Creating a Memorable Dementia-Friendly Movie Experience

For months, our Kansas City Movies and Memory team has been working on creating a memorable dementia-friendly movie experience and film series. Ron and I were so lucky to partner with the Heart of America Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, the Kansas City Public Library, and the Kansas City FilmFest. For our first offering, we wanted a short movie with a splash of fun and a heart-filled message that would engage multi-generations.  We wanted live music and free popcorn. We wanted each person to walk away with a souvenir. And we wanted to attract a diverse audience.

The Red Balloon was a wonderful success.  This ageless film, about a boy and his magical balloon, attracted one hundred people, from ages three up through the nineties. Our audience, little kids and big kids both, clustered around the popcorn machine, watching the aromatic kernels blossom. They listened to Parisian songs by a renowned clarinetist and a guitarist.  They learned a little about creating a “memory aware” city. And they laughed, smiled, sat on the edge of their seats, and clapped, all avidly involved in the movie. At the end, we walked out holding a huge bouquet of red balloons and each person was excited to take home a lovely reminder of the afternoon.

Here’s what we learned: when you’re taking photos of people holding balloons, you don’t even have to ask them to say, “Cheese.”  They’re already smiling.

Here’s the great news.

You can easily have this movie experience at home. It’s perfect for an intergenerational family gathering, a holiday event, or just a cozy evening at home.

Here are a few tips for creating a memorable movie experience:

• Pick a time of day where everyone has good energy. Our event was held at 2:00 in the afternoon.
• Make sure the technology is organized and everyone can see the screen.
• Arrange for comfortable seating and minimal distractions.
• Offer your favorite movie-going indulgences. Freshly popped popcorn is irresistible.
• Talk about what you’re going to see.
• If you want, stop the movie in the middle and talk about what you’ve seen. Ask open-ended questions, such as “Would you have climbed the pole to fetch the balloon?” “Why do you think the boy loved the balloon so much?” “What does this movie make you think of?”
• At the end, talk about the movie: what you liked, what you didn’t like, and what the movie made you think about.
• When the movie experience is complete, hand each person a helium-filled red balloon. Even a red balloon filled with hot air will do!

The Red Balloon is just one idea. Please tell us about movies or TV shows you have enjoyed watching and share your film-watching tips.

Deborah Shouse is the author of Connecting in the Land of Dementia: Creative Activities to Explore Together and Love in the Land of Dementia: Finding Hope in the Caregiver’s Journey.

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Ten More Steps to Make Your Community Dementia-Friendly

I’ve been thinking about Michelle’s ideas, inviting us all to be part of creating a more-dementia friendly community. Here are additional thoughts from Michelle Niedens, L.S.C.S.W. Director of Education, Programs and Public Policy, at the Alzheimer’s Association’s Heart of America Chapter.

What volunteers would walk with their neighbors who were living with Alzheimer’s disease, so they could exercise and visit with others, without worrying about getting lost?  

What if neighbors volunteered to visit regularly or run an errand?

What if law enforcement went beyond Silver Alerts and had standardized protocol for individuals who wander and go missing?

What if gas stations and convenience stores had training to recognize someone who might be lost?

What if pharmacies provided support information any time an Alzheimer’s drug was prescribed?

What if doctor’s offices had “memory aware” time slots, so people living with dementia wouldn’t have to wait in a noisy, chaotic environment?

What if there were geriatric urgent care settings?

What if grocery stores had a “slow down” line?

What if grocery stores had designated times when shopping support was available?

What would it take for all of us to be “memory aware” and to act on that?

……………………..

I want to do something to help here in Kansas City, but I haven’t yet decided what. In my upcoming book, Staying Connected in the Land of Dementia, I write about Meet Me at the Movies & Make Memories, a movie-going event for those living with dementia and their partners, co-created by John Zeisel. That really appeals to me and I’m thinking about contacting local theater owners. I welcome collaborators and I also would love to hear your ideas. What actions are you inspired to take?

Deborah Shouse is the author of Love in the Land of Dementia: Finding Hope in the Caregiver’s Journey.

Eight Paths towards a More Dementia-Friendly Community

On November 10, 2015, Michelle Niedens, L.S.C.S.W. Director of Education, Programs and Public Policy, at the Alzheimer’s Association’s Heart of America Chapter, gave a beautiful talk, inviting all of us to contribute to a compassionate, inclusive, and dementia-friendly community. Her ideas are both simple and profound and offer a challenge and an invitation for all of us. Over the next two weeks, I’m going to share some of Michelle’s visionary “what if” thinking.

