As a few people were touring Ellna’s over the weekend, a visitor walked up to one of our residents and said, “What’s your name?” The resident who suffers from severe dementia replied, “Pauline”. The visitor said, “Nice to meet you, my name is Joanie.” Pauline said, “Okay, Groanie”. The visitor just looked at Pauline with a stunned expression. However, the tour guide burst out laughing. Why?

A few of the techniques our staff utilize to keep our residents and the overall environment calm and peaceful, are playfulness, acceptance and empathy. Our tour guide’s laughter reflected playfulness, empathy and acceptance of what Pauline said in the hope Pauline wouldn’t be upset by the stunned expression on the visitor’s face. The tour guide’s laughter also lightened the mood of the interaction and invited the visitor to laugh, too.

A heartwarming social interaction between “Michelle”, a client with severe dementia who lives at Ellna’s and “George”, a client with memory loss who has recently been receiving care at Ellna’s during the day.

Michelle is quite talkative with staff and another client with whom she shares residence. There is a disconnect between what she thinks she’s saying and what she actually says. Michelle’s resting countenance makes her appear angry. George is charming. He loves to greet and share stories from his life with everyone. He requires some assistance when walking.

As George and I were sitting at the kitchen table, he confided Michelle “never answers me when I say hello or talk to her”. He was worried Michelle didn’t like him. I said Michelle was likely just not feeling up to talking right now. By the expression on his face, George was clearly not accepting the explanation, so I changed the subject by asking him to tell me about being a pilot during wartime. George’s face lit up as he began to talk about flying.

Meanwhile, Michelle is pacing the room, slipping between George and the table, George and me, time and again. When Michelle bumps into George’s leg, it’s clear he doesn’t understand why she is only focused on the pacing, not on anyone else. He politely slides his chair back to let Michelle through.

Michelle turns to George and says, “Thank you.” George is so surprised and happy when he says to me, “She talked to me!”. Michelle made his day.

A few minutes later, George’s wife arrived to take him home. His wife and I were helping him to the door (Michelle was still pacing) when George looked at Michelle, reached out to her with a smile and said, “Goodbye.” Michelle shook George’s hand. He was absolutely thrilled.

One of our dementia clients can be salty at times. I was engaged with another client when I heard her say, “You b****.”, rather loudly. Looking over at her, I saw she was smiling. I smiled back and said, “What did you say?” She replied, “What?” so I said, “I’m not sure what you said.” With a wide smile and a twinkle in her eye, she said, “I just said I love you!” I giggled back, “Well, that’s good, ’cause I love you, too.”

Having a conversation with a person who has dementia doesn’t have to make sense. It’s all about connecting and companionship.

A resident, “Diana”, seems to always wake up happy and smiling – her eyes dance! One day, she just wasn’t her smiley self. As our staff member was helping Diana dress, she tried to coax a smile with jokes and their regular morning banter. After having exhausted all the usual, the staff member tried, “How about we have pigs feet for breakfast?”. Well, that certainly got Diana’s attention! She exclaimed, “Pigs feet?!” with a huge smile and those dancing eyes.

Our caregivers deliver top-quality care paired with one-on-one social interaction and companionship. We believe every day is a chance to enhance our clients’ overall happiness and quality of life.

Paula and a couple of residents were watching a movie in the Sunroom together when “Karen” strode purposefully toward the TV and began to speak directly to the actors on the screen. It seemed Karen wanted to help when she said, “Honey, Honey, you don’t understand! Honey, Honey.”, over and over again. Rather than ignoring Karen’s behavior, Paula began to laugh. Karen joined in – proof that laughter truly is the best medicine!

Paula’s playfulness with Karen is an example of how we sustain a calm and peaceful setting.