Allie Calhoun - Dementia

Allie Calhoun occupied her time by fulfilling the roles of being a wife, daughter, mother and homemaker. She enjoyed painting, playing piano, cooking, and music. Allie was diagnosed with dementia at age 76. This was a tough thing to swallow for Allie and even harder for her husband to adapt. Her husband took awhile to accept the diagnosis which is common for people's loved ones to go through. When Allie found out she had dementia, she prepared by writing her own love story. As the disease progressed, she got her husband to read this story to her, which she loved. For dementia, an OT is concerned with providing comfort, education, and routine to the client and/or their family. The main things to work on with Allie was to decrease panic and create a calm environment. Music can help people with dementia by helping bring memories back. It can also have a therapeutic effect.
Another common thing for people with dementia to go through is sundowner's syndrome which is confusion and panic that occurs at the end of the day. It is something about this timing that can cause a confusion effect. This was particularly interesting to me. When providing intervention to a client with dementia, this may require working with the caregiver more than the client. It is a diagnosis that consists of much family involvement and intervention.