From Michelle:

What would it take for all of us to be memory aware and to act on that?

What if restaurants had finger food menus? What if restaurants had specials from the finger food menu in the middle of the afternoon, when there were fewer people in the restaurant and things were quieter?

What if theatres had showings designed “memory aware”?

What if theatres had showings of old movies monthly with the “memory aware” icon on the website, so families could still enjoy getting out and having the cinema experience?

What if radio stations played songs related to memory issues in November (Alzheimer’s month) or April (Caregiver month)?

What if retail stores had designated days when the staff wore “memory aware” name badges and could provide more support to shoppers?

What if technology-based stores had annual displays of products that support memory, safety, or organization?

What if faith communities identified in bulletins/newsletters those activities that were “memory aware?”

Deborah Shouse is the author of Love in the Land of Dementia: Finding Hope in the Caregiver’s Journey.

 

Focusing on Art and Drawing on Memory

“What art offers is space – a certain breathing room for the spirit.” ~John Updike

 

“I want us to explore this work of art together,” Laura Voth says, as she passes out small copies of the Leon Kroll painting Lower New York, The Bridge in Winter, 1915.   

Ron and I have joined today’s session of the Focus on Art program at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This collaboration between the Museum and the Alzheimer’s Association, Oklahoma Chapter, is part of the Association’s Drawing on Memory program and is designed for people living with dementia and their care partners.

“We’ve been hosting the program for three years and we keep learning from it,” says Jessimi Jones, Philbrook Director of Education. “We’re trying to connect people with art using their imagination and observational skills.”

“We’re also trying to engage people in conversation,” says LaShondia Horn, Early Stage Coordinator with the Association. “Looking at the art together and later creating art stimulates memories.”

Laura Voth, education assistant at the Philbrook, orchestrates the conversation and the drawing session that follows. To engage her audience, she looks for large paintings with recognizable images. Today’s oil features an old-fashioned Manhattan skyline as seen from underneath a bridge. Several boats navigate a choppy river.

Laura offers a little background on the painting, then says, “Take a look at the painting. What do you see?”

“Lots of big buildings,” Thomas says.

“What can you tell me about those buildings?” Laura asks.

“Tall,” Thomas replies.

“It looks like New York but I’ve never seen it from this angle,” Julie says.

I realize I also have never seen New York from that angle and I start noticing a few more of the picture’s details: two tugs boats, bouncing around in the rough waves, several men hoisting a rope from a dock.

“Has anyone else been to New York?” Laura asks.

“We marched through there and got right on a boat,” Thomas says. He’s got a good-natured slouch and a ready smile.

“What would it be like on that boat?” Laura asks.

“I can’t swim,” Julie says.

“I’ve been to New York as a visitor,” Mary says.

“What would you title this painting?” Laura asks.

“Under the Bridge,” Mary says.

The conversation continues as Laura asks sensory and observational questions about the picture? What time of year do you think it is? Does the painting make you feel small or tall? What do you think that round building is? What would you put in that round building?

Every one is participating, gazing at the river, the buildings, treating each question with curiosity.

After the conversations, we go downstairs to create our own art.

In the art room, each person has a large sheet of drawing paper, which is easy to see against the dark green paper that covers the table. LaShonda and her team work with the museum staff making sure each person is comfortable and can reach the art supplies. As Laura guides us through drawing simple lines to create a bridge, the conversation continues. Click here for a one-minute tutorial from Laura on using paints and oil pastels.

 

I’m sitting across from Emily, who says, “I can’t draw.”

I ask what color she likes and she says, “Purple.”

I show her the purple paint and ask if she’d like to try some.

She dips in her brush and strokes paint across the paper.

Color by color, she asks, “What now? What color shall I use? Where does this color go?”

During our painting session, I learn she was born in West Virginia, she doesn’t like to cook, she has five children and her brother is a wood carver. One of her treasured possessions is a carving of Dopey that her brother created when he was a teenager.

At the end, Emily has a wonderfully vibrant painting to take home and I have the wonderfully vibrant feeling of having connected with a fascinating woman.

 

For more information about the Philbrook, go to www.philbrook.org

The Alzheimer’s Association Website is www.alz.org/

Deborah Shouse is the author of Love in the Land of Dementia: Finding Hope in the Caregiver’s Journey.