Life, scrambled by dementia

Virtual tour offers caregivers a glimpse of challenges

July 28, 2011|By Wendy Killeen, Globe Correspondent

Devices mimicking dementia symptoms complicated a simple task for Lynn… (Dina Rudick/Globe Staff )

Leigh Duda was desperately looking for the white sweater. She had other things to do: write a note to her family, set the table, fold towels, get some water to drink.

But she was obsessed with finding that sweater. Bumbling and talking to herself, she looked in the drawers, under a pile of towels, beneath the bed, even in the television console.

As she moved on to the other tasks, she became upset because she couldn’t remember them all.

“I am losing my mind,’’ she said.

The Gloucester resident is the business office manager at Brightview Danvers, an independent- and assisted-living facility. But on this afternoon, she is a person living with dementia.

It is part of the Virtual Dementia Tour, a program offered by Danvers-based Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston to staff at facilities that serve people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

By the end of next month, 200 workers at close to 20 area facilities will have taken the tour this year. And the work continues.

The idea is to simulate the physical and mental challenges facing Alzheimer’s or dementia patients so that people who interact with them can understand what their world is like, and be more sensitive to their needs.

“It makes me feel bad that people go through this every day,’’ Duda said. “I only did it 10 minutes. Can you imagine doing it 24-7?’’

The Virtual Dementia Tour was developed by Second Wind Dreams, based on clinical studies. Mary Crowe, a medical social worker, leads the training for Hospice of the North Shore, where she is education coordinator and liaison.

“Hospice has a passion for helping dementia patients because so many people we are now working with have dementia,’’ she said of her not-for-profit agency. More people in long-term care and assisted living also suffer from dementia, she said, and the numbers are growing dramatically, in part because people are living longer and because of the aging of the baby boomer generation.

Experiencing the virtual tour is beneficial for everyone who works in facilities for the elderly, Crowe said, “from the executive director to people in Alzheimer’s units to people in the kitchen and housekeeping, because everybody interacts with residents.

“It’s imperative we sensitize every individual to the needs of elders and the dementia residents so we can enhance their quality of life.’’

Trish Crean, resident services director at the Brightview facility in Danvers, said the training could also be beneficial to family members of dementia patients.

Participants in the virtual tour first take a seven-question survey exploring their attitudes toward people with dementia. After they complete the program, they answer the same questions again.

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