There’s a lot going on in dementia care news. We’re going to discuss robotic pets, a volunteer who gives smiles, and police receiving dementia training.
Robotic Pets
High quality dementia care in assisted living facilities is always focused on providing for the needs of residents. Sometimes, it is very challenging, because some residents cannot express what they want. Pet therapy is known to help keep residents calm and it allows them to enjoy being around pets.
Robotic pets are one of the newest ways to allow dementia residents to have the feeling of being around pets, without having an actual pet. This could be handy when many pets aren’t allowed. However, one discovery is that residents feel the joy of being a caregiver.
Source: NewYork.CBSLocal.com
A Dementia Caregiver Who Gives Smiles
Tom Schlaudecker is an elderly Pennsylvania man who dedicates two days a month to his Memory Care Cafe. It’s a place where caregivers and their patients can get together for music and fun.
Sources: GoErie.com
It seems that more elderly people in the United States volunteer their time to help other seniors than the younger generation. Why is that? In Germany between 1956 and 2011, when a boy reaches 18 he was required to serve time in the military. However, for those who did not wish to be in the military, they were allowed to spend the same amount of years doing social and volunteer work. Some of that social work was with the elderly.
Maybe it would be a good idea if high school kids in the U.S. were required to do a certain number of hours of volunteer work with the elderly before they could graduate. Maybe more people would later join the profession. If not, at least they would have a better understanding for seniors needs.
Massachusetts Police Officers Required to Take Dementia Training
Earlier in December, a Bakersfield, California police officer accidentally shot and killed a 73-year old man with dementia. Although, there was no way the officer knew the man had dementia, maybe seniors should be treated in a different way if they fail to respond to commands.
Massachusetts is now requiring municipal police officers to take a course on how to identify the needs of those with dementia. Those who work with someone with dementia understand how they can become confused and how they can also wander.
Source: BostonGlobe.com
If you would like to know more about how you can better care for someone with dementia, feel free to contact us through our online form, or give us a call at one of our numbers above on this page.
