Support

Hi! It’s been a few weeks since I posted anything. I think I was going through a dry spell, trying to think of new subjects to share how activities impact lives of those with dementia. However, much has happened in these past weeks to call me back to share with you.
During those weeks, I had to pull together the documentation to submit for updating my national certification as an activity director. That, in and of itself, reminded me of some of the wonderful opportunities I have had for learning more about dementia and activities in the past two years since my last renewal. In addition, it again struck the chord for why I so dearly love this professional field and an appreciation for how it impacts lives, mine included. When that certificate arrived in the mail this week, I framed it with gratitude.
Two weeks ago, I was privileged to go to the Ohio Health Care Conference with two colleges from a local retirement home where we presented on Activities and the Spiritual Side of Dementia. And during the past five weeks, my Saturday mornings have been joyously filled with training classes to be a volunteer with Hospice. That has been such a blessing in so many ways and this past Saturday, yesterday, was training on spirituality. I thought for a brief moment during the class, that I wish I would have had some of the wonderful information we were learning to have contributed to the talk we gave at the conference.
During our talk when we presented it, we mentioned that spirituality is what energizes you, what makes you smile, what brings joy to your heart. Yesterday I heard that proposed again but this time I was hearing it as it was being said to me. The words “You know you are tapping into your spirituality if it brings you energy,” had such a powerful impact on me! It was as if I was hearing it for the very first time.
Finally, this week, I was doing some work for a senior center and had the honor to talk with a woman who lost her husband to Alzheimer’s disease. What she shared touched my heart and replenished that verve in me to want to help the care providers across this country who are in need of support and interventions to make them feel as though they are not alone.
We talked about the support group she and her husband attended. She called it a “lifeline”. Such a powerful visual! We talked about funding to support these vital needs for the care provider and we talked about the need for hope in order to continue day to day with diagnosis that seems so void of hope.
That is where activities can offer a glimmer of optimism. They can bring energy on so many levels. .The energy of connectedness, the energy of finding something that makes one smile or makes a heart soar for even a moment. Support can come in many forms, and activities can be one of them, which in no way diminishes the importance of support groups where the bonding of experiences and sharing can take place.
While the use of the word activity seems to denote keeping a person busy, it is significant to note that passive activities can also energize. Bird watching, reminiscing, listening to music, looking through photos, watching a sunrise or sunset, listening to old time radio shows on tape, hand massage, doing familiar religious rituals, and petting a dog or cat are all examples of passive activities that can create a spark. Those who are living with dementia and are in their later years of life do not always have to keep busy. Activities are not as much about giving someone something to do as they are about giving back the desire to make an association with something that might give meaning if even for a moment. Mary Ann