Everyone has favorite childhood memories. And for us adult children of parents with dementia, those memories are ever so precious.
Here’s one of mine: A bunch of little kids kneeling on high stools around the kitchen counter watching in awe as Mom scoops handfuls of flour and Crisco onto the bare counter top. Her hands are a flurry of activity, patting the ingredients into a mountain, making a crater into which she pours the milk, pushing it this way and that until she has a perfect consistency ready for rolling out. Every once and a while, the milk would break through a crack in the dough mountain and make a little white river along the counter top.
Mom was a baker like none other. Apple pie, lemon meringue pie, banana cake, banana nut bread, cinnamon rolls, biscotti, cannoli – all from scratch. All made and consumed so fast, the mixer never was put away.
So I had the idea over the past few weeks that Mom would enjoy baking with her new caregivers as she settled into my home. I set out the ingredients for apple pie on Suzie’s day. I left Mom’s handwritten recipe for Italian Biscotti on Shanai’s day. And when Mariah came on Saturday, I pulled out the Cocoa can and suggested chocolate cake.
“Let Mom guide you through the recipe,” I told each caregiver. “I’d like to see how she does.”
The girls welcomed the task and agreed it was a good way to engage Mom in a familiar activity – and get her away from the TV.
Companion care in the home should do just that for the elderly. Whether they have dementia or not, their day should be interesting, cheerful and satisfying. BrightStar caregivers are trained to learn about their clients and develop activity plans that complements the plan of care developed by our Registered Nurse.
“Be a detective,” I tell my caregivers. “Find out what puts a twinkle in their eye.”
Knowing a person’s hobbies and interests and what they were during their worklife, gives the caregiver an important set of “tools” to take their care to the next level. After assisting with necessary daily activities (bathing, dressing, toileting), the best caregivers become creativity coaches.
Mariah suggested a soft ball and play dough for a client who is afraid to leave her wheelchair for fear of falling — again. By gently tossing the ball back and forth, the client is beginning to build confidence and has since taken a few steps with her walker.
Faye made a tiny pillow out of military-printed fleece for her dementia client, a former Marine in WWII, who loves to hold and rub the soft fabric as he tells her his war stories.
With Mom, it had to be baking. And baking it is. The apple pie, the Italian cookies, the cake — all from scratch, all made from memory — looked a tad different than the picture-perfect desserts Mom used to make.
But they tasted exactly the same, and Mom was proud to serve them to us. In my book, that is what caring for the elderly is all about.
-- Anne Marie Gattari, 586.279.3610. am.gattari@brightstarcare.com; http://www.brightstarcare.com/grosse-pointesoutheast-macomb
Here’s one of mine: A bunch of little kids kneeling on high stools around the kitchen counter watching in awe as Mom scoops handfuls of flour and Crisco onto the bare counter top. Her hands are a flurry of activity, patting the ingredients into a mountain, making a crater into which she pours the milk, pushing it this way and that until she has a perfect consistency ready for rolling out. Every once and a while, the milk would break through a crack in the dough mountain and make a little white river along the counter top.
Mom was a baker like none other. Apple pie, lemon meringue pie, banana cake, banana nut bread, cinnamon rolls, biscotti, cannoli – all from scratch. All made and consumed so fast, the mixer never was put away.
So I had the idea over the past few weeks that Mom would enjoy baking with her new caregivers as she settled into my home. I set out the ingredients for apple pie on Suzie’s day. I left Mom’s handwritten recipe for Italian Biscotti on Shanai’s day. And when Mariah came on Saturday, I pulled out the Cocoa can and suggested chocolate cake.
“Let Mom guide you through the recipe,” I told each caregiver. “I’d like to see how she does.”
The girls welcomed the task and agreed it was a good way to engage Mom in a familiar activity – and get her away from the TV.
Companion care in the home should do just that for the elderly. Whether they have dementia or not, their day should be interesting, cheerful and satisfying. BrightStar caregivers are trained to learn about their clients and develop activity plans that complements the plan of care developed by our Registered Nurse.
“Be a detective,” I tell my caregivers. “Find out what puts a twinkle in their eye.”
Knowing a person’s hobbies and interests and what they were during their worklife, gives the caregiver an important set of “tools” to take their care to the next level. After assisting with necessary daily activities (bathing, dressing, toileting), the best caregivers become creativity coaches.
Mariah suggested a soft ball and play dough for a client who is afraid to leave her wheelchair for fear of falling — again. By gently tossing the ball back and forth, the client is beginning to build confidence and has since taken a few steps with her walker.
Faye made a tiny pillow out of military-printed fleece for her dementia client, a former Marine in WWII, who loves to hold and rub the soft fabric as he tells her his war stories.
With Mom, it had to be baking. And baking it is. The apple pie, the Italian cookies, the cake — all from scratch, all made from memory — looked a tad different than the picture-perfect desserts Mom used to make.
But they tasted exactly the same, and Mom was proud to serve them to us. In my book, that is what caring for the elderly is all about.
-- Anne Marie Gattari, 586.279.3610. am.gattari@brightstarcare.com; http://www.brightstarcare.com/grosse-pointesoutheast-macomb
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