Champions

It’s hard to believe that we are at the end of the winter Olympics already. Watching champions is so inspiring. I think that is one of the reasons I like working in this field with the seniors I have met and the care providers – they are all champions, each in their own way. They say that you know what champions are made of when the going gets tough. Memory loss is as tough as it can get.
Part of what makes me see these people as champions is that they hang in there despite the obstacles. They are Olympians who put in long hours day in and day out to reach the goal of providing quality of life by meeting needs.
I was reading again about needs as I prepared for a talk I am about to give this week. In addition to other research, I reviewed Tom Kitwood’s core psychological needs for people with dementia. These were part of the Connections training for person centered care that was developed and presented by the Alzheimer’s Association all over Ohio.
Kitwood lists six core needs: Love, Attachment, Comfort, Identity, Occupation and Inclusion. He explains how important each is to a person’s well being.
Love is the central need and it encompasses all other needs. People with dementia long to be loved which can manifest itself through the other core needs because all are so closely intertwined.
Attachment is forming bonds. Comfort is the feeling of security that comes from forming bonds and the closeness that transpires. Identity is the feeling of knowing who one is. Occupation is being a part of the process of life and Inclusion is being part of the whole.
It is rewarding to me to know that through activities so many of these core needs can be met or at least explored. Attachment happens, bonds form, as the time is taken to engage in any activity. When the activity touches on past or present interests it helps an individual get in contact with who they are and helps to fulfill the need of identity. Occupation was always thought of as providing an activity that related to the career a person had in their life but Kitwood explains that it is so much more than that. Being involved in the process of life means, no matter the stage of dementia, a person can still participate in getting others to respond. When an individual can be a host or hostess, or can be of help, then they are involved in the process of life. It is why inviting a person to “help” you in an activity is such a good approach to getting someone to participate. Just getting them to help you evaluate an activity is part of meeting the need of Occupation.
Finally, there is Inclusion. No one likes to be left out. It is part of the fabric of our evolution that we needed to be a part of the whole in order to survive. Isolation has detrimental effects on people and for the person with dementia it can cause unwanted, challenging behaviors.
It is not enough to meet the basic physical needs of food, clothing, shelter and safety. As human beings we are so much more. And having the diagnosis of dementia does not change the fact that the core psychological needs of each individual must be met to ensure quality of life. Activities are a good means to meet them in a very person centered way. Mary Ann