This is so cool.
“Town Square” is a reproduction 1950’s style city for Alzheimer’s and memory loss patients to visit during the days to do various activities and to feel more comfortable and to increase responsiveness, interactions and memories.
Apparently there is a 90s experience in downtown Oakland; so I know where I can go if it’s needed.
Interestingly, in the 90s I was reading a lot of Anton LaVey and, as little time as I have for his stuff nowadays, he was a big proponent of immersive environments and even has a full 1940s style bar recreated in his basement, completely with full dressed realistic automata; based on his theory of “erotic crystallization of inertia” and for this same purpose. It was really cool.
1950s recreated for Alzheimer’s patients
1950s recreated for Alzheimer’s patients
"Death's second name is 'omnipresent.' On the relative truth it seems we become separate. But on the absolute there is no separation." Lama Dawa
- Kim O'Hara
- Former staff member
- Posts: 7064
- Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2012 1:09 am
- Location: North Queensland, Australia
Re: 1950s recreated for Alzheimer’s patients
More practically ... it seems that older migrants tend to lose their English when they get Alzheimers, reverting to their birth language. We had a surge of young adult migrants in the 1950s so that's been happening a lot in the last 20 years, and aged-care facilities are employing Greek and Italian speaking carers.
Kim
Kim
Re: 1950s recreated for Alzheimer’s patients
Definitely makes sense that they would. I hadn’t thought of that, but appropriately fluent caregivers would be essential.Kim O'Hara wrote: ↑Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:26 pm More practically ... it seems that older migrants tend to lose their English when they get Alzheimers, reverting to their birth language. We had a surge of young adult migrants in the 1950s so that's been happening a lot in the last 20 years, and aged-care facilities are employing Greek and Italian speaking carers.
Kim
Also more practical than recreating an entire city is the use of music. I was caretaker for my wife’s grandfather for a couple years and there was a special music collection that he would listen too.
The videos have been around for a while, but the videos of non-responsive Alzheimer’s patients hearing music from their youth and just coming to life, singing, dancing (even the swan lake movements from a former primary ballerina) are so beautiful.
"Death's second name is 'omnipresent.' On the relative truth it seems we become separate. But on the absolute there is no separation." Lama Dawa