Caring for Dementia

The Impact

Recreation therapy offers holistic enrichment covering cognitive, physical, spiritual and emotional dimensions. Recreation therapists explore new activities and skills with their clients/residents to provide a therapeutic outcome. A successful recreation therapist will customize an activity, and implement it in a way that the person has no idea they are engaging in therapy.

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Boosting Confidence and Self-Esteem

Individuals with mental health concerns often confront challenges related to confidence and self-esteem. Through assessments, recreation therapists gain insights into the person’s likes, goals, need, abilities and barriers. When we provide meaningful activities we attempt to personalize a program to suit their likes, goals, needs, abilities and barriers. Activities can provide entertainment and relieve boredom, but meaningful activities… meaningful activities can move a person, change their behaviours and uplift them.

Consider the example of an individual assigned the task of caring for a plant. This person, (lets call her Mrs. Mary) presented very apathetic, isolated, with frequent episodes of crying, she used to enjoy gardening as a past-time as per her assessment. A Recreation Therapist brought her a plant to take care of. This simple yet impactful activity involved daily efforts to nurture and sustain the plant’s well-being. The RT would check in everyday, and provide verbal cueing and enthusiastic praise to get Mary to water her plant. As Mrs. Mary consistently tended to the plant, she witnessed it grow and flourish, she would talk to staff about her plant “Did you see my Plant?” “I get up to water it everyday.” Mrs. Mary felt a sense of accomplishment and pride. Once the RT seen that Mrs. Mary was comfortable tending to her own plant, she started to introduce her to other plants around her living area, and asked her to water them too. Mrs. Mary was able to water the plants around her living area, decreasing isolation and frequent episodes of crying. Although Mrs. Mary required verbal cues from the staff at times, she was happy to complete the task when encouraged.

Personalized activities, such as caring for a plant, can serve as therapeutic tools to boost self-esteem, confidence and provide a sense of accomplishment. The recreation therapist’s role is to provide structured interventions, and guide the individual through the activity until they reach a level of comfort they can do the activity independently.

Mitigating Social Isolation in Retirement and Long term care Homes

In retirement and long-term care homes, residents facing social isolation and depression can receive valuable support through the expertise of a recreation therapist. RT’s skillfully design plans to integrate individuals into community activities, small groups or even 1:1 interactions, aiming not only for social stimulation, but purposeful engagement also.

Recreation therapists take on the task of assessing individuals’ social relationships. Thoughtfully observing personalities and preferences, they work to pair residents who may form compatible connections. For instance, a recreation therapist might identify shared interests between two residents and purposefully introduce them during a communal activity. The goal is to encourage a connection that would provide companionship, promoting genuine social engagement. However, therapists must exercise caution to avoid pairing individuals who may inadvertently trigger challenging behaviours in each other. By integrating residents into carefully selected activities and thoughtfully pairing compatible individuals, recreation therapists play a pivotal role in encouraging genuine social relationships.

Managing Boredom and Responsive Behaviours

Individuals with dementia often struggle with boredom, giving rise to responsive behaviours like wandering, exit-seeking or increased agitation. Recreation therapists will collaborate closely with the individual’s care team to understand specific triggers influencing their behaviours. They will design a unique plan with the individuals preferences and abilities in mind to provide programming in an attempt to minimize responsive behaviours.

To address responsive behaviours, we recognize that these expressions indicate an unmet need. With a personalized touch, a recreation therapist will implement strategies designed to capture the individual’s interest and redirect their focus. For instance, they create a sensory-rich environment featuring familiar items and engaging activities, providing a source of stimulation.

Soothing Activities for Intellectual Disabilities

Individuals with intellectual disabilities often find calmness in soothing activities, commonly referred to as “sensory programs.” Recreation therapists can introduce tailored experiences that engage the senses, encouraging a sense of relaxation. They strategically incorporate activities involving:

• Tactile stimulation such as fabrics, stuffed toys and textured materials,
• Auditory stimulation such as music, audiobooks or nature sounds,
• Visual stimulation such as bubble tubes, fairy lights, picture slideshows and visual appealing décor.
• Smell stimulation such as essential oils, bread/cake making, or fresh laundry.
• Taste stimulation such as ice cream, herbs or fruits.

This integration of sensory programs can create a therapeutic environment that promotes relaxation and calmness for those with cognitive impairments. Using sensory activities we aim for individuals to engage in activities aligned with their abilities to ensure we are not overstimulating or boring them.

Maintaining Cognitive Function

Engaging in cognitively stimulating activities such as art, trivia and puzzles challenges cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, following instruction and problem-solving. Although we want to offer a reasonable challenge to those with dementia we do not want to provide anything too difficult as to avoid frustration.

• Puzzles can offer intricate patterns and problem-solving exercises, while
• Trivia encourages memory recall and drawing on existing knowledge.
• Board games, offer cognitive skills rrelated to following the rules and using strategic elements.
• Reading books can encourage language comprehension and word recall.

As always, it’s important to gauge the activities with the individuals abilities, and modify or adapt programming to suit their specific barriers to recreation.

maintaining Independence for Physical well-being

Recreation therapy extends its reach to physical well-being, recognizing the importance of movement and exercise in maintaining overall health. Customized movement sessions, such as dance or gentle yoga, not only provide a physical outlet, but also contribute to improved balance, flexibility, range of motion, improved cardiovascular health, respiratory health and muscle strength.

Individuals with physical ailments may seek the guidance of a recreation therapist to regain independence in their hobbies. These activities are designed to accommodate their physical abilities by modifying programming around their barriers to encourage a sense of empowerment and independence.

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