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In this episode of the CareLab podcast, hosts Emilia Bourland and Brandy Archie discuss strategies to help individuals with dementia enjoy the Fourth of July celebrations while minimizing stress and sensory overload. They emphasize the importance of preparation, understanding individual needs, and creating a supportive environment.
Key Takeaways
- Preparation is Key: Plan ahead for events that might cause stress or anxiety, such as fireworks or large gatherings.
- Individual Needs: Understand and respect the specific needs and triggers of the person with dementia.
- Create a Safe Space: Ensure there is a quiet, comfortable place for the person to retreat to if they become overwhelmed.
- Involve Family and Friends: Communicate with others about the person's needs and involve them in creating a supportive environment.
- Monitor Reactions: Pay close attention to the person's reactions and be ready to make adjustments as needed.
Transcript
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Happy Fourth of July, welcome to Care Lab.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: Happy Fourth of July. It's our Fourth of July episode. Thanks for listening, CareLab. Hi, Brandy. How are you?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Yeah, I like that. I'm doing good and I'm excited about the holiday.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: I am too. I love 4th of July. It's actually one of my favorite holidays.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: And why is that?
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: So many, so I actually love, I love holidays where there's no obligatory gift giving. Because I find that to be stressful and not as satisfying as just giving a gift because I want to. But also, it's also like near my birthday. So that's a thing too. But it's just a great kind of community celebration, and this is gonna sound so corny. But I am the kind of person, like I love being part of something that's bigger than just me. And I love it when everyone is kind of coming together to celebrate or, you know, same for Thanksgiving, like everyone kind of comes together to be thankful. And so I love that kind of holiday. Also, you know, like food and being outside with family. It's all good. It's just all good. I love it all.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Good point. Good, double celebration. You love it all. What holiday do we celebrate that it's not about coming together?
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: That's fair. I don't know. I'm gonna have to think about that and get back to you.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: I like the no need for gift giving, and I also like that it's a group, meaning like the country celebrates holiday in the summertime. So you're doing outside stuff, which I really like because lots of cities have like lots of free events and you can do stuff without feeling like you had to spend a whole bunch of money. So I like that a lot. How about the Fourth of July?
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: Mm-hmm. Yeah. The only problem here in Texas is it is so, like, it's stupidly hot. It's so hot. And the last couple of years have been just ridiculously terribly hot, and that's not gonna get better. So that's sort of a bummer. But otherwise, I love 4th of July. It's wonderful.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: It's still hot. Yeah. That part, other than that, that part is bad. It is hot. It's hot in Kansas too. But other than that, I love 4th of July. So I do have a question for you. Do you feel like there's a such thing as work-life balance? And if so, how do you manage it?
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: That's such a good question. You know, we have a family friend who started his own company, which I think is really successful a few years ago. And his whole thing was like, there is no such thing as work-life balance. It's just life. And I kind of, I kind of hold on a second, my phone is dinging because it never stops notifying me of things, even when I tell it to. So I don't know. I don't know.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: And knows that your brain needs help.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: I think it's actually these dumb cameras. Okay, I'm just gonna throw my phone in the other room and then I'll be right back. My gosh, stop dinging.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Okay, got it. I'm going to ask the question again.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Okay, so since we're gonna talk about family, I wanna know, do you think there's a such thing as work-life balance? And if so, how do you manage it?
