Celebrate National Activity Professionals Week, January 20-26
Activities for the elderly are essential especially for people with dementia. Find out why, and find out why those providing the activities are important.
Who are the people providing the activities?
The leader of the activity department is a certified activity director(ADC), a certified, licensed, occupational therapy assistant(COTA/L), or a
registered occupational therapist(OTR). However besides this, these directors are passionate about helping those in need
Working with the activity directors are the activity assistants. They are, at the very least, high school graduates with a strong desire to help people.
Both directors and assistants are highly creative and caring. They gently encourage residents, especially those with dementia, clients, or even family
members to join in the fun and opportunity, the activities bring.
Where do these activities take place?
All nursing homes, assisted living facilities and adult day care centers provide activities for their residents or clients. Families, choosing to keep their loved ones with a disability such as dementia, at home also offer their loved one(s) activities.
What kinds of activities are made available?
Before discussion of this, let us discover how the kinds of activities presented, are determined. The current thinking is that activities are person centered.Group activities are designed for the interests of the majority, but one to one activities are offered to those who would rather "do their own thing". "Activities purpose is not just to kill time, but rather to make time live" unknown author. For some, it may be engaging in a group activity. For others solitary activities are more their preference. Of course, there are individuals who sometimes like groups and sometimes prefer to be alone.
Even prior to determining the type of group and and individual activities offered, activity staff assess the needs and strengths of all the residents or clients.Activities promote the highest level of physical and mental functioning. Activities are success oriented. Figuring all this out can be tricky, but activity professionals are special people.
Offered are old favorites, like bingo, sing a longs, exercise, entertainment, current events, religion, and trivia. However, creative staff think of new and exciting activities that may put a new twist on an oldfavorite. Often activities are adapted and modified so that each person can participate if he so chooses.
When do these activities take place?
Activities can take place any time of the day or night.People with dementia and other diseases often need activities at night because their sleep wake pattern may be altered.
Why are activities important?
As mentioned earlier activities help to preserve the highest level of mental and physical functioning. Activities also bring fun and purpose into one's life.Activities raise self esteem and prevent depression.Activities keep people calm or alert depending on their need. Activities help keep individuals connected. Yes, activities do many thing besides the obvious.
So this activity professionals week, January 20-26 be sure to say, "Thank you" to anyone you know who does activities. Visit a local nursing home, assisted
living facility, adult day care center, or a person who provides activities to their loved ones at home.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Research: Daily Glass Of Wine Delays Dementia
New York City, NY (AHN) - Drinking wine could cut the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. New research involving 1,445 people, aged 65 to 84 years old, suffering from mild cognitive impairment, indicated that taking a glass of wine a day could significantly delay progression of dementia or the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
According to lead researcher Vincenzo Solfizzi of the University of Bari in Italy, this study backs up other observations that "drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may protect the brains from stroke and vascular dementia."
click here to read the whole story
According to lead researcher Vincenzo Solfizzi of the University of Bari in Italy, this study backs up other observations that "drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may protect the brains from stroke and vascular dementia."
click here to read the whole story
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
A glass of wine a day 'may delay dementia'
http://www.hindu.comNew York (PTI): Wine can be food for health as long as you are smart about how you drink -- one goblet daily may help in preserving your memory for long.
A team of international researchers has carried out a study and found that a glass of wine everyday delays dementia in those who are at risk from Alzheimer's disease as they are already having memory problems, the 'ScienceDaily' reported.
"While many studies have assessed alcohol consumption and cognitive function in the elderly, this is the first study to look at how alcohol consumption affects rate of progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia," according to lead researcher Vincenzo Solfrizzi of University of Bari in Italy.
Mild cognitive impairment is a transitional stage between normal ageing and dementia used to classify people with mild memory problems and no significant disability.
Click here for the whole story
A team of international researchers has carried out a study and found that a glass of wine everyday delays dementia in those who are at risk from Alzheimer's disease as they are already having memory problems, the 'ScienceDaily' reported.
"While many studies have assessed alcohol consumption and cognitive function in the elderly, this is the first study to look at how alcohol consumption affects rate of progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia," according to lead researcher Vincenzo Solfrizzi of University of Bari in Italy.
Mild cognitive impairment is a transitional stage between normal ageing and dementia used to classify people with mild memory problems and no significant disability.
Click here for the whole story
Monday, November 12, 2007
Diet Linked To Cognitive Decline And Dementia
ScienceDaily (Nov. 12, 2007) — Research has shown convincing evidence that dietary patterns practiced during adulthood are important contributors to age-related cognitive decline and dementia risk. An article published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences highlights information on the benefits of diets high in fruit, vegetables, cereals and fish and low in saturated fats in reducing dementia risk.
Adults with diabetes are especially sensitive to the foods they eat with respect to cognitive function. Specifically, an adult with diabetes will experience a decline in memory function after a meal, especially if simple carbohydrate foods are consumed. While the precise physiological mechanisms underlying these dietary influences are not completely understood, the modulation of brain insulin levels likely contributes.
