, even for those with little prior creative involvement. Older adults may take to sketching or painting and find solace in expressing themselves in a new artistic way.
Our E-Book, 10 Fun and Simple Activities to Engage Those with Living Dementia, outlines how to tap into creativity with leaf rubbings (see Chapter 7 after downloading the E-Book).
Environmental Domain of Wellness
Environmental QOL accounts for an individual’s experience of joy and meaning in their environment. Environments can embody many qualities, from calm to stimulating to soothing or engaging. Ensuring that a person’s environment is suitable for their needs is paramount.
There are many ways to activate an older adult’s quality of life through their environment. Examples include using color or art on the walls to add vibrancy, bringing in plants to create a natural experience, and hanging artistic mobiles from ceilings to provide a bed-bound elder with something inspiring.
Our E-Book, 10 Fun and Simple Activities to Engage Those with Living Dementia, outlines an activity that uses the sense of smell to connect to the environment, stimulate memories, and boost mood.
Emotional Domain of Wellness
Activities designed to foster emotional QOL help older adults cope with the experience of aging and any diagnosis they may face, including dementia. Because caregivers often serve as sources of emotional support and social interaction for people living with dementia, they are in a unique position to enhance their quality of life.
Activities that stimulate emotional well-being include social outings and connectedness, reminiscing, validating life experiences, joining groups at local senior centers, and spending time with friends and family.
Our E-Book shares a simple idea for supporting emotional wellness. Download the E-Book and follow the suggestions in Chapter 10.
Conclusion
Tailored activities reconnect elders—including those with dementia—to what brings them purpose, meaning, and joy. Eldercare professionals and family caregivers play an essential role in this. One of the best places to start is using QOL-enhancing activities tailored to an individual’s unique strengths, interests, and life story.
Sage and The Hummingbird Project Therapeutic Activity Program
At The Hummingbird Project, we create and deliver products and services that foster a holistic quality of life and help older adults—including those with dementia—engage curiosity, foster personal expression, and create joyful moments. In addition, Sage Personal Care Assistants (PCAs) receive quality-of-life-enhancing training from our dedicated team of therapeutic activity specialists. Sage’s clients have access to Hummingbird’s daily Zoom programming, offering engagement opportunities every day.
Many professional and family caregivers and the older adults we work with have found inspiration in our Joyful Moments Activity Cards, which beautifully depict activities covering all seven wellness domains. You can also download our E-Book, 10 Fun and Simple Activities to Engage Those with Living Dementia.
Interested in a free consultation with a Sage health professional? Click here.
