Are you sure you want to exit? Your progress will be lost.
Who are you caring for?
Which best describes their mobility?
How well are they maintaining their hygiene?
How are they managing their medications?
Does their living environment pose any safety concerns?
Fall risks, spoiled food, or other threats to wellbeing
Are they experiencing any memory loss?
Which best describes your loved one's social life?
Acknowledgment of Disclosures and Authorization
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington. Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services. APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid. We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour. APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment. You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints. Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights. APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.I agree that: A.I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information"). B.APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink. C.APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site. D.If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records. E.This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year. F.You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
✔
I acknowledge and authorize
✔
I consent to the collection of my consumer health data.*
✔
I consent to the sharing of my consumer health data with qualified home care agencies.*
*If I am consenting on behalf of someone else, I have the proper authorization to do so. By clicking Get My Results, you agree to our Privacy Policy. You also consent to receive calls and texts, which may be autodialed, from us and our customer communities. Your consent is not a condition to using our service. Please visit our Terms of Use. for information about our privacy practices.
Mostly Independent
Your loved one may not require home care or assisted living services at this time. However, continue to monitor their condition for changes and consider occasional in-home care services for help as needed.
Remember, this assessment is not a substitute for professional advice.
Share a few details and we will match you to trusted home care in your area:
I'm volunteering in an elderly centre and I will be reading news to them. Most of them has alzheimer's and I don't know how and what I should read to them.
My husband has dementia, though not Alzheimer's. He no longer reads, but loves the news on TV. I'm not sure how much of it he understands since complex info confuses him. So I'd suggest to keep it simple and maybe stay away from traumatic news events. You might also talk to the activity coordinator at the facility and ask what works best.
Tooyoung, I agree that it's a good idea to consult with the activity coordinator first. I am a volunteer for EIES, an organization that delivers a radio broadcast of the news for the blind. I had no idea what news to pick out to read, so they told me to try and pick out something other than the "top world news" which other major newspapers focus on, as somebody else would already be recording much of that and no point in duplicating. I would suggest you pick out/cut out your news topics about an hour before you have to read. Thank you so much for doing this for our elders!
I would read books that permit those residents to "bring back some of their memories"--it is called reminiscence. To me, the news paper is filled with uninportant information period. Why not make the time beneficial to all by reading books, poems, stories or nursey rhymes that might just "spark" so some signs of bringing back memories. This kind of exercise just might be the trick to get some smiles on a couple of faces, a tear in an eye, or even some kind of dialogue. What a fun day that would be for everyone!!! I would forget the news for now and try to do something that really has meaning to someone who no longer can remember. Just one of those special times will put a BIG SMILE on your face too and then you will have one of the best days of your life to remember. Thanks for spending time with those who need some outside stimulation--you are special.
Phillyp, so wonderful that you have volunteered to do this! When I visit my mother in another state at her NH I spend the day there with her. They are long days that mom frequently naps through so I have started helping the activities Director. I often read to residents or play games like bingo. Like you I felt that the drivel of life in the papers was pretty distressing and try edit the icky depressing stuff out and focus on the good stuff. The Chicken Soup books are also great uplifting stories that are short enough to read to a napping on and off group. I bring magazines with bright pictures to pass around as well. Reading there never fails to bring in several residents to hear what is going on . There is a lovely magazine called Reminise with lovely pics and stories from way back when that is also a favorite.
Read old news. Most are in their 80s, so find WWII, Korean War memorabilia and you can/may get some reactions. Other than that, it really doesn't matter.
If you were to do news at all, then ONLY happy news. As it is, dementia patients spend many thoughts to the negative anyway, so reading now and what is already negative news can only be counterproductive and make them worry unnecessarily about the state of the world, presuming they're able to worry.
I play the autoharp and my mom enjoyed the music as well as singing old songs which she could remember the words to. Simple rhyming poetry with something else she also enjoyed and could follow to some degree because it was simple.
My aunt had been a reader. Of course she didn't remember what she read 10 minutes after she finished, but I got her a series of books that were designed for 5th or 6th graders, that were abridged versions of novels such as Phantom of the Opera, Tom Sawyer, Call of the Wild, etc. I realize not everyone reads, but those types of books would be great for you, as a reader, to read to them.
Something interactive can also be helpful, like show and tell in grammar school, except YOU show, something like photos, and ask them to tell.
I read everything to mine. It's funny how later you think they didn't pay attention but they do and will later retell you the story with the details changed. I once read about a 15 year old boy that we knew accidentally killing his 14 year old sister with his dad's gun he had taken out without permission. We knew the family well and grieved with them. My grandma kept telling the story to visitors to the house and the ages of the kids kept changing! At first , they were 15 and 14 but they gradually got younger until they were 5 months and 4 months old!!!
My husband always liked books on scientific subjects or things related to architecture (he worked as an architect). In spite of his dementia, those things still interest him, although he can't read for more than 20 minutes at a time and often doesn't remember what he read later. He particularly enjoys reading National Geographic magazines, old ones as well as current ones, although he looks at the pictures more than he reads these days.
First I have to ask, "Do you really have to read NEWS?" I am sure they are looking for something to stimulate the patients minds but news can be upsetting. I have noticed with Mom and Dad previously that they become more emotional as they age and their health declines. My Dad would cry at National Geographic Documentaries where a lion was chasing a gazelle....he did not want to see anything get hurt.
If you have to read NEWS then keep it light, like the birth of the new Prince George in England, but not about 50 people being shot somewhere. You may have to feel this out and see what works and what doesn't.
Also reading old books or poems or listening to music from bygone eras might be best. They do love music!
Thank you everyone for the praise and support. I have told them the news of the birth of Baby King George and they had a smile on their face and was also talkative. They remembered Queen Elizabeth and said that she is still beautiful like the time they saw her on the news when they were younger.
My husband is the same age as Queen Elizabeth, he dropped coal to them in WWII known as the "Berlin Airlift", and I have been writing the Queen since 1993, when I saw a documentary on her that she reads all her mail. (She, or rather her staff, have responded every time). The point is, anything the patient with Alzheimer's has in their long-term memory bank will bring smiles and emotions to them. Let them watch TMC, the old black and white movies, and you too will see how people dressed and acted. Very proper, and much of that behavior is needed in society now. Thank you for appreciating the elders enough to volunteer to read and interact with them. One day you will be one too!
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
B.
APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
C.
APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
D.
If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
E.
This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year.
F.
You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
I play the autoharp and my mom enjoyed the music as well as singing old songs which she could remember the words to. Simple rhyming poetry with something else she also enjoyed and could follow to some degree because it was simple.
My aunt had been a reader. Of course she didn't remember what she read 10 minutes after she finished, but I got her a series of books that were designed for 5th or 6th graders, that were abridged versions of novels such as Phantom of the Opera, Tom Sawyer, Call of the Wild, etc. I realize not everyone reads, but those types of books would be great for you, as a reader, to read to them.
Something interactive can also be helpful, like show and tell in grammar school, except YOU show, something like photos, and ask them to tell.
If you have to read NEWS then keep it light, like the birth of the new Prince George in England, but not about 50 people being shot somewhere. You may have to feel this out and see what works and what doesn't.
Also reading old books or poems or listening to music from bygone eras might be best. They do love music!
Good luck and thank you for giving your time!