Activities & Awareness Programs
Our Activities Program for our non-Alzheimer's residents is a comprehensive program that includes a wide array of entertaining, therapeutic and fun activities. While many of these activities are appropriate for Alzheimer's residents, many are not.
The Therapeutic Activities Program for our Alzheimer's residents tailors activities to the needs of these residents. Rather than using scissors or needles in a sewing class, Alzheimer's "sewing" classes might involve stuffing dolls or pillows. Also, rather than using plastic bingo chips that can be dangerous, we use crackers or cookies in our Alzheimer's group bingo games. Our special bingo cards use pictures rather than numbers (since numbers can be too confusing for persons with dementia). Picture Bingo is not only fun, it can be used to improve and reinforce item and name recognition.
Our Awareness Groups aim to use and exercise the cognitive abilities of our Alzheimer's residents. The Friendship Club is designed for persons with early and middle stage dementia. The Club fosters socialization and social interaction through enjoyable group activities and programs. Reality orientation exercises focusing on people's names, the day, date, season, or coming events and holidays serve to exercise short-term memory. Questions and discussions about parents, spouses, children, home town, family life and previous occupation serve to exercise long-term memory. The friendly and congenial setting of the Club provides a calming, familiar and reassuring atmosphere for the person with dementia.
The Sunshine Club is designed for persons with later stages of dementia. This program focuses on remotivation and stimulation through music therapy and a variety of music centered activities as well as sensory stimulation exercises. We find that residents with advanced Alzheimer's disease respond especially well to music. Also, the Club's sensory stimulation programs aim to promote an individual's awareness of self and the environment.
Special Dining Programs
The failure to eat properly and the resulting loss of weight is often a serious problem for people with Alzheimer's. In addition, the needs of the Alzheimer's patient change over time and are very different depending on the stage of the disease - early, middle, or advanced. While other "Alzheimer's Units" (the segregated kind) have a separate dining room for Alzheimer's residents, we find that this approach alone does not adequately address the changing abilities and needs of Alzheimer's residents.
At Gwynedd Square, we offer a continuum of care and special dining programs designed to promote well being at each stage of the disease. Residents with early stage Alzheimer's eat in our elegant main dining room in the ambiance of a fine restaurant. While they are confused (and therefore seated together), these residents are able to eat with minimal assistance. The nursing staff monitors the completion of their meals and reports any pattern of non-completion or declining ability to the Director of Nursing.
Our "Lunch Brunch" and "Supper Club" Program meets in a special dining room. This program is designed for our middle and later stage Alzheimer's residents. These residents are able to feed themselves but tend to forget to finish eating or get distracted and wander away or sometimes act in inappropriate ways (mixing a hamburger in ice cream or pulling glasses off the table). These residents need extensive cueing and directing ("lift your fork", "put it in your mouth" ). For residents who wander or get distracted, they are able to take a break and walk around the large dining room, or they are engaged in a brief alternative activity such as looking at photographs or pictures in magazines. They are then
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