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Helping Children Understand Alzheimer's Disease

By Suzie Harder RN BSN

I just opened my latest edition of Geriatric Nursing and low and behold there was an article in it entitled "Alzheimer's Disease from a Child's Perspective." In it there is a short list of books to read with children as well as a list of activities that children can share with adults who have Alzheimer's Disease.

The books listed are:
  • Beautiful Pearl (Nancy Whiteclaw, 1990)
  • Grandpa Doesn't Know It's Me (Donnie Gutherie, 1986)
  • The Memory Box (Mary Bahr, 1992)
  • What's Wrong With Daddy? (Young, 1986)
  • When Meme Came to Live at My Home (Mary Langdon, 1999)
I think a couple of these have already been mentioned (on the discussion group).

Some of the activities suggested are:

  • Listening to music, dancing or singing
  • Creating simple crafts
  • Taking a walk
  • Coloring or painting
  • Watching TV or videos
  • Performing simple household tasks, such as folding laundry, making beds, or washing and drying dishes
  • Looking at old photo albums.

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