Granddaughter develops book to help her grandfather who suffers from dementia

Chuy’s condition has been deteriorating and so Michaela wanted to help.

“I decided to make a memory book for my granddad who has dementia and Alzheimer’s, which has gotten worse since he was diagnosed six to seven years ago,” she explained.

The book has no more than two photos on each page, combined with statements on it that state who he is, who is the wife of nearly 60 years is and who the people in the book are.

“The photos of her are from their wedding, anniversary and other events. I picked mostly pictures of her because she is the one who he spends the most time with”, the innovator described.

Michaela was driven to create this kind of solution because she learned that augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices can help people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

“Just having those old pictures and recent pictures draws him in. He still remembers all of that. It’s very much a redirection technique, so when he is wandering around the house my grandma, who is his full-time caregiver, can use it to help him. Once I learned that AACs could work with people with dementia and Alzheimer’s, I wanted to make one. It’s really nice to know that there are things we can do to help this process”, she expressed.

The book also has photos of Chuy’s family members, of him working and of things he likes. It only took the granddaughter for three weeks to develop this solution.

Adapted from: https://bit.ly/2EDdWeK