Saturday, May 2, 2009

Grandchildren Are Also Part of the Process

I love this video I found on YouTube. Hearing about having Alzheimer's in the Family from a child really touched me.

This situation with Alzheimer's in the family is different from what my family has experienced. We have had the experience of taking Mom's great grandchildren to the Care Center to visit her. It's difficult for them to feel comfortable with her because of her lack of verbal skills, the unfamiliar environment, and Mom's appearance that has changed so much. Even the anxiety of their parents, Mom's grandchildren, is felt by the little ones. All of the great grandchildren are under 10 years old.

Family has always been top priority to Mom and she still shows a positive reaction to seeing the children. The great grandchildren live all over the U.S. All the families have made the effort to come to visit.

Something we did to help the children feel a bit more comfortable was to bring Mom out to a living room area in the Care Center that feels more like being in a home situation. It's also important to plan so that someone can be with the children when the visit goes longer than they can tolerate. Short connection is the best. It's difficult to keep the children with Mom for very long because of their discomfort and the sometimes intense stimuli for Mom.
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