Meet the recipients of Maude’s Awards:
2022 Organization Awardees
2022 Individual Awardees
The Elderwise® mission is to enrich the lives of caregivers and adults living with dementia through teaching and demonstrating the Elderwise philosophy and practice of Spirit-Centered Care® (S-CC). The values of S-CC are working from one’s own essence to connect with the essence in others; deep respect for equality; an understanding that roles can change instantly; and deep listening. Our vision is that by teaching and modeling this care-philosophy, we will propagate and advance a deeper kind of care for adults living with memory loss in all categories of care settings throughout the nation.
Elderwise (EW) adult day program was chosen as a collaborating member of the Memory Hub and is $90/day. We have embraced caregiver education -our philosophy and practice are documented in our book, The Elderwise Way: A Different Approach to Life with Dementia.
Caregiver Talks: 8 talks reaching at least 400 nationally.
Articles: Brookdale Foundation, Changing Aging Blog
Professional Conferences: Activities Professionals- WA State Conference, 2021 Indiana Dementia Action Alliance, Living Well with Dementia Conference 2022
Online Education: We completed the first course of our online training program, an overview of Spirit-Centered Care: its principles, and how caregivers can put it into action (available soon on our website). Outcomes can be measured by the interest in our philosophy and the gratitude we hear from families. We just received this email from a participant spouse, now on hospice. “I still appreciate you sooo much. We are still an Elderwise house.”
Our mission is to promote I’m Still Here engagement programs enabling Persons Living With Dementia to flourish.
The I’m Still Here Innovation Grants Program raises funds from donations and grants, solicits interest nationally, selects full proposals, selects 5 programs for seed funding for year-long innovative nonpharmacological engagement programs for persons living with dementia and their care partners.
In addition, we provide advice on program development for dementia, based on 30 years of program development and application experience. We provide advice on outcomes measurement methods, sustainability options, as well as a Guidebook Outline at the end of the year to capture how-to information on how these programs can be replicated by other organizations. Outcomes are:
- Engaged persons living with dementia and their care partners,
- New and exciting nonpharmacological programs,
- Outcomes Measures comparable to those collected for other funded programs resulting in a persuasive and growing evidence-base.
We have been in operation 30 years and there is no cost to those receiving seed funding.
JF&CS Memory Percolator
and
Dementia Action Alliance
Award Category: Making Connections
Jewish Family & Children’s Service cares for individuals and families of all faiths and backgrounds by providing exceptional human services. The JF&CS Memory Café Percolator (Percolator) is an open-source network that helps organizations launch and sustain high quality, inclusive memory cafés. Dementia Action Alliance (DAA) is creating a better society in which individuals and families can live fully with dementia without stigma and misperceptions through advocacy, education, empowerment and support.
The Percolator and DAA collaboratively developed the “Living Well with Dementia at the Café” initiative in winter 2020. It helps memory cafés foster leadership and empowerment among participants living with dementia, in addition to offering support and companionship. Achievements include a work group of café coordinators and an advocate living with dementia, a panel discussion attended by 86 cafe leaders, and written guide for café coordinators.
We piloted and will expand a speaker’s bureau called “Café Chats: Living well with Dementia,” in which a trained advocate provides a mini-presentation on living well with dementia at a memory café. The Chat is carefully designed to open the topic of dementia and offer a role model, while protecting the traditional role of cafés as welcoming places for those not diagnosed or not accepting their diagnosis. The budget of $20,000 includes Café Chats for 25 cafés, and production of a video version of the guide.
Mary Crescenzo
Award Category: Making Connections
I am a pioneer and professional master teaching artist in arts engagement with persons living with dementia. In the mid-nineties, I developed my program, using painting, drawing, music, movement, dance, poetry and storytelling as a complementary way of connecting and communicating with persons living with this disorder. My advocacy continues as author of The Planet Alzheimer’s Guide, speaker, blogger, playwright of Planet A, and creative writing facilitator for care partners to provide a safe space for self-expression. The unique creativity of those with whom I work continues to inspire me.
My program formed the basis of my book of the same name, The Planet Alzheimer’s Guide: 8 Ways the Arts Can Transform the Life of Your Loved One and Your Own. It’s workshop format offers comprehensive advice on how to utilize the arts to engage with a person with dementia. The key activities are person-centered art experiences using various art forms. I say “art experiences” rather than activities since these events engage both the person with dementia and the care partner who welcomes participation through fluid guidance, without judgement and with emphasis on process and care. Adapting the elements of an art experience for each person, often results in a unique, creative response, representational or abstract. Since 2001,I have facilitated this how-to “Care Through the Arts” program in diverse settings, illustrating arts engagement with the dementia population. Cost, based on location, number of participants, length, and depth of request, starts at $150/hour.
Bonnie Erickson
Award Category: Making Connections
At 57 when I had my first stroke, or so I thought, an MRI showed many silent strokes, hence a diagnosis of white matter disease. Shortly thereafter, I was diagnosed with early-stage vascular dementia and was told to “go live your life.” After a long walk through the grieving process, I pulled up my bootstraps and decided to come out of the darkness. Thankfully, I was introduced to Dementia Alliance International and taken in under the wing of Kate Swaffer a fierce advocate and mentor for people living with Dementia. With Kate’s blessing and inspiration, I grew my advocacy wings.
