Stimulating activities focus of local Alzheimer’s care program

One Poplar Bluff facility has opened a program-driven Alzheimer’s care program for those in the early-to-mid stages of the disease.

Cedargate Healthcare started the program in March, but fully opened it in July with 13 beds. There’s six patients in the program right now, said Tasha Schooley, director of social services and admissions.

“It’s been going really well,” Schooley said. “Our activity department is really involved with those residents because they need more stimulation.”

The residents all have individual rooms. Through the program, patients participate in individual activities each day. They also have the option to participate in group activities that are available for all the residents at the facility.

Schooley said the Cedargate unit was designed to provide programming for the patients. These activities, while simplistic for most people, are focused on helping the patients maintain dexterity and cognitive functions.

“It’s not just putting on the TV and watching television,” Schooley said. “That’s not going to hold anybody’s attention. They can’t do long, drawn-out activities. They’re usually no more than 30-minute activities at a time for them.

“It could be reminiscing, it could be painting their nails. One of the things for dexterity and keeping up those motor skills is called Not Knots. It’s different fabrics and different materials tied into loose knots and they untie those. It doesn’t seem like much, but it keeps their attention and it helps with the dexterity.”

The patients also have access to fidget boards, which have zippers or lights they can play with, Play-Doh and a baby doll station. There’s also a fish tank in the common area.

The activities are specialized to the individual patient based on their interests and medical needs. They’re encouraged to work on the activities independently, but staff are available to help when needed.

Cedargate takes referrals for patients to the unit. Staff evaluate whether the potential patient is at a stage where the additional stimulation would be beneficial. In the late stages of Alzheimer’s, a patient can be on a feeding tube or bed-ridden. Schooley said those aren’t the patients that would go on the unit because the extra programming wouldn’t be beneficial. However, patients in the early-to-mid stages can benefit from the extra stimulation.

“With Alzheimer’s Disease they can mentally decline from being 80 years old to potentially in the mind-set of a 5-year-old,” Schooley said.

Cedargate Healthcare is locally owned by Legacy.