Lady-Links: Behind the Scenes of the Visits

Our retirement community embraces Lady-Links as a valuable resource for inspiration and information regarding how to interact with those who are in cognitive decline.  We are a solid presence in Health Fairs and Volunteer Fairs, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share our story about Lady-Links.

However,  being “up front” as a resource didn’t come quickly.  It came as a result of several years of successful visits to dear ladies with cognitive impairment.  Those visits are filled with love and laughter, bringing improved quality of life to the sweet ladies we refer to as “dear friends.”  Although each visit lasts about an hour, it represents hours of work in preparation.  Here’s a behind the scenes look at what it takes to make a successful visit.

TRAINING

We are knowledgeable in how to work with and communicate with those who have memory loss and cognitive issues.  Our training focuses on making the visits successful by engaging our dear friends in activities they find meaningful and will enjoy.  We discuss strategies that work and how to correct those that don’t work.

PLANNING

We schedule our visits two months in advance and select activities that have significance to the dear friend we’re visiting.

PREPARING

We enjoy a variety of activities with our dear friends including assembling crafts, playing games, baking cookies, enjoying musical activities, making cards, having show and tell conversations, and celebrating special events and holidays.  If something needs to be cut or glued or mixed ahead of time so that things go easily at the actual visit, we do that work in advance.

We spend hours of time looking for crafts to purchase that are easy to assemble.

If we can’t find an appropriate craft to purchase, we make our own.

The behind the scenes work contributes to making the visits successful, but the real keys to success are the actual Lady-Links themselves.  They are friendly and compassionate, dedicated to engaging their dear friends in activities that will add meaning, value and joy to their lives.