Virtual Dementia Tour Wrap Up: Walking in the Shoes of Those with Dementia Melora Jackson, MS, CMHT, CDP Clinical Manager, Second Wind Dreams

Describe Your Experience How did you feel? What frustrated you the most? What was your quality of life like?

The VDT Brain Frontal Lobe Parietal Lobe Limbic System Occipital Lobe Forgetting tasks “Where am I supposed to be?” “What am I supposed to do?” Parietal Lobe Removed ability to get tactile information “I can’t pick the utensils up and put them in the right place.” Hip Trunk Arm Fingers Face Leg Hand Hand Speech Limbic System Tearful Agitated “I give up.” Language Hearing Smell Occipital Lobe “I can’t see anything.“ “Are these the pants?” “Where do I put this?” Vision Emotions Posture Balance Coordination Left Hemisphere Immobile Poor reasoning (Only work in the immediate surroundings) Right Hemisphere No abstract use of the environment “There wasn’t a sweater in there.” A good explanation of this slide in the manual starting on page 41. The slide gives examples of what happens in the VDT to a participant. You can use specific areas of the brain to discuss the class responses during the tour. Cerebral Cortex Multi level tasks with secondary process thinking Temporal Lobe Audio confusion Interference with memory Startle response “I can’t understand what you just told me.”

What Is Normal Dementia Wandering Agitation Inability to Process Information Poor Memory

Components Shoe Inserts Gloves Glasses Headphones Environment

Reticular Activating System & Amygdala RAS Controls sleeping, waking and attention. Filters and screens out junk. Allows you to focus. Allows you to perceive a threat. AMD Memory Decision-making Emotional Responses

Behavior Observations Negative Statements Mumbling Requests for Help Interaction Strange Behavior Agitation Shadowing Wandering Hoarding Rummaging Repetitive Behavior Reinforcement Gave Up

Michael Speaks About Noise and Focus

Michael on Noise and Focus Sensitivity to sound Foreign Language Intermixed Can’t filter Distraction Can’t recover Sounds mixed together. Can’t focus. If we ask a person withy dementia to eat and there is too much going on…. Sounds are agitating. Hydraulic on doors. Chairs being moved.

Michael Speaks About Visual Perception

Michael on Visual Input Pupil reaction time The walls Seeing double Depth Perception Peripheral Vision Walls, different colors at the corners, peripheral vision ( Alz. Window)

If normal people exhibit behavior that mimics dementia during the VDT, why can’t behavior exhibited by people with dementia be normal for them? Without empathy we will never and in order to gain empathy we are required to imagine ourselves as someone else.

What would have helped you during the tour? Connecting to a person with dementia requires that we take the first step. We don’t wait for the smile, we smile first. We don’t wait for the welcome, we welcome first. We don’t expect a response, we fill the gap. We don’t wait for the hug, we hug first.

General Recommendations Give Control Back Guarantee Success Make Things as Familiar as Possible Make Concrete (Visual) Choices Available Create Calm and Safety Encourage/Reassure Frequently Keep Them Busy – Things to Get Into Take Cues from Them and Adjust Accordingly Adjust Time Expectations

How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great. -Bill Bennot Read the close. Three things….