How to Cook Safely With Dementia

Making meals can evoke wonderful memories, particularly caregivers and their loved one with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Not only does the act of cooking help feed our appetites, but there’s evidence it’s an excellent activity for everyone’s wellbeing.

Consider this passage from an article on Barchester.com on the positive impact cooking has our elders.

Director of Dementia Services at Barchester Sheena Wyllie noted that creating meals can be more than just about food preparation - it is also about recall. Reminiscing and having the chance to talk about what they associate with cooking can be beneficial for those with dementia, Ms. Wyllie pointed out.

The process may help bring back memories of grandparents, their life as a child, their experiences as a parent when they cooked for their children, or what they used to eat, Sheena explained. "It may actually not be associated with food at all, it may just be associated with an emotional memory of eating Sunday lunch or something similar.

"For people with dementia, the trigger is actually familiarity, so if you are talking about cooking you need to be in a kitchen that looks, sounds, smells and tastes like a kitchen," Sheena noted. This can include foodstuff, pots and pans as well as familiar items and objects that the residents can "really feel, taste and touch", she added.

Here are some online resources for cooking safely.

Cooking Safety for People with Dementia

Hamburger Helper Blues

Safety in the Home (includes section on cooking)

Photos are from a cooking class conducted at our Hillcrest Center on Fourth Avenue in San Diego.

Free Dementia Care Classes

We're offering a FREE comprehensive course that provides the foundation of dementia care education to both health care professionals and family caregivers. The sessions will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 5, and Tuesday, Oct. 19, at Silvergate San Marcos (1550 Security Place, San Marcos, CA 92078).

Each session will earn 3 continuing education units (CEUs) for those who qualify. Both classes are taught by Sue Kopczynski (pictured at an earler session in Encinitas).

Class One: What is normal aging and dementia? What are some family coping and communications skills?

Class Two: Managing Behavior, Interaction Techniques, Physical Care, Environmental Needs

Refreshments will be provided. Space is limited, so reserve a seat now by calling 1-800-736-6674.

Glenner Centers Featured in Modern Healthcare

Everyone's aware that California is in the middle of a fiscal crisis, one that worsens by the week as legislators continually fail to pass a budget now months overdue. This means low-income seniors and their families are quickly losing their safety nets for health care services.

The George G. Glenner Alzheimer's Family Centers was featured in this month's issue to illustrate the extent of the issue and to also discuss low-interest loans being given to facilities that have been hit hard by state cuts and the economy.

Here's just a sample:

For officials at the George G. Glenner Alzheimer's Family Centers, one of eight organizations to receive a no-interest California loan, the delay comes as no surprise after California's repeated failure in recent years to settle up on time. But this year, the suspended Medicaid payments have compounded financial stress from the prolonged economic downturn, says Kelly Focht, the organization's chief executive.

Article: Hanging on in California

The Sound of Music

Here's a short video that captures just some of the special moments during last week's visit by Miss California to our Glenner Alzheimer's Family Center in Encinitas.

Miss California Performs at Glenner Centers from Run DMZ on Vimeo.

Miss California Sings for Glenner Centers

The reigning Miss California sang to a packed auditorium yesterday as our Encinitas participants sang along to standards like "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Stormy Weather."

Arianna Asfar, who hails from Rancho Penasquitos in northern San Diego, is a spokeswoman for the George G. Glenner Alzheimer's Family Centers and a wonderful ambassador for both Glenner and for uniting youth with the elderly. Her platform issue is "A Helping Hand for America's Seniors."

In addition to being a very bright and beautiful young woman, she's also a talented vocalist. When she was 16, she auditioned for "American Idol" and finished in the Top 36. The recipient of more than 75 talent awards, Arianna also is the founder of the Adopt-A-Grandfriend Club and told a newspaper reporter she was inspired by visits to her grandmother in northern California.

Our Glenner community will be seeing more of Miss California in the coming months as she prepares to compete in the Miss America Pageant on Jan. 15, 2010 (to be televised on ABC). Yesterday's performance took place at Silverado Senior Living's Silverado campus, where our North County center is located.

Groovin' on a Tuesday Afternoon

The first Tuesday of each month a pair of Vista musicians spend an hour playing old standards for the folks at the George G. Glenner Alzheimer's Family Centers in Encinitas. From this short video, you can see how much the participants enjoy it.

Movin' & Groovin' at The George G. Glenner Centers from Run DMZ on Vimeo.

From NPR to Caregivers: It's OK to Fib

What a delight to be driving home this Labor Day morning and hear a segment on a special sleepever camp for Alzheimer's patients in the San Francisco Bay area.

More than just a feel-good piece, it actually has some good strategies for caregivers who, according to the report, are sometimes the ones that need the bigger attitude adjustment to cope with the continuous stress. One such piece of advice from camp organizers is to let folks indulge in their fantasies if no harm is to come of it. In the audio piece, this plays out as a father who continually washes clean dishes to feel useful and a camper who was once a carpenter. The latter sees a chair he believes is broken and sets out to fix it with imaginary tools. A camp "counselor" decides to let him be as he pretends to ply his former trade.

If your grandmother thinks she's 8 years old and late for school, don't correct her, experts say. Fib if you have to — tell her today's a school holiday. If she insists on sleeping on the floor, put down a mattress to make her more comfortable. Dehydration or a medication side effect may be behind a hallucination. Check with the doctor

Listen: Camp for Alzheimer's Patients Isn't About Memories

More Resources Going to Alzheimer's Cure

As we head into the holiday weekend, we wanted to share a widely circulated article on a Nobel Prize winner's relentless efforts to find a way to slow or halt Alzheimer's Disease. Like many scientists and health care professionals, Dr. Paul Greengard, 84, labors daily to come up with a cure. And like many of those devoted to dementia, he became interested after a family member developed the disease.

Despite a recent major setback by Eli Lilly two weeks ago with an experimental drug, many pharmaceutical companies and university research arms are investing in Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. This is highly encouraging.

In celebration, we salute all of our scientists, social workers, health care professionals, caregivers and volunteers who labor on behalf of families in San Diego County and everywhere to help make journey through Alzheimer's as comfortable as it can be.

Article: Nobel winner offers hope for Alzheimer's

Free Caregivers Weekly Support Group

Yesterday we mentioned we provide support groups for caregivers. We thought some of you new to our organization or the area might be interested in joining one of our groups, so here is some information.

These groups are open to community members and free of charge. Adult day care is provided for your loved one while you participate (if space is available), also at no charge. You do need to call in advance to confirm if you bring your loved one.

HILLCREST
Facilitator: Marge Galante, RN, BSN

3 to 4:30 p.m.
Wednesdays
3702 Fourth Avenue
San Diego
(619) 543-4704

CHULA VISTA
Facilitator: Dawn DeStefani, BSW

3 to 4:30 p.m.
280 Saylor Drive
Chula Vista
(619) 420-1703

ENCINITAS
Facilitator: Sheila Argeanton, BS

For Adult Children
10 a.m. to 12 noon
Tuesdays

10 to 11:30 a.m.
Wednesdays
inside Silverado Senior Living
335 Saxony Road
Encinitas
(760) 635-1895

RANCHO BERNARDO
Facilitators: Sheila Argeanton & Linda Reynolds
9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
First Thursday of the month
Rancho Bernardo Joslyn Senior Center
(760) 753-1245