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: Okay, that's a really good question. And I think I see both sides of this. So we have a family friend who a few years ago started a business, has been really successful with it. And when he first started though, his whole thing was there is no such thing as work-life balance. It's all just life.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: I actually, I think I disagree with that. I think that there is such thing as work-life balance. And here's because I think if you just say, it's all just life, then you really run the risk of not being protective of your non-work time. And I think the concept of work-life balance is about setting boundaries and honoring the time that you have at work to really be productive and do a great job at work, but also honoring the fact that you need time away from that, both physically and mentally, in order to do the other things that are also part of your life that aren't associated with labor or making money. And so I do think that work-life balance is a thing. And I work really hard, actually, to achieve that. Some of the things I do, like my work phone goes to bed when the workday is over. And I don't look at it. And I don't answer emails, because I don't run an emergency kind of business. There are no emergencies for the kind of business that I run. And I purposely set it up that way so that I could kind of achieve that. So I try to have really hard and fast rules and boundaries for when work is done. That doesn't mean that if there was some kind of training emergency that someone couldn't get a hold of me.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Right. Yep.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: But by and large that doesn't exist. So I try to be really firm about those boundaries. What about you? What do you think?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: I think that I think we have to get the language right. So I don't think I agree with the words work-life balance because that implies that work and life are equal and you're always putting things on a scale and off a scale to make them balance out. And I don't think that that is possible, especially in this day and age. And so what I like to think of it as is work-life juggle. I can only juggle so many things. Like the most experienced jugglers can do like 12 things in the air at the time, right? I know that I can basically keep about three balls in the air, but I'm juggling four. So, everything has to give and take a little bit in order to keep those things in the air, if that makes sense. So, while work is a challenge, then, and I don't wanna be challenged with like not spending time with my kids and family, then that might mean that I spend a little less time with friends and a little less time on me, like sleeping and working out and stuff like that. And I can't do that for forever. So then we're going to throw that ball back up in the air and we do a little bit less at work or something like that. So to me, it's like a juggling act. And I still, I still feel like it's important to have my boundaries, but I just understand that when you say yes to one thing, you're saying no to another thing. So that by that definition, there is no balancing, right? Cause otherwise everything would get an equal share of me and it doesn't at different times.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: Yeah, I think that's fair. I also think that part of the way I think of it is it's not always going to be perfect. Like there are some times when there are some times when I am working way more hours than I would like to work because there's a project that needs to be done or there's something that has to get wrapped up and there is urgency to that. And it has to take it has to take priority over some other things. And then there are times when maybe there are like Christmas. Obviously, there's stuff going on with my kids. There's a school play that I want to go to, and those things have to take priority. So it's not like, I don't think it's going to be a perfect balance all the time. So I like that kind of idea of juggling, but I do think that if you're not intentional about setting those boundaries, then you don't, then you won't achieve balance. So it's about that kind of intention and knowing that it can't be perfect.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Right. And it's not perfect. But I do think that the key is you have to be intentional. You have to think about it and make some decisions. I was talking to someone about this the other day. And they were saying like, Yeah, but I don't feel like I have a choice. And I was like, I don't know. I think we always have a choice. And what we choose is just whether we want the consequences of those decisions. So, we can do something different with our time. We just have to choose whether or not we want the consequences of what that different is, if that makes sense.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: Yeah, absolutely. I think sometimes when people say, I don't have a choice, what they're really saying is, I don't like the options that I have. But not liking the options you have is different than not having a choice.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Right.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: You know, if you don't like the options you have, that's not great. But it doesn't mean you don't have a choice.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Exactly. You always have a choice. I agree.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: So, okay, so back to the Fourth of July. So, a lot of times people have someone who is older, and they might have dementia. And Fourth of July might be super challenging because it's hot, it's noisy, there are people around. What are some things that we might do to help people with dementia, who might want to be part of these celebrations, but struggle with some of those things, to have a good time and for their family to be able to have a good time too?