Meet the recipients of Maude’s Awards:
2020 Organization Awardees
2020 Individual Awardees
In Fall 2015, Edmonds Center for the Arts (ECA0 launched the Dementia-Inclusive Series (DIS), a leading-edge program among the nation’s performing art centers that creates opportunities for individuals with memory loss and their care partners to connect and experience joy through music, theatre, dance and film. The program offers arts engagement workshops, special events and community partnerships serving 500 participants annually and is regularly at capacity. Since its inception, the program has engaged more than 2,000 individuals. In 2019, to remove financial barriers to access, ECA made all onsite DIS programs free-of-charge. The two key underserved groups engaged are people living with early to late-stage dementias (both living at home/independently and in assisted living settings) and their caregivers. The DIS is part of an ongoing ECA initiative in collaboration with senior services organizations, memory care professionals and arts groups that explores intersections between the arts and creativity and is committed to the collective health and well-being of our community.
Momentia
Award Category: Making Connections
Momentia is a movement, empowering persons with memory loss and their loved ones to remain active and connected in the community. Momentia’s guiding principles establish “dementia friendly” programs that:
- Celebrate the strengths of people with dementia and include their voices
- Are open to the public and take place in a community setting
- Provide an opportunity for engagement and empowerment.
Launched in Seattle in 2013, the Momentia movement and its outreach tools such as website, program brochure and Facebook page provide a one-stop source for people with memory loss and families to access engaging, inclusive, no or low-cost community activities provided by a variety of organizations. Programs include general events (e.g. Alzheimer’s Cafes, art workshops, walking groups) and programs for underserved populations (e.g. Spanish language enrichment program). Momentia also provides a road map for other communities to set up similar activities, including a steering committee that provides guidance, speaks at conferences, and facilitates a start-up model for new communities called “Momentia in My Neighborhood.” Pre-COVID, the Momentia website listed an average of 90+ community events/month. Since 2013, Momentia has reached beyond King County, advising program development in Bellingham, Olympia, Wenatchee, Snohomish County and Vancouver BC.
Seattle Parks & Recreation
Award Category: Making Connections
https://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/dementia-friendly-recreation
Dementia-Friendly Recreation (DFR), a free program of Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR), provides recreation opportunities to people living with memory loss and their care partners.
SPR was the first parks department in the nation to offer Dementia-Friendly Recreation, launching the program in 2015. The program was created in response to the growing number of community members living with memory loss, and the firm belief that people with memory loss remain a vital part of the community and deserve accessible opportunities to stay active, be creative, explore nature, and connect with others.
Activities include walking groups, fitness classes, intergenerational theater and dance, horticultural therapy and “arts in the park” watercolor, ceramics, printmaking, and poetry. Annual special events include a talent show, summer camp, and happy hour celebrations. Neighborhood social programs offer music, art, and improv, including a new program in Spanish.
Nicole Chilivis
Award Category: Making Connections
Program: Immersive Virtual Reality
As a spiritual care provider, I conducted a pilot research study using virtual reality to bring compelling worlds to ElderPlace participants with indications of early stage dementia. I offered participants a VR experience, using Oculus Rift headsets to show a compelling, deeply immersive underwater coral reef habitat. I designed this project specifically to include a time to connect with participants about their spiritual lives prior to the VR experience, followed by a discussion time after the experience. When the participants were in headsets, I viewed the same content mirrored on a computer screen. I intentionally created the hour to be relational. This project was an innovative, relationship-based, and person-centered approach to dementia care.
Participants in the VR project provided rich descriptions of their experiences indicating connection and engagement. The findings highlighted the participants’ overall sense of immersion in the virtual environment and connection to positive feelings, beauty, and past memories that elicited profound feelings of love and happiness.
Judith Levy
Award Category: Supporting Care Partners Program: Activities to Do With Your Parent Who Has Alzheimer’s Dementia Book
My training is as an Occupational Therapist. I worked primarily in hospital settings where at “shift change” patient medical information was shared with the incoming staff. I noticed with my mom’s care, the communication between caregivers still dealt with medical, but not, activity concerns.
I wrote my book Activities to Do with Your Parent Who Has Alzheimer’s Dementia as a response to my mom’s illness. It provides care partners/family members over 50 activities with suggested ways to individualize and adapt them. Each activity is followed by an Assessment Form, which I created, where the care partner can write about what happened, or not, and how they altered it. This form offers a way that helps ensure continuity that benefits both the individual as well as the worker. In my book I have offered home safety as well as burnout prevention ideas; Alzheimer’s contact information and definitions of pertinent medical terminology.
Allyson Schrier
Award Category: Supporting Care Partners Program: Thriving with Dementia
allyson@thrivingwithdementia.com
Thriving with Dementia teaches family, friends and professional care partners how to create a safe and welcoming world for people living with dementia.
In 2018 I started this company to provide education and support for families and friends of people with dementia. I have delivered the talk, “How to be Friends with Someone Living with Dementia” to around 700 people at libraries, churches, and care communities and a live webinar through the King County Library System. Certified by Teepa Snow as a trainer, coach and consultant and by DSHS as a trainer, I teach DSHS Mental Health and Dementia classes to professional care partners. I was a Dementia Friends Champion supporting the UW’s effort to determine efficacy of that program and during COVID-19, I am leading an online support group for family care partners.
Dr. Lama Sibai
Award Category: Supporting Care Partners
Program: For Cognitive Health and Memory Patient (CHAMP) Clinic
I founded the Cognitive Health and Memory Patient (CHAMP) clinic at UW-Valley Medical Center using my vision of practicing care. Though many patients carry similar diagnoses, the manifestation of symptoms & impact on lives varies drastically. I believe treating illnesses requires a holistic & tailored approach, which needs a group of specialized minds. Partnering with an Alzheimer’s Association social worker, I meet with patients and their care teams with attention to psychosocial needs not usually considered in traditional appointments. Follow-up occurs every 6 months unless we collaboratively determine shorter/longer intervals are needed. In more complex situations, the social worker follows-up with the patient at home or via phone, so that access between appointments is available. The Association has grant-funded programs that can be extended to enhance patients’ quality of life. Overall, we strive to make sure everyone knows they are not alone.
Trang Tu
Award Category: Cultivating Health
Program: Culturally-Based Care
I created a culturally-based care approach for my mother that blends Western dementia care practices with Vietnamese culture. I applied this to three dimensions of her care: direct care with me; support from Vietnamese family and friends; and Western healthcare providers. With me, I adapted aspect of her care, such as finding creative ways to foster independence in cueing, when Vietnamese norms say to do everything for elders; and using a cultural lens to understand psychoses triggers, such as war trauma. With Vietnamese family and friends, who knew little about dementia, I provided information and coaching, enabling them to apply dementia best practices to interactions with my mom. With health providers, I have educated them on how to meet cultural needs. Examples include: culturally appropriate communication and cueing in medical visits; interpreting pain reporting through a cultural lens; managing policies on interpreters; and lack of cultural sensitivity in dementia diagnostic assessments. These experiences have reinforced both the need for more culturally relevant care and the opportunity for families like ours to contribute by sharing our lived experiences and strategies.