Living with Dementia?
We invite you to join us on
Wednesday, December 18th at 7:00 p.m.
Please feel free to invite family and friends. All are welcome.
Please join us on November 28th at 7:00 p.m. for our monthly discussion of how best to care for and support our loved ones with dementia or Alzheimer's. As always, we will be discussing one of our key guiding principles and of course we will have our Tip of the Month as well as being introduced to an educational tool we can all use. We will continue online only for the time being. The Zoom link will be provided on the day of the meeting to avoid getting lost in your inbox:.
We wanted to share words of wisdom provided by one of our members: Value yourself just as you are.
Future Topics:
December: Favourite holiday traditions, memories, gifts
Tip of the Month 2024
March: Choose music that is relatable and not interrupted by commercials or ads. This will help create the mood you want. You can also encourage physical response by showing an example of a dance move.
April: Creative writing. Diarizing your experiences and feelings can bring relief and release. There is no judgement to be attached to how you feel.
May: Name it to tame it (sadness, loss, no hope, loneliness)
July: Making visits count (https://www.familycaregiversbc.ca/caregiver-learning-center/read-resources/making-visits-count-3)
Educational Resources 2024
March: Sing-along hymns and spirituals https://www.dementiadialogue.ca/resources-1
Bonus Resource: Gardening tips for people with dementia https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/six-gardening-tips-dementia
April: This month we have four resources, all dealing with the safety of those with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Provides interesting information on additional safety tips for independent living
It enhances both the officer's and the subscriber's safety by alerting attending officers to any mitigating issues that may impact interactions with police, paramedics, or any other emergency responders.
Works together with Connect Protect as well as providing bracelets and other alert-type products
Involved with additional tracking and support devices
June: We have two educational pieces for June, one for travelling with dementia and the other addressing ambiguous grief.
Travelling with Dementia: (Our speaker was Ali Chiarelli, contact information is dementia-education@dsorc.org or or gchique-alfonzo@dsorc.org)
https://www.amazon.ca/Travel-Well-Dementia-Essential-Journey-ebook/dp/B083JKJJM8
https://www.dementiafriendlyairports.com/what-is-a-dementia-friendly-airport.html
Ambiguous Grief (our speaker was Debbie Heitto, contact information is dheitto@alzllg.ca)
https://fullcirclegc.org/2024/01/03/an-introduction-to-ambiguous-grief/
July: Myths and Stereotypes (https://forwardwithdementia.ca/article/break-down-myths-and-stereotypes/)
August: Toys & Joys We shared some great information in discussion with Zoe Kirschner of the Dementia Society of Ottawa & Renfrew Count (DSORC). Zoe was kind enough to share her experiences with the various items available without charge through the DSORC and was a lively and engaging guest. Please check out this link: https://dementiahelp.ca/activities/lending-library/ and for further information (or to arrange a visit) please contact Zoe at zkirschner@dsorc.org
September: Therapeutic Touch We had the great pleasure of greeting Terri Lacroix as our speaker. Terri is a Recognized Practitioner of Therapeutic Touch and is a part of the Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario. To quote Terri: “I would welcome any questions, comments or requests for follow-up information. As well, happy to explore the idea of having a Therapeutic Touch Awareness Week event with your group (and others from your church if you like) next spring. I would envision this type of event as being an overview of Therapeutic Touch (if there are people attending who were not at the meeting last night), along with an opportunity for folks to receive (if they like) a Therapeutic Touch session by one of our Ottawa Branch volunteers at the event, followed by a group discussion.” Terri has provided a couple of useful links: https://www.therapeutictouchontario.org/ and https://www.therapeutictouchontario.org/learn/research-at-a-glance/ as well as https://www.therapeutictouchontario.org/member/terri-lacroix/ Terri can be reached at terri.lacroix.tt@gmail.com
Additional Information and Resources
We are anxious to serve your needs and would love to hear from you. Please contact Pauline Schneider (gas@swcp.com), Jeanie Hicks (jh1948@hotmail.com) or Laura McGregor (ljm90star@gmail.com) for further information or to be added to our invitation list. We look forward to seeing you on the 30th.