Memory loss can lead to empty, idle hours if one becomes unable to participate in their favorite past-times. Filling a bit of the spare time with something meaningful or engaging can be a struggle. Hedberg Public Library (HPL), with support from the Rock County Council on Aging, offers a solution in the form of 21 Elder Care Kits for adults experiencing memory loss and their caregivers.
In 2017 Maureen Birchfield, Hedberg@Home and Extension Site Coordinator at HPL, pondered the library’s awesome collection of children’s toys, games, and puzzles and recognized a need for similar engagement opportunities for adults experiencing memory loss. After researching what other libraries around the country were doing and speaking with the Alzheimer and Dementia Alliance and various agencies who serve the aging, Birchfield realized very few organizations, let alone libraries, offered anything like this.
The Rock County Council on Aging (RCCA) was excited to work with HPL to develop Elder Care Kits and offered an approximately $2,500 contribution to the project from annual funds RCCA receives through the Administration on Aging’s National Family Caregiver Support Program. “The Elder Care Kits provide structured activities family caregivers, family members, friends, and visitors can engage in with their loved one. Some of the kits provide activities that the care receiver can engage in individually, providing a brief respite period for the caregiver,” says Julie Seeman, Family Caregiver Support and Outreach Specialist at RCCA.
The range of activities the Elder Care Kits provide can engage the mind, body, and spirit. Each kit contains a different mix of objects hand-selected to captivate adults with memory loss, such as a battery-operated realistic cat or dog, puzzles with 12-24 large pieces, games, dolls, DVDs or audiobooks, screw blocks and tools, and more. Birchfield points out why these kits are great, “You can check out one of these kits and have a positive time working on an activity together.”
Elder Care Kits are available at Hedberg Public Library (316 South Main Street, Janesville) and may be checkout out for three weeks at a time with a library card. Reserve a kit through the online catalog (sharelibraries.org) or browse the kits on the library shelf.
