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 Here's a powerful independent film by professional photojournalist Maggie Steiber, who recorded her mother experiences coping with dementia during the latter years of her life.
A beautiful and powerfully moving film.
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 Anne Basting is a huge inspiration to us, and we highly recommend her book, Forget Memory, to anyone who's dealing with early onset dementia or Alzheimer's or has a relative with either disease.
Anne suggests that the healthiest way to cope with a person's loss of memory is to focus instead on other mental capacities that aren't impacted in the same way by dementia or Alzheimer's -- such as creativity. People who can no longer remember their own personal history are still capable of story telling and other forms of rich expression that don't rely on memory -- and the more you encourage them to practice these forms of expression, the greater their self-esteem, joy, and quality of life will be. Her book is incredibly powerful and we highly recommend you read it if you or a loved one is dealing with memory loss due to dementia or Alzheimer's. To learn more, go to Anne's Forget Memory Blog.  Oliver Sachs is a brilliant neurologist and best-selling author whose books such as An Anthropologist on Mars and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat feature case studies of patients dealing with a variety of neurological disorders and provide a fascinating glimpse into how our minds work. He recently teamed up with American social worker Dan Cohen to explore the therapeutic benefits music can have on the elderly. Here's an inspiring clip from the documentary, Alive Inside, that will be based on their work. ... Just incredible.  The EU named 2012 the year for "Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations." This program is intended to raise awareness of the contribution that older people make to society and to encourage policy makers to create better opportunities for active ageing.
On the Europa.eu website, they say the following: "No matter how old we are, we can still play our part in society and enjoy a better quality of life. The challenge is to make the most of the enormous potential that we harbour even at a more advanced age." To learn more about this program and see what kind of initiatives are being implemented in order to achieve this goal, check out the "European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations" website.  The Bealtaine Festival is Ireland's largest collaborative arts festival and promotes greater participation by older people in society.
At this year's month-long festival in Dublin, festival president Michael D Higgins spoke out about the need to give older people more opportunities to engage in the arts. We heartily agree! You can learn more about his speech by clicking here. The Bealtaine Festival has roots in 27 counties with 592 organisers hosting over 3000 events. It would be great if we could initiate a similar festival to take place in Canada. |
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