It would have been useful to know, before purchasing this book, that most of the activities it describes are for use in group settings. As caregiver for a family member with dementia, I was hoping to find more material suited to one-on-one situations. While some of the activities can be adapted to the needs of individuals, the book as a whole doesn't provide much help for those living with a person who suffers from dementia.
It's unfortunate that the book's title doesn't make this clear.
Look up dementia in the dictionary: from the Latin; out from the mind, severe mental deficiency or impairment. This can include anything from alzheimer patients to manic-depressives even obsessive-compulsion disorders. There is alot of that going around lately.
This activity book attempts to help those in need of finding positive outlets for frustrated energies. A place for a person to remember the good things, let the little things go and strive to move foreward.
Lacking was an effective way to work with these type of people. Just listing an activity, such as making a photo album, or writing a journal, still does not cover the enormous amount of patience one must have to direct one of dementia. Most of them are disabled and or retired and need therapy. This workbook alone could not do the trick. It might be of some help to people who must live around the demented. Thus 3 stars, thanks--CDS
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I'm an occupational therapist looking for specific ideas for activities that will interest dementia patients who can't participate in bingo and the other activities offered by a poorly run activities program in a typical nursing home. The dementia unit described in this book sounds wonderful, but not easily found in a long term care setting. Once again, I've found a book with great ideas that are impossible to carry out in the real world of long term care.
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Because of the many phrases, songs, games that refer to things anyone born from 1910 to 1950 might remember, it was exceedingly fun and appropriate to go through things with my TBI husband. We laughed and said, Have to sing that for our grandchildren" and reminded each other of the answers. I could see the author's view of older people not wanting to do, say, art, then speaking of their brother who painted, and gradually having a wonderful time. I had occasion to refer this book to someone whose mother was just diagnosed, and I did so enthusiastically. Makes me wonder what the dementia patients who were born past the 70s will have that's as much fun as these old songs and cliches. The trick is to play WITH the patients and listen to their resulting stories--don't just throw the book their direction.
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I work in an assisted living residence for people with dementia and our goal is to engage our residents all day in meaningful activities. It is very challenging and has great rewards. This book's title, Keeping Busy, almost made me pass it by because we are focused on more than just keeping our residents 'busy'...we want them to enjoy themselves, and in fact to 'flourish' in our environment. I am glad that I purchased it because it has many delightful activities that in fact do much more than just keep people 'busy'.
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