There are free resources available for your loved one with dementia, whether they need practical items or day-to-day entertainment.
Bags of items for people with dementia and their caregivers are available to borrow at the Phillips Free Library, 37 S. Main St. in Homer, or to take home from the Cortland County Office for Aging, 60 Central Ave. in Cortland.
The backpacks at the library are filled with fidget toys, reusable watercolor activities, easy crafts, wordless picture books and books on dementia for caregivers.
The backpacks, which the library is promoting, were created after a woman taking care of her brother with dementia asked for books he would enjoy, said library Director Martsje Vanderschaaf-Riehlman.
“There are books with pictures specially developed for people with dementia,” Vanderschaaf-Riehlman said. “They are simple, but not necessarily childish, with not many things to distract.”
The backpacks can be checked out just like a book.
“These kits can help people with dementia keep their functional skills and abilities longer, and manage symptoms like anxiety, agitation and even wandering, giving caregivers some relief,” said Melissa Alvord, aging services coordinator for the Cortland County Office for Aging.
“Not everyone with dementia is the same,” Vanderschaaf-Riehlman said. “Some things work for someone that may not work with someone else. That’s why it’s nice when the library has these things, because you can just return them. You don’t have to invest in them.”
The Cortland County Office for Aging’s kits can be taken home and kept, Alvord said. They include a whiteboard, water bottle, notebook, door alarm, night light, ice pack and a medication organizer.
The whiteboard gives caregivers an opportunity to provide visual reminders of things like dates or appointments, and the notebook is helpful for the person with dementia to write down notes or reminders.
The door alarm will notify caregivers if their person wanders outside, and the night light is helpful for if the person with dementia forgets how to turn on the light.
Alvord said items not in the kit that might be helpful include:
•Large display digital clocks.
•Automatic pill dispensers.
•Animatronic pets, including cats, dogs or birds.
•Intergenerational games, such as LIFE Generations, Scrabble Bingo, Trivial Pursuit Generations.
The Cortland County Office for Aging also has a Caregivers Resource Library for people to browse and borrow from, and a caregiver support group, which meets 2:30 p.m. the fourth Thursday of each month at Access To Independence of Cortland County, 26 N. Main St. in Cortland.
“My advice to a caregiver would be to go easy on yourself, make sure you’re taking care of your needs first, and reach out to others for help,” Alvord said.