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: So, my first thought is you gotta prep for the holiday. You have to prep for those events. Like, who would we ever take into some kind of big event like this and not prep them? Like we don't even take little kids. And we just say, get in the car and go. Like, no, we say, hey, we're gonna get in the car. We're gonna go. We're gonna see fireworks. We talk it up. We make it exciting. We tell them all the things that are gonna happen and the things we need to watch out for. And it's gonna be loud, but it's gonna be okay. And so we need to do the same thing for people with dementia. They still have some ability to understand some things, especially if it's fun and exciting. But if it's completely unfamiliar and no one talks them through it, then it can be overwhelming. And so, if we're thinking about bringing someone with dementia into a holiday celebration, first and foremost, we have to prepare for it. And preparation means thinking ahead of time about what is the day gonna be like? What parts of the day do they have to be there for? What parts of the day are okay for them to miss? And where is gonna be the challenging parts? And can we avoid those things that are challenging? So, you know, we want them to be there for the family time, but we don't need them to be there for the fireworks. So they can be there for all the food and the fun, but when it comes time for the fireworks, then we're gonna send them back inside. So that, one, we need to prepare for it. And then, two, we need to think about what parts of the event do we really need them to be at? So that it doesn't become overwhelming.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: Yeah, I think that's so important. I love that you talked about prepping people for it. Cause I think sometimes we think like, oh, they won't understand, but just like a little kid, like even a little bit of prep can be really helpful. Like if you have little kids, you're not going to expect them to be there for every event, right? So what would be some like strategies for managing noise? Cause I know you and I both worked with folks who have a lot of difficulty with sensory overload, whether they have dementia or not. So what are some of your strategies for managing noise during the Fourth of July celebrations?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Yeah, so first you have to think about what their sensory system is like, if they can tell you. And if they can't tell you, then you'll need to, you know, kind of prep for the worst-case scenario. But first and foremost, you need to know, is it more of the visual that gets them or is it the auditory that gets them? And we usually think of auditory first because we think of fireworks as being so loud, but the visual can get people just as much. And so, then we have to think about how do we deal with that? So, if it's auditory, then you can think about noise-canceling headphones. And the best noise-canceling headphones are ones that are over the ear, not like the earbuds that we wear to listen to music and stuff, but over the ear because they cover it, they really cut down on a lot of the sound that they are gonna hear, which is really helpful. So, thinking about that. Then also, sometimes even if you don't have the noise-canceling headphones, we know that fireworks come at a certain time. So you might prepare by saying, okay, you're gonna stay inside or we're gonna go in the house at this time. And it's just about thinking about when are we gonna get this person out of this environment if we don't have the technology and the things that we need to do it. Then, when we're thinking about the visual part of it, we have to be really aware of light and dark. So, making sure that you know, okay, if we're outside, but the sun's starting to go down and there are gonna be flashing lights everywhere, I know that's gonna be hard for them to manage. We're gonna prepare to do something different at that time, whether that means going in the house, or maybe it means watching a movie or some other activity that they can do, and making sure that we have those things prepared and ready. So, yeah, that's what I'm thinking of when I think of people that might have some sensory issues.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: Yeah, I think that's so helpful. And I love the idea of thinking about preparing ahead of time for those needs and really understanding what the triggers might be. One of the things that I have found to be really helpful, particularly for those who have dementia, is to have a safe space that they can retreat to. So if they start feeling overwhelmed, or if they just need a break from all the stimulation, that they know that there's a place they can go that's quiet and that they can kind of reset. Do you have any tips for setting up a safe space or for helping someone know that that's available to them?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Yeah, I think first and foremost, when we're talking about people with dementia, a lot of times we need to have something that they can see and identify as their safe space. So, making sure that if it's a room in the house, that it is not too far away, that it has maybe some familiar items in it, things that they know and they recognize and they feel comfortable with. And sometimes that's about setting that space up ahead of time and having them go in there and say, "Hey, this is your space. This is where you can go if you need a break, if you need some quiet." And just really orienting them to that space before they need it so that they know that it's there and it's available to them. And I think sometimes too, just having that plan and letting them know that it's okay to use that space can be really helpful. So, it's about preparing ahead of time, setting up the space in a way that's familiar and comfortable for them, and then making sure that they know that it's available and that it's okay for them to use it.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: I love that. That's so important. And I think it's also really helpful to let family and friends know that that's the plan so that everyone is on the same page and can support that person in using their safe space if they need it. So, yeah, I think that's great advice. Thank you, Brandy.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Yeah, no problem. I think that it's just about thinking about the person and making sure that they can enjoy the holiday as much as everyone else. And sometimes that means making some adjustments and some accommodations, but it's definitely worth it to have everyone be able to participate and enjoy the celebration.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for those tips, Brandy. I think that's going to be really helpful for a lot of our listeners. And I hope everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July celebration.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP: Yeah, me too. Happy Fourth of July, everyone. And thank you for listening to CareLab. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. We'll see you next time.