This deficit can be prevented through healthful food choices at meals. The findings suggest that weight maintenance reduces the risk of developing obesity-associated disorders, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and is an important component of preserving cognitive health.
The work shows another benefit of maintaining healthful eating practices with aging – the same ones proposed by most diabetes and heart & stroke foundations. “This type of information should be able to empower the individual, knowing that he/she can be actively engaged in activities and lifestyles that should support cognitive health with aging,” says Carol Greenwood, author of the study.
This study, entitled “Dietary Influences on Cognitive Function with Aging,” is published in volume 1114 of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences: Healthy Aging and Longevity
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071106164725.htm
Adults with diabetes are especially sensitive to the foods they eat with respect to cognitive function. Specifically, an adult with diabetes will experience a decline in memory function after a meal, especially if simple carbohydrate foods are consumed. While the precise physiological mechanisms underlying these dietary influences are not completely understood, the modulation of brain insulin levels likely contributes.
This deficit can be prevented through healthful food choices at meals. The findings suggest that weight maintenance reduces the risk of developing obesity-associated disorders, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and is an important component of preserving cognitive health.
The work shows another benefit of maintaining healthful eating practices with aging – the same ones proposed by most diabetes and heart & stroke foundations. “This type of information should be able to empower the individual, knowing that he/she can be actively engaged in activities and lifestyles that should support cognitive health with aging,” says Carol Greenwood, author of the study.
This study, entitled “Dietary Influences on Cognitive Function with Aging,” is published in volume 1114 of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences: Healthy Aging and Longevity
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071106164725.htm
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Families, science take on Alzheimer's
Connie Midey
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 25, 2007 12:00 AM
In the 1980s, when Maria Reed began showing signs of Alzheimer's disease, there was little to help her medically.
But her husband, Phoenix physician and Surgicenter co-founder Wallace Reed, found other ways - music therapy and daily walks among them - to hold the disease at bay and enrich her remaining years.
"He was her primary caregiver," says Vikki Reed, the youngest of their six children, "and he gathered a team around him to help, people who could communicate with her non-verbally and see her abilities as well as her disabilities." advertisement
Although a cure still has not been found, medical options look more promising today, says psychiatrist Eric Reiman, executive director of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute and director of the Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium.
The non-profit Banner Alzheimer's Institute in Phoenix, one of seven institutions in the consortium, conducts research and provides services for people with memory and thinking problems and for their families and caregivers.
"There is extraordinary excitement right now about the possibilities," Reiman says, "and extraordinary urgency to find those treatments as soon as possible."
More than 5 million Americans have the progressive and fatal brain disorder, a number expected to reach 7.7 million by 2030, says the Alzheimer's Association, which will benefit from a Memory Walk on Saturday at two Valley locations.
Those figures drive Reiman and his consortium colleagues - about 120 in all - in their search for solutions.
Inspired by "generosity of spirit and scientific desperation," they're making breakthroughs such as identifying genes that may be involved in Alzheimer's, Reiman says, and developing brain-imaging techniques to detect the disease years before its onset and track its progression in those who already have it.
Today there are a number of ways to target amyloid plaques, the microscopic brain abnormalities found in Alzheimer's patients, Reiman says, and there is progress in medication and vaccine therapies.
"If these treatments turn out to be safe and well tolerated," he says, "and if one intervenes early enough and targets the right form of amyloid, we may have a dramatically effective treatment sooner rather than later."
That time could come within 12 years, he says, but people needn't feel powerless in the meantime.
Studies suggest that lifestyle measures that protect the heart also may protect the brain, delaying, if not preventing, Alzheimer's disease, Reiman says. Those measures include staying physically active, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, eating healthfully and using one's mind.
"Mental exercise may either decrease development of some of the microscopic abnormalities in the brain," he says, "or it may promote cognitive reserve, making you better able to compensate so you don't see (the disease) until a little bit later. My guess is it's a combination of the two."
Ckick here to read the whole story
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 25, 2007 12:00 AM
In the 1980s, when Maria Reed began showing signs of Alzheimer's disease, there was little to help her medically.
But her husband, Phoenix physician and Surgicenter co-founder Wallace Reed, found other ways - music therapy and daily walks among them - to hold the disease at bay and enrich her remaining years.
"He was her primary caregiver," says Vikki Reed, the youngest of their six children, "and he gathered a team around him to help, people who could communicate with her non-verbally and see her abilities as well as her disabilities." advertisement
Although a cure still has not been found, medical options look more promising today, says psychiatrist Eric Reiman, executive director of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute and director of the Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium.
The non-profit Banner Alzheimer's Institute in Phoenix, one of seven institutions in the consortium, conducts research and provides services for people with memory and thinking problems and for their families and caregivers.
