Book helps people talk to dementia patients

Published: January 17, 2007 11:22 pm



Book helps people talk to dementia patients

By Amanda McGregor

THE SALEM NEWS (SALEM, Mass.) and other newspapers throughout the country

DANVERS, Mass. — Jorgelina Zeoli’s elderly mother lit up when she leafed through a new book and flash cards of baby photos, designed for dementia patients.

The “Adorable Photographs of Our Baby” picture book features large print and simple sentences alongside photos of babies splashing in a sudsy bath, lying in a crib, making a mess in a high chair, licking a chocolatey mixing spoon and singing, among other activities.

“I showed the pictures to my mom, and the change in her expression was just extraordinary — it was really a magical moment,” said Zeoli, whose 88-year-old mother suffers from advanced dementia. “This is a response that doesn’t need to involve reasoning or memory.”

The book was self-published last month by Susan Berg, a longtime Danvers resident and employee at the Hunt Nursing and Retirement Home.

Music is one of the most useful tools to stimulate patients with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, but Berg saw a lack of visual, conversation-stimulating exercises — a big problem since 4.5 million Americans currently suffer from dementia.

People often don’t know what to talk about with dementia patients, Berg said.

“What I see, unfortunately all the time, is families pulling out the old family album and saying, ‘Do you know who this is?’ And the person doesn’t, and they feel negative emotion,” said Dr. Paul Raia, director of patient care and family support for the Massachusetts chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

“That’s the advantage of this particular exercise, is that it’s open-ended, and it doesn’t depend on the person remembering something.”

Each flash card has a different picture with an “idea page” on the reverse side, listing possible questions.

For example, the flash card of a toddler kissing his baby brother has questions like, “Does the baby’s brother love him? Who else loves the baby? What else do you love? If the participant needs help, say: ‘I love ice cream, do you?’ Sing one or more songs about love. Recite a poem about love: something as simple as ‘Roses are Red, etc.’”

Berg and her colleagues have piloted her book and flash cards at the Hunt Nursing Home.

“Anything to do with babies really seems to brighten their days,” said Catrenia Joly, nurse manager for the dementia unit.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to ... generate a lot of their own ideas and creativity, which they still have,” said Victoria Morrow, an activities aide who runs the music program at Hunt. “One of the most valuable things you can offer people with dementia, besides music, is a decent conversation.”

For Berg, 57, “Adorable Photographs of Our Baby” is her first foray into writing. Originally from Milwaukee, she moved to Danvers in 1973 with her husband, Stanley, and worked in hospital laboratories and then as a volunteer computer teacher in the Danvers schools, among other jobs. In 2000, she graduated from North Shore Community College’s occupational therapy assistant program, and started working at Hunt the following year.

Her two sons — whose baby pictures are the fodder for the new book — went through the Danvers schools starting at Great Oak. Now Joe, 27, lives in Brighton, and Alex, 25, is in his final year of law school



Q&A



How did you get the idea for the book?



I had been doing things like this on an informal basis with the residents here.



Why write a book?



Oftentimes, when people come to visit someone with dementia, they don’t know what to talk about. The first thing out of their mouth is, ‘Do you remember?’ That is the worst thing to say.



What should people say?



Say, ‘Hi, my name is so-and-so. Look at what I have to show you.’ Then you look at pictures and have a nice conversation.



Where did you get the photos?



They are all my two sons. I had to weed through lots of pictures, and I took out the ones that would be more embarrassing.



Why babies?



People are hard-wired to like babies.