What makes a successful adventure with those who may have dementia or Alzheimer's?
THE CAROUSEL ADVENTURE
It begins with the assessment of your care giving environment for that day.
When you walk in that door at the beginning of your shift, has the loved one had a good night of rest? Did the loved one have a good breakfast? Is the loved one in any pain?
Does your loved one look alert?
Do you have a team helper? Is the loved one co-operative and able to follow some very basic instructions to get into the car and out or other basic instructions to their ability? Are they already exhausted from all the activities of breakfast, showering and getting dressed?
What are their abilities? Go with the intention of expectations and adventures you may not have expected? Keep the cell phone out of sight and enjoy the adventure yourself.
Your plans may just begin to get to the mall on a hot day but a good care giver is attuned to the loved ones interest at the moment.
Is the loved one expressing an interest in something as you walk to your goal? Take advantage of that interest. What are his eyes telling you? What is he setting his gaze on?
I have found that spending approximately two hours is the ideal time to spend on outings. After that expect disinterest and or zoning out or taking a nap in the wheel chair.
I try to schedule the outings at around mid-morning, during the week when crowds are minimal. Occasionally we have arrived around the time the school children have field trips so then we slightly change our plans and head for another quieter area.
On this particular day, we drove to the mall. As we made our entrance, we noticed the carousel. Our loved one noticed and paused to take in its sight. Noticing it somewhat, yet difficult to know if his interest would peak if we got a closer view, we headed for the lower level. I noticed his eyes resting on the working parts of it as it was going around.
By the time we arrived down at the lower level, the carousel had stopped, a few children got off and the carousel was now empty.
After paying the operator, our loved one appeared to eager to climb on board. He and my team member were now the only ones on. The operator did not seem to mind that they were the only ones on board. As the carousel went around, again his gaze seemed to linger on the working parts.
When the ride ended, he did not want to get off. It took much to convince him the ride had ended and we needed to get off.
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