Gene D. Cohen has created a new way to work with mid-stage Alzheimer’s patients – the one who get confused about who is who in the family. The person with Alzheimer’s can get very frustrated when he can’t figure out who’s on first. And it’s not a warm fuzzy experience for family members when mom can’t remember her daughter’s name.
Family photos are put on video tape with a family member narrating. Then family members watch the video with the patient. It is an interactive experience, with the family member often stopping to ask the patient questions or to note,” my you look beautiful there.” The patient can also watch the video when family members are not visiting.
While this treatment does not restore memory, it does wonders for to combat the feelings of helplessness and depression that so often accompany Alzheimer’s. This approach was written up in The Washington Post.
I have often used photo-therapy with my mom. (Yup, I’m the one whose name she forgot.) I use a low tech approach, taking the family photos from shoe boxes and putting them into albums together. When we look at the albums together it gives us something to talk about when it’s too hard for her to make conversation without some kind of stimulus. It improves her mood, makes the visit more enjoyable for both of us, and I learn snippets of family history. (I never knew my grandmother lived on the lower east side.)
An allied approach is used by my friend Cantor Jerry Cohn. He goes into nursing homes and assisted living facilities and plays Yiddish songs. People go from nearly dead to fully delighted.
Just because there is no cure for Alzheimer’s doesn’t mean that there is no treatment. How we interact with people with this disease can make a tremendous difference in their quality of life. These are just a few high and low tech examples of how anyone can make a positive difference.
By Ninah Kessler, LCSW
Life Coach
