Visiting a person with Dementia

How to make your visit a great source of support for someone living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.

“Conversing, engaging, digging from the past and incorporating it into a conversation is one of the best brain exercises you can get.  The sad part is that there is a good chance the person won’t remember you, your visit, or the conversations you had, but they will remember how it made them feel.  Even if you’re just smiling and holding hands, seniors benefit from that on so many levels. When my wife had her brain aneurysm and she was in recovery I saw her every day, and I think it helped her recovery.

Be prepared
Speak to team members or family to find out when your friend will be most cognitively alert: it could be over a mealtime or during an activity they enjoy. Arrive with conversation topics or old stories supported by mementoes, such as photos, an old college jacket—whatever connects you. Read about dementia in advance, so you have a better understanding of what to expect from someone with age-related brain changes.

Focus on communication
Pick a quiet place to meet to minimize noise and distractions. Use simple sentences, give the person time to respond and don’t hesitate to prompt a senior by repeating what you said. If your friend goes off on a tangent, try to jump on board their train of thought instead of bringing them back to yours.

Plan for behavioural changes
Just as no two people are alike, no two seniors with dementia will behave exactly the same. Some may act giddy, flirty, playful, elated, confused, scared, childlike, unmotivated, anxious, sad or distant. You may see the person crying, pacing, fidgeting or acting like there’s a pressing need to go somewhere or do something. Don’t feel insulted by unusual behaviours, such as if you’ve come all this way and your loved one is talking about leaving (exit-seeking can be common). If you’re nervous, check in with their care team upon to find out if there’s anything you need to know about challenging behaviours, and how you might handle any that arise.

Time to connect
Engage in an activity or conversation that taps into your friend’s past. It’s helpful for seniors with Alzheimer’s or related dementia to have someone with whom to reminisce and share memories. Using touch and nonverbal reassurances can help make conversations more interactive and meaningful. From a cognitive perspective, your visit is helping nurture and strengthen the brain.

The search for the real truth is an endless journey

TOP 5 FACT-CHECKING RESOURCES

The search for factual information is endless in the digital age. Here are five fact-checking resources I rely on to help tackle rumours and misinformation.

SNOPES

Snopes. com investigates all types of information online. including urban legends. myths and rumours.

POLITIFACT

PolitiFact uses the Truth-O-Meter “to evaluate statements made by elected officials, political, candidates, activists, and more.

FACTCHECK.ORG

Factcheck.org seeks to combine aspects of both journalism and scholarship to provide accurate information to media consumers.

AMERICAN PRESS INSTITUTE

The American Press Institutes new project provides vetted resources for fact-checkers and journalists.

WASHINGTON POST FACT CHECKER

Journalist Glenn Kessler responds to questions from the public and rates statements on a scale from one to four "Pinocchio’s."

A Stunning Senior Moment

Thanks to Larry for the reminder that inter-generational conflicts are irrational and unnecessarily divisive...

A very self-important college freshman attending a recent football game took it upon himself to explain to a senior citizen sitting next to him why it was impossible for the older generation to understand his generation. 'You grew up in a different world, actually an almost primitive one,' the student said, loud enough for many of those nearby to hear; 'The young people of today are much more advanced than people your age. We grew up with television, jet planes, space travel, a man walking on the moon and the internet. We have cell phones, nuclear energy, electric and hydrogen cars, computers, automated manufacturing, amazing. technologies, ...and,' pausing to take another drink of beer.

The senior took advantage of the break in the student's litany and said, ‘You're right, son. We didn't have those things when we were young... so we invented them. Now, son, what are YOU doing for the next generation?'

Cue the applause

You just gotta love old AND young people!

Personalized Gifts

The meteoric rise of the personalized gifts industry is well documented; with annual sales of more than $25 billion and growing, it is clearly a marketplace that is here to stay. 

Personalized Gifts enable you to give your members and supporters something they want – something they would buy anyway – regardless of your presence in the marketplace

Personalized gifts offer an outstanding fundraising opportunity for non-profit organizations because they allow your organization to provide your members and supporters with something they want, something they would probably buy from elsewhere anyway! 

Millions of people make their own personalized gifts every day of the week; they make everything from custom buttons to photo handbags, designed with photos depicting their loved ones, dogs, cats and other pets, or any other photo or design they choose to use.

It’s essential to be aware that the largest share of the personalized gifts market is made up from people making their own gifts, by this we mean people uploading their own photos and creating their own unique gifts. 

Make sure the base cost price of your custom products is low enough to be able to return a margin in the region of 25% to 30% while ensuring you can still provide your members and supporters with competitive pricing

One of the most common mistakes organizations makes when they evaluate fundraising is to not look closely enough at base prices, mark-ups, margins and selling prices.

Any proposition you come across that offers less than a 20% margin, (a mark-up of the base prices of less than 25%), or relies on the goodwill of your members to pay higher than average prices, to allow you to accommodate your target margin, should definitely be avoided. 


One idea for fundraising is our fully customizable greeting cards and custom postcards. These can be personalized with your own photos, logos, designs and text. They are made from either (depending on style) heavyweight 300gsm or 12pt card. They are fully customizable from front to back including the inside covers. They can be designed in portrait or landscape and are finished with matte lamination. Envelopes included. If you don't want to go to the extra work of designing your own cards, you can select one of ours here

We try to offer our customers some of the best gift ideas available - using our "state of the art" card creation software, making your own personalized photo card is easy, but more importantly, it's a lot of fun too!

If you like to make your own designs, personalized greeting cards are probably the best and most impressive way to show off your artistic talents - better still, you will enjoy creating them, and, when they're done, they make the ultimate photo card for any occasion! The same can also be said for personalized postcards.

A custom personalized greetings card always says more than a traditional card ever can - it expresses the thought and effort you have put into it!

To get started on your own one of a kind personalized greetings card, all you need to do is upload your photos and designs, add your personal message and you'll have your own custom personalized photo card with just a few clicks of your mouse.

Don't forget, you can make your own personalized postcards and greeting cards using any photos, designs and text you choose. Remember, you really can say it all when you design and create your own custom photo card

DIY personalized photo cards are perfect for birthdays, anniversaries, Christenings, graduations, valentines, mother's day, father's day, Christmas or any other occasion.