ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION OFFERS GUIDELINES AND TIPS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION OFFERS GUIDELINES AND TIPS FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Helping people care for loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease

LOS ANGELES, CA – The holidays are a time full of celebration, joy and special occasions with family and friends. But for people living with Alzheimer’s disease the season can present special challenges. The Alzheimer’s Association, California Southland Chapter has prepared “Home For The Holidays,” a handy guide with tips and advice for families caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease.

The guide shows how, with careful planning, family celebrations can be a meaningful part of the holidays while ensuring safety, comfort and enjoyment for everyone. Its purpose is to help alleviate some of the stress associated with the additional activities and changes in routine at this time of year.

“Home for the Holidays” is available for download through the chapter Web site, www.alz.org/socal or by calling the Chapter’s 24-hour helpline at (800) 272-3900.

Anyone with questions about Alzheimer’s disease is encouraged to call. Experts are available to speak with people who are concerned with their own cognitive health, and can assist family members and friends seeking information or resources for loved ones.

Highlights from the Alzheimer’s Association “Home for the Holiday” Guide:

Caregiving responsibilities layered on top of keeping up with holiday traditions can take their toll on Alzheimer families, especially on the caregivers. With some preparation, your celebrations can be filled with joy and magical moments to cherish.

Adjust your expectations
No one, including yourself, should expect you to maintain every holiday tradition or event.

Give yourself permission to do only what you can reasonably manage
Choose holiday activities and traditions that are most important to you
Host a small family dinner instead of a throwing a big holiday party
Consider serving a catered or takeout holiday meal. Many grocery stores and restaurants offer meals to go.
Start a new tradition. Host a potluck dinner where family or friends each bring a dish

Involve the affected individual in holiday festivities
People with memory loss can often share in activities. Here are a few ideas:

Wrap gifts
Bake favorite holiday recipes together. The person can stir batter or decorate cookies.
Set the table. Avoid centerpieces with candles and artificial fruits and berries that could be mistaken for edible
snacks.
Talk about events to include in a holiday letter
Prepare simple foods such as appetizers
Read holiday cards you receive together
Look through photo albums or scrapbooks. Reminisce about people in the pictures and past events.
Watch a favorite holiday movie together
Sing seasonal carols or read passages from favorite books

When the individual lives in a care facility
A holiday is still a holiday whether it is celebrated at home or at a care facility. Here are some ways to celebrate together:

Join your loved one at the facility-planned holiday activities
Bring a favorite holiday food to share
Sing holiday songs. Ask if other residents can join in.
Read a favorite holiday story or poem out loud

For more tips and information, visit the Alzheimer’s Association Web site (www.alz.org/socal) or call (800) 272-3900.

The Alzheimer’s Association is the world’s leading voluntary health organization committed to research, care and support for those living with Alzheimer’s disease and their families. For 30 years, the California Southland chapter has provided critical services and programs to thousands of families in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. These services and programs include care consultation, support groups, the Medic Alert® + Alzheimer’s Association Safe Return® Identification Registry, and a 24-hour Helpline for information and referral at (800) 272-3900. The Alzheimer’s Association also provides education for health care professionals, caregivers and the general public; advocacy for improved public policy and legislation; and financial support to increase research to find the cause and cure for this devastating disease. For more information, visit www.alz.org/socal.

Documents and/or Photos available for this release:

PDF of News Release, “Home for the Holidays”
PDF of “Home for the Holidays” booklet

To view supporting documents and/or photos, go to www.enr-corp.com/pressroom and enter Release ID: 314642

Mary Ellen Mannix - Protecting Newborns from the Most Common Birth Defects on Dec. 1st

Join me as I interview Mary Ellen Mannix, author, teacher, restorative practices educator & facilitator, and nationally recognized patient safety advocate. December 1st at 11AM PST/2PM EST http://www.blogtalkradio.com/kindethics/2011/12/01/mary-ellen-mannix–the-james-project–protecting-newborns

Communication between adults involved in any child’s life must be of high quality to benefit the child. Think parent-teacher relationships, divorced parents, intact family communication etc. When a child is in the middle of a healthcare crisis that communication can be lifesaving…or life threatening.

Today Mary Ellen is working with her state senator to ensure that all Pennsylvania newborns receive appropriate screening for the most common birth defect – SB 1202 The James Mannix Bill. www.jamessproject.com

James’s Project is a community based organization focused on improving communication in healthcare with the goal of saving children’s lives and clinician’s livelihoods. Communication strategies has an impact on our infant mortality rate. We want to improve it.

James’s Project works on three levels to save other children and families from the losses James and his clinicians and families endured.
–Proactive – on sight, online, and phone education and awareness programs to help parents and caregivers prepare and learn the best practices to safely navigate their child through the healthcare system. There is information that parents can get that will help them most successfully advocate for their child - as well as themselves, so treatment decisions are truly family centered.
–Active - healthcare coaching & bedside advocacy (which can be bedside or simply by phone) to assist & empower parents who have a hospitalized or child in crisis and feel communication with care providers is not as good as it should be.
–Reactive - medication and conciliatory services if and when there is an outcome that the patient and family have questions about.

Any parent, caregiver, friend or clinician can reach out to JP by email or phone to discuss their needs and create a plan to help their specific need.

JP is fortunate to have professionals in the fields of medicine, law, social work, mediation and patient safety who share their knowledge, expertise and connections to help find answers.
JP is just beginning but growing rapidly. For those in the Greater Philadelphia are there are several Parent Education presentations I will be giving this Fall.

For others anywhere else in the United States (and even the world) we are about to announce several webinar presentations thanks to a grant from the Cautious Patient Foundation.

Every pregnant mom and dad knows what LaMaze is - a wonderful form of childbirth that changed the landscape of labor and delivery in the late 20th century. James’s Project is taking it a step further and providing the education parents need to be fully engaged partners in their child’s healthcare for the 21st century.

Her book, Split the Baby is available at http://www.amazon.com/Split-Baby-Mary-Ellen-Mannix/dp/0557132665

Mary Ellen Mannix is available for: Keynotes, Webinars, Highly engaging workshops and education for professionals and parents, Mediation via Restorative Practice methodologies, Family Group Conferencing, Family Group Decision Making, Healing & Growth Conferences in Healthcare, Speakers Bureau, Support

Mary Ellen Mannix is a mother of 5 children (ranging in age from 7 years to 21 years old), author, teacher, restorative practices educator & facilitator, and nationally recognized patient safety advocate. After the tragic death of her fourth child she began learning why things go wrong in healthcare and how we can all make it safer. She has served as a substitute on a Patient Safety Advisory Committee for The Joint Commission, advisory board member for The Newborn Coalition, served on hospital patient safety committees, led clinical education such as for Clinical Pharmacology with HRSA, graduate nursing students at the University of Pennsylvania, and served as the consumer panelist and co-author of The American Academy of Otolaryngology- Head & Neck Surgery’s Tonsillectomy in Children Guideline. Mary Ellen has also presented at The Quality Colloquium at Harvard, The International Restorative Practices Conference and The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority Advisory Board Meeting. Mary Ellen was also selected as one of 50 Patient Activists for The Institute for Healthcare Improvement. She also received a grant from The Cautious Patient Foundation to engage more parents & patients to become educated and empowered advocates for their children in healthcare.

Have a kind and respectful day.