"There is extraordinary excitement right now about the possibilities," Reiman says, "and extraordinary urgency to find those treatments as soon as possible."
More than 5 million Americans have the progressive and fatal brain disorder, a number expected to reach 7.7 million by 2030, says the Alzheimer's Association, which will benefit from a Memory Walk on Saturday at two Valley locations.
Those figures drive Reiman and his consortium colleagues - about 120 in all - in their search for solutions.
Inspired by "generosity of spirit and scientific desperation," they're making breakthroughs such as identifying genes that may be involved in Alzheimer's, Reiman says, and developing brain-imaging techniques to detect the disease years before its onset and track its progression in those who already have it.
Today there are a number of ways to target amyloid plaques, the microscopic brain abnormalities found in Alzheimer's patients, Reiman says, and there is progress in medication and vaccine therapies.
"If these treatments turn out to be safe and well tolerated," he says, "and if one intervenes early enough and targets the right form of amyloid, we may have a dramatically effective treatment sooner rather than later."
That time could come within 12 years, he says, but people needn't feel powerless in the meantime.
Studies suggest that lifestyle measures that protect the heart also may protect the brain, delaying, if not preventing, Alzheimer's disease, Reiman says. Those measures include staying physically active, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, eating healthfully and using one's mind.
"Mental exercise may either decrease development of some of the microscopic abnormalities in the brain," he says, "or it may promote cognitive reserve, making you better able to compensate so you don't see (the disease) until a little bit later. My guess is it's a combination of the two."
Ckick here to read the whole story
Monday, October 22, 2007
Alzheimer’s disease early detection close
BY ELIZABETH BASSETT
October 22, 2007
A blood test that could warn somebody if they’re at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease could be on the horizon within five to 10 years, said Dr. Steven DeKosky, an expert and researcher of the disease.
DeKosky, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh, talked about advances in research of the disease and the implications for treatment. The presentation by DeKosky was part of the UNT Health Science Center’s Distinguished Speaker Series, which took place on Oct. 16. After the presentation, he and a panel of local experts further discussed the future of Alzheimer’s care.
“We’re probably where cardiac docs were in the ‘60s,” DeKosky said
of Alzheimer’s research. By the
1970s, though, cardiac specialists saw a dramatic drop in deaths due to better treatment and prevention of heart disease, and DeKosky said research
currently being done about Alzheimer’s could soften the blow to the health care system as the baby boomers become older.
“This disease is capable of breaking Medicare and Medicaid all by itself,” DeKosky said. The national Alzheimer’s Association estimates that in 2002, Medicare and Medicaid together spent more than $50 billion on beneficiaries with the disease, and as more people are diagnosed, the spending will go up.
Alzheimer’s disease, which affects more than 5 million Americans, was first described by Dr. Alois Alzheimer in Germany, who treated a woman named Auguste, who became the first recognized Alzheimer’s disease patient.
The problems with recall and memory in Alzheimer’s patients come from two abnormalities that form in the brain: plaques and tangles. Plaques are formed by long chains of proteins that deposit in the spaces between brain cells, and tangles are made of abnormal proteins inside brain cells and are associated with cell death.
“You can have Alzheimer’s disease without tangles, but you can’t have Alzheimer’s disease without plaques,” DeKosky said
cick below for the whole story
http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=6600
October 22, 2007
A blood test that could warn somebody if they’re at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease could be on the horizon within five to 10 years, said Dr. Steven DeKosky, an expert and researcher of the disease.
DeKosky, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh, talked about advances in research of the disease and the implications for treatment. The presentation by DeKosky was part of the UNT Health Science Center’s Distinguished Speaker Series, which took place on Oct. 16. After the presentation, he and a panel of local experts further discussed the future of Alzheimer’s care.
“We’re probably where cardiac docs were in the ‘60s,” DeKosky said
of Alzheimer’s research. By the
1970s, though, cardiac specialists saw a dramatic drop in deaths due to better treatment and prevention of heart disease, and DeKosky said research
currently being done about Alzheimer’s could soften the blow to the health care system as the baby boomers become older.
“This disease is capable of breaking Medicare and Medicaid all by itself,” DeKosky said. The national Alzheimer’s Association estimates that in 2002, Medicare and Medicaid together spent more than $50 billion on beneficiaries with the disease, and as more people are diagnosed, the spending will go up.
Alzheimer’s disease, which affects more than 5 million Americans, was first described by Dr. Alois Alzheimer in Germany, who treated a woman named Auguste, who became the first recognized Alzheimer’s disease patient.
The problems with recall and memory in Alzheimer’s patients come from two abnormalities that form in the brain: plaques and tangles. Plaques are formed by long chains of proteins that deposit in the spaces between brain cells, and tangles are made of abnormal proteins inside brain cells and are associated with cell death.
“You can have Alzheimer’s disease without tangles, but you can’t have Alzheimer’s disease without plaques,” DeKosky said
cick below for the whole story
http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=6600
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