Summer Craft for Elderly with Alzheimers

Crafts are often a great idea for an activity in a group setting:

• they can be adjusted to the level of functioning of the person
• they foster the group sense
• they help in practicing fine motor skills and attention
• they lead to a nice outcome that can be used as decoration
• they can have a psychotherapeutic aspect, if analyzed later (and move in the realm of art therapy, otherwise they are in the realm of occupational therapy)

Crafts are also suitable for different populations: they can be applied from children and teens to adults and the elderly, while they can be conducted by individuals with pathology (psychological, neurological, developmental) as well as by the healthy population.

The current craft was conducted in the group activities by elderly with dementia (mainly of the Alzheimer's type). First the activity was presented shortly, and then the chores were divided based on the level of functioning of the participants.

Materials: 

• thick paper (used for crafts) in a variety of colours
• colours (markers) 
• glue (the simple one not wet glue)
• gliter for decoration

Procedure:

• Preparation before hand (due to safety issues): 
• the shapes (circles and cones) were designed with a protractor and a ruler on the papers 
• then the outlines of the shapes were cut (so that the residents could avoid interacting with scissors and sharp items) 
• During the group: 
• the cones that were white were painted brown 
• so were some of the ice cream (so that the less functional could have a chore to do instead of gluing) 
• then the ice cream (3 circles) and the cone are glued together 
• Decoration in the end:
• lines are designed on the cones 
• the ice cream is decorated with gliter
• when all the ice creams are ready, glue them to a large paper 

The process is simple and fun! It managed to urge the residents into participation, while it arroused discussions and plenty of smiles. The group concluded with laughter and with the demand that next time we should eat ice cream and not make it!

Literature: J. Creek, L. Lougher, 2008. Occupational Therapy and Mental Health, Athens, ΒΗΤΑ medical arts.

Note: The current activity and the photos are from the group activities offered by a specific elderly health care unit in Athens, Greece.