Poem program brings rhyme and reason to dementia patients

Some of childhood’s earliest lessons are poetry.

Nursery rhymes and simple poems are embedded deep with early learning, and one project aims to reconnect Alzheimer’s patients with locked-away memories, using poetry as the key.

“Alzheimer’s Poetry Project: Celebrating Creativity in Elder Care” brings simple poetry to patients suffering from memory loss.

Designed for multiple audiences, health-care professionals, high-school students and families living with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, the program will have two sessions Thursday: from 8:30 to 10 a.m. for health-care professionals and from 1 to 3 p.m. for high-school students and the general public.

It will be at the Saint Francis Health and Wellness Center in Cape Girardeau, hosted by the Alzheimer’s Association, Missouri Arts Council and Missouri Coalition Celebrating Care Continuum Change.

The training is free, but registration is required at www.alz.org/stl.

Both sessions are taught by Gary Glazner, poet and founder of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, which has received several awards.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2016.

The Alzheimer’s Association said Alzheimer’s as a cause of death is underreported, however, as death certificates typically list an acute condition, such as pneumonia or heart attack, as the cause.

Wendy Boren, vice president of Missouri Coalition Celebrating Care Continuum Change, encouraged people in the community to come to the program.

“The biggest thing with folks suffering from dementia is we tend to give up on them,” Boren said. “I don’t want anyone to give up.”

Boren said the difference between a patient with memory loss and one with cancer, for example, is people still can connect mentally with a cancer patient. It’s more complicated when dementia is involved.

“I just want to remind people that a person with dementia, that person is still in there. They have so much life to live — good life,” she said.

She said too often the focus is on the bad days, but it doesn’t always have to be that way.

“This program can help people learn what they can do to make the most of a good day,” she said.

Boren said Glazner’s program gives caregivers basic tools that yield wonderful results.

“A lot of times, people with dementia go through middle stages where they’re hateful or angry. The family might not even recognize them. But Gary is teaching family members to sit down and out of the blue start saying a poem or singing a little tune that has the cadence or rhythm of poetry,” she said.

Boren said this often helps patients reconnect with a part of their brain that still works.

“It appeals to those things we first learned in grammar school. That’s still in there,” she said.

Boren said this allows patients to have fun, connect, laugh and be at peace, even if temporarily.

“This is an awesome tool to give that help,” she said.

Dementia affects people of all ages, Boren said, whether directly with a diagnosis or indirectly as caregivers.

“The struggle is real, and it’s right here in our community,” she said. “People need help. So much more needs to be done. We need advocacy for dementia patients, and there are not enough of us out there to help.”

Boren said if someone has any interest in volunteering, there is a need for conversation partners for dementia patients.

“You don’t have to do anything physical,” she said. “Patients need companionship, conversation. It’s a dignity thing.”

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

150 S. Mount Auburn Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.