What is Your Name... Residents with Dementia Deserve Optimal Care

When Gloria Newberger visited Eastbrooke Gardens in Casselberry for a Jewish Pavilion Ice cream Social, one of the residents asked her “What is your name? Gloria responded “My name is Gloria, what is your name?” The resident responded “Honestly,I have no idea!” While this sounds like a punch line to a joke, Alzheimer’s  Disease is real. It isn’t funny and it affects 10% of our elderly population. Some of the symptoms include

·           Forgetting details about current events

·           Forgetting events in your own life history, losing awareness of who you are

·           Change in sleep patterns, often waking up at night

·           Difficulty reading or writing

·           Poor judgment and loss of ability to recognize danger

·           Using the wrong word, mispronouncing words, speaking in confusing sentences

·           Withdrawing from social contact

·           Having hallucinations, arguments, striking out, and violent behavior

·           Having delusions, depression, agitation

While many of these symptoms exist amongst the residents of Eastbrooke Gardens, the residents are still people who deserve kindness and excellent care. Jewish Pavilion staff and volunteers ensure that our seniors are not forgotten. When Gloria Newberger arrived she was not expecting the resident to react so positively to the ice cream social.  Newberger was amazed at how well the residents responded to conversation. When the music, lead by Marge Dreayer began, they belted out the words to the songs. Our rabbis explain that we are all created in God’s image. Surely everyone I entitled to compassion and companionship. To volunteer call 407-678-9363 or www.jewishpavilion.org.