80 year old Ted had a lengthy career as an entertainer. Diagnosed with dementia in 2013, Ted’s memory has deteriorated to the point that he often doesn’t recognise family. However, when he sings ‘he’s back in the room’ and his car-pool karaoke videos with his son are raising money for the Alzheimer’s Society. View the videos and read the full story here
Source: ABC Sunshine Coast (http://www.abc.net.au/) by Kylie Bartholomew
Five older folk sit huddled around a patio table on a sunny Thursday morning. From the outside they look like any group of keen gardeners.
But they are not. They have dementia. And this is horticulture therapy.
Horticultural therapist Cath Manuel is using gardening to enrich the lives of patients living with dementia on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Once a week she leads a group of up to six patients and two volunteers to plant seedlings or tend to a sensory garden at Carramar aged care facility at Tewantin.
“If they’ve gardened a lot in the past, we give them pots and tools and they know exactly what to do,” Ms Manuel said. “But some of the others in the group just need that help because from step one to two, they can sometimes forget what step one was.”
Alzheimers Australia, the national body for people living with this disease, has launched a new website called ‘Dementia in my Family’ for children who are close to someone with dementia.
The new online resource – filled with videos, cartoons, games and pictures for toddlers to young adults – explains simply how dementia affects the brain. And that it’s okay to feel sad for a loved one.
Visit the Dementia in my Family website here
Learn helpful tips, room by room, on how to modify your home to make it safe and friendly for those living with dementia.