In 2018, I was invited to join a group called “To Whom I May Concern” which was a production about one’s journey after a dementia diagnosis through the eyes of subject matter experts, people living with dementia. The Journey received rave reviews and other educational projects were produced and continue to be. To include the “Friends and Family Series,” where people living with dementia invite our friends and loved ones to learn about the support and needs, we have. We then spent a few years as Dementia Minds; a year ago I, along with several others with a dementia diagnosis, co-founded the non-for-profit National Council of Dementia Minds. We are the first national organization completely governed by people living with a dementia diagnosis. I am proudly serving a two-year term as President of our organization. Our presentations are shared free of charge to medical students, medical professionals, policy makers, researchers, care facilities, families and our beloved care partners.
Pam Nolte
Award Category: Making Connections
Taproot Theatre website (Re-Ignite the Mind)
My mother died at age 73 in 2003 with Alzheimer’s Disease. At that time I was working as a professional theatre artist, but had never heard that the arts could be a valuable resource in enhancing the quality of life for individuals experiencing Dementia. In 2010, the facilitator of North Seattle Senior Center’s program, The Gathering Place, reached out to me personally to inquire as to the company I co-founded and continued to work with would be interested in beginning an improv class for individuals experiencing Early Stage Memory Loss. I have taught, continued to develop and guide the Dementia Friendly improv program for Taproot Theatre without interruption since that time up to the present. My mother’s life and my life would have been richer if she had been able to access a program like this during her life. I am inspired to give that richer life to others now.
The improv classes are called “Re-Ignite the Mind with Improv” and “Re-Ignite the Mind with Imagination.” During the pandemic years the classes quickly moved to Zoom and were renamed Z-IMPROV. Those classes have continued to serve individuals experiencing memory loss without interruption throughout the pandemic. We use a simple measure number of 1 – 3 to quantify outcomes, measuring individual’s ability and desire to enter into improv both before and after class. The numbers show an increased enhancement in the quality of life of all participants. Depending on other financial support available, Drop in classes vary from free to $10 per drop class.
Hailey Richman
Award Category: Making Connections
Kid Caregivers is a 501c3 nonprofit organization which supports and empowers children who are acting as caregivers. Our mission is to help young people learn and incorporate coping skills and, also, to enliven and improve the quality of life of adults living with Alzheimer’s disease. We offer intergenerational Puzzle Time programs and training to enhance eldercare globally. We encourage young people to use their skills to benefit the dementia community.
Since 2016, Kid Caregivers’ PUZZLE TIME program aspires to meet the needs of patients and caregivers. Alzheimer’s patients receive companionship and stimulation as they solve jigsaw puzzles with youth who are eager to assist them. All Alzheimer’s patients are able to participate including nonverbal patients who point to the puzzle piece as students place it. Volunteers include students, young Alzheimer’s caregivers, and Girl Scouts, including the first NYC homeless Girl Scout Troop. Volunteers receive community service hours. Operating PUZZLE TIME has cost approximately $6000 yearly. Additional funding would allow me to expand my reach. Volunteers collected thousands of puzzles for nursing homes to relieve social isolation during COVID restrictions and participated in Outdoor PUZZLE TIME. My organization also provides young caregivers a support group and Zoom sessions which share advice, tips and suggestions for coping with Alzheimer’s disease. We want kids to know they are not alone.
Dana Territo
Award Category: Making Connections
My grandmother inspired me with the love of the elderly. Peggy inspired me to advocate for the Alzheimer’s population. And, my dad, who later developed vascular dementia, gave me the hope to continue my mission. Educating caregivers and those affected by the disease became paramount in my mission, and my heart, of advocacy for this population, and I continue to give numerous presentations and training on Alzheimer’s and other dementias locally, state-wide and nationally.
The name of my product is “the Memory Whisperer,” a weekly Question-and-Answer column, which appears in The Advocate, Louisiana’s largest newspaper, with a weekday circulation of over 100,000, in print and in digital versions. In Louisiana, 92,000 people over the age of 65 are living with Alzheimer’s, so after much thought, I approached the editor of The Advocate and pitched my idea for a weekly column. My idea was accepted, and since late 2013, I have voluntarily written this weekly column and covered everything from the top ten signs of Alzheimer’s to caregiver burnout, and even to finding the joy in caregiving. The only cost of this program is my time, of which I spend about 15-20 hours a month researching and writing the columns. As far as the key outcomes, I can only gauge by the continuing popularity of the column and its contents (over 430 columns to date and counting), the approval for the column’s continuance by the newspaper’s editor, and the comments I receive from readers. (I have received emails from individuals as far as Minnesota). I feel the information I provide assists caregivers and affected individuals in navigating the journey of the disease, but more importantly, the readers know and trust that I am a voice of support and advocacy for them. Here are just a couple of comments:
- “So true your column in today’s Advocate! We can’t abandon our friends and family with dementia. Thank you for writing.” —Linda B.
- “Thank you for sharing a link to our resource (best mobile apps for individuals with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers) on your (columns). Much appreciated.” -Luke.
