The Grandchildren

I viewed the HBO Alzheimer’s special of The Alzheimer’s Project a few weeks ago and as I watched the portion with Maria Shriver and the grandchildren of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, I let the tears fall. There is something so very heart wrenching, especially being a grandmother myself, watching the torment that the kids were expressing at losing their grandparents as they knew them.

Some of the things that touched my heart the most were included in the pain of the little one who went to talk with her grandmother every day after school and didn’t understand when her grandmother turned on her in anger, the grandchild who hurt because her grandparent didn’t remember her name, and the general discussion about how their lives changed because of this new responsibility of trying to find a way to interact.

One of the girls in the documentary found an activity that helped her. She made a video of her grandparents including a history from people who knew them and could share their past. Reminiscing is often a very good way to connect. My children had to do history papers when they were in school that required them to interview someone who could give them a first hand account of what the era was like. My suggestion is to use that type of homework paper to engage the individual with dementia whenever possible. I know from experience that individuals with dementia, when able to reminisce, can provide colorful memories of days gone by.

Some of the best narration I have ever heard of major past events, came from something triggered in a person with dementia when we were doing an activity of current events or sharing anniversaries of major calendar events. There was the person who was a neighbor and knew Dr. Martin Luther King; the person who shared about x-ray machines he helped to develop; the many war stories, the gentleman who grew up knowing a president personally; the women who could share what it was like to break through barriers in jobs just for men. Our seniors can make history come alive in a way no history book ever could. At the same time the sharing of the story creates a bond that lasts a lifetime.

It makes me happy to say that through our company, HippoCampus-HQ, we were able to create a program, using various products, to make it easy and fun to engage and interact with the individual with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Testimonials we have received from those already using the program state that this is a great program to help grandchildren relate and navigate through the confusion of trying to find a way to connect again with their grandparents who are living with dementia.

Activities can be a detour even for grandchildren when it comes to dealing with the obstacles brought on by the diagnosis of dementia and any resulting behaviors or changes in personality. Finding something that can tap into a past interest or skill or memory is a wonderful way to reunite the generations beyond the perplexities of the disease.
Mary Ann