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Glencroft
focuses on Alzheimer's
Story and
Photos by Bette Sharpe Glendale Daily Planet
Glencroft
hosted four events this week that deal with Alzheimer's disease and
of memory loss. The first was the opening Wednesday of The new Alzheimer's
Care Center, Sarah's Place is located at 6670 W. Butler Drive.
This new Assisted Living Program is decided to those who are living
with memory loss. The new
facility is on the 43 acre retirement community.
Sarah's Place is one of the many housing offerings available at
Glencroft. Residents are
offered Independent Care, Assisted Living Care, Skilled Nursing Care and
Memory Care.
Early
in the 1960's a local pastor's wife, Sarah Ruth, began taking care of an
elderly couple from the church. The
couple did not have family to care for them nor were there care facilities
available at that time. Sarah
Ruth eventually moved the elderly couple into her home.
Later is was discovered that the couple Sarah Ruth cared for, left
her $500.00. Sarah Ruth put
the money into a savings account and that funding eventually became
Glencroft. Glencroft is under the sponsorship of the Mennonite Health
Service Alliance.
Glencroft's
second and third events were held Thursday and Friday with the AFA Quilt
to Remember display and Teepa Snow's free presentation, "Understanding
Dementia Care: Essentials for Your Journey Together."
4:00 p. m. - 9:00 p. m.
AFA Quilt to Remember display
(Grand Canyon Room)
6:30 p. m. - 8: 30 p .m
"Understanding Dementia Care: Essentials for
Your
Journey Together."
The
Fourth event was held Friday, August 17, 2012.
7:00 a. m. to 3:00 p. m.
AFA Quilt to Remember display in the Grand Canyon Room
9:00 - 12:00 p. m.
interactive session for healthcare professionals
AFA
Quilt to Remember
Alzheimer's
Foundation of America is building a unique quilt of remembrance and care,
called the AFA Quilt to Remember. This
is the first national dementia-related quilt that is of this grand of a
scale and that will expand in size with ongoing contributions of squares.
Panels
from individuals need to measure four feet square and those submitted by
an organization need to be eight feet square.
If
you would like to be apart of the Quilt to Remember project, more
information and an application can be found at www.alzquilt.org
or by calling 866.AFA.8484.
Bette Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no.
4530.
Detail
of one the quilts in the Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) Quilt to
Remember display. Many of the
quilts told stories or told of adventures like this one using a variety of
materials. Some of the quilts
on display, like this one, uses a collage approach while other were more
traditional and made up of fabric and thread.
Bette Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no.
4536.
Glencroft
President F. Jay Shelter stands beside one of the quilts in the AFA Quilt
to Remember display during Thursday's exhibit.
From F. Jay Shelter, "we are here this evening for the state
of Alzheimer's".
The
quilts on display were made with both traditional and non-traditional
materials. Some were like a
page from a scrapbook and told stories.
Other quilts on display were more abstract.
Again quoting F. Jay Shelter, "the stitching does not have to
be perfect, every stitch is stitched with love".
Bette Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no.
4531.
In
Loving Memory of My Mother, Aylene Henderson-Bolds.
Quilt
squares are made from the actual aprons Aylene Henderson-Bolds used to
make her orange bon bon cake.
Bette Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no.
4550.
AFA
Quilt to Remember display Thursday, August 16 in the Grand Canyon Room on
the Glencroft community campus.
Bette Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no.
4540.
Josie
Di Chiara, Vice President of Business Development, Alzheimer's Foundation
of America.
Bette Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no.
4570.
Sylvia
Butler, Hospice of the West; Lisa Takata artist; and Linda Olson,
Biological Resource Center are holding the panel artist Lisa Takata is
adding to AFA's on-going quilt, A Quilt to
Remember.
Lisa
Takata, cyanotype photography artist, created this panel for the Quilt to
Remember. The symbol is the
Japanese character for memory. Lisa
created a body of work in collaboration with a poet who was an Alzheimer's
disease caregiver and wants to create a quilt based on some of the stories
she collected from other caregivers.
The work, "Convergent Memory" is not just for just to
look at, but also to help with healing.
Here
is the poem from the center of Lisa's quilt.
I hear you nightly whispers
Sighing
of things fading from memory
I
rustle 'neath the leaves
Of
lovers' promises
And
feel the warmth of
Your
hand tickling my belly
Scenting
the breath
Of
your dreams,
I
love your tiny
Scratches
on my back.
I
love your winter's promises.
For
you have stayed the longest
Oh
Death!
07.05.0
9 am
to
all those in Alzheimer's units
On
Thursday, August 16th, Phoenix area families trying to keep their families
together had the chance to learn from one of the best in dementia care -
to help them cope and survive the effects of this disease.
The nonprofit Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA), and local
Senior Helpers in-home care center hosted a free nationally renowned
dementia care expert, Teepa Snow, in addition to the display of AFA's
Quilt to Remember.
Bette Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no.
4559.
Teepa
Snow teaches coping skills for dementia care.
Humor was a strong tool in her presentation, "Understanding
Dementia Care: Essentials for Your Journey Together".
Her presentation was free and open to the public.
Two goals of her presentation was to talk about Alzheimer's and
memory loss from the view point of the person who has the disease.
Another goal was to help caregivers do a better job of care-giving.
Those who attended received a free cop of "Senior Gems"
DVD.
Nearly
58,000 people in the grater Phoenix area suffer with Alzheimer's, a
devastating disease that ultimately ends in death, because there is no
cure. A local man, Norb Weninger, is fighting his own battle, war
really, with Alzheimer's that has robbed his wife Elsie of her mind and
spirit.
Norb
and Elsie's Story
Norb
first noticed something wasn't right with Elsie in 2004 when they were
remodeling their home. Elsie
went to get lunch for the crew. The
restaurant was just down the street, but Elsie didn't return for several
hours. She got lost. When
she finally got back, she was totally shook up and couldn't explain what
happened or where she went.
Norb
describes the Alzheimer's progression as slow for the first few years,
then very rapid over the last two years, and the last tow months have been
"like falling off a cliff".
Elsie is now 100% dependent--she cannot stand, walk, talk, etc.
Her only memories are of bad memories of childhood.
She often screams and thrashes abut when anyone tries to care for
her.
Norb
loved his wife very much, and his whole life has been consumed with caring
for her the past several years. He
co-owned two businesses, but he recently had to sell off his shares
because he felt he was not longer any value to the companies.
The cautions others to prepare for something worse that losing a
family member. He says, :I
would rather have seen Elsie pass away from a heart attack than watch what
she is going through".
LINKS
Alzheimer's
Foundation of America
http://www.alzfdn.org
866-AFA-8484
Biological
Resource Center
http://www.brcaz.org/
602-494-4272
Glencroft
Retirement Community
http://www.glencroft.com/
623-939-9475
Hospice
of the West
http://hospicewestaz.com/
602-343-6422
Lisa
Takata
http://www.lisatakata.com/cyan.html
Quilt
to Remember project information and applications
http:www.alzquilt.org
66-AFA-8484
Teepa
Snow
http://www.teepasnow.com/teepa_snow_store.html
Senior
Helpers
http://www.seniorhelpers.com
623-842-6018
(N. Phoenix and Glendale)
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