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Randle Lee, Oklahoma Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association Oklahoma Chapter of the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma. (File photo by Emmy Verdin)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Bob Lane said he can not help but a little disappointed when he walks into a nursing facility that cares for Alzheimer's patients and hears contemporary music.
It's one of those things that's easy to overlook, he said, but it can make a big difference for the residents. Dementia can send people back to their late teens and early 20s, he said. In their minds, today might be the 1940s or 1950s. Hearing a song that can be jarring and upsetting, which can lead to agitated behavior. Patients can face the same kind of discomfort when looking into a mirror and seeing a senior looking back at them.
"It tends to elicit false delusions of, 'There's somebody in my room,'" said Lane. "You (should) adapt to their reality. It's 2018, but they're living in 1943. "
About 64,000 Oklahomans will be treated for Alzheimer's disease this year, according to the Alzheimer's Association. And like the rest of the country, this state will continue to grow. The association's study predicts that will grow by nearly 19 percent by 2025, to 76,000.
Oklahoma will need more neurologists to treat the disease, but it will also require further training of other medical staff members and even professionals outside of the treatment field. Specialists like Lane recommends training that helps people in nursing facilities, hospitals, care centers and beyond to better approach dementia patients' behavior.
Lane is a director at BKD CPAs & Advisors who is a nursing home administrator. He said that it is possible to work with other people and to practice it.
"It's having an understanding you can tailor their care," he said.
And providers can do so without expensive updates. They can adjust their culture and the way they think about treating patients with cognitive impairment. These can be incorporated into the design – by keeping mirrors out of residents' rooms, or enabling them to move forward, which can also be a stressor for dementia patients.
But much of the change would take place in these patients – adjusting to their reality, asking for open-ended questions and finding ways to help them. During his time as an administrator, said Lane, the facility had a resident dispatcher. She worked nights the entire time, and she reverted back to that lifestyle because of her dementia. Instead of fighting it, he said, caretakers said that it was necessary to have a night shift to social networking.
Dr. Randle Lee, the director of advocacy for the Alzheimer's Association Oklahoma Chapter, said: "The most important pillars of Alzheimer's interactions. Like Lane, he said that anyone interacting with these patients needs to have their minds created.
"If (they think) you're their, you're theirs," he said. " 'How do you deal with that? Is kind of the real kicker. We're all taught to live in a current reality. We're not really used to being very creative."
It can be frustrating, he said, and tiring. It's not intuitive. But caregivers and families can implement the practice, too.
"I used to really go on some fabulous fishing trips with my dad," he said. "But we did not really go on fishing trips."
The association offers training on these concepts and how to implement them. In addition to the obvious candidates, such as assisting living center employees and nursing assistants, Randle said. Oklahoma implemented this type of training in the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training, or CLEET certifications, that law enforcement cadets must undergo. Steve Emmons, Oklahoma's CLEET executive director, oversaw the incorporation.
"Steve was really good at finding their time," Lee said.
That can be especially important for sheriffs departments; in rural Oklahoma, 75 percent of Alzheimer's patients still live in their homes, often without care. They tend to call law enforcement when they are afraid.
Randle said, "They have used their training. A woman called the agency several times because she was seeing goblins in her home. The officers came out, lifted her couch and chased them out.
"That's kind of my favorite story," Lee said. They really lived in her reality. It did not take much, just a little extra creativity. "
The association worked with state Rep. Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, to make sure that Alzheimer's training is in place.
Munson is eyeing a few other Alzheimer's-related problems in the upcoming session, she said. That includes expanding the types of services that are required for patients who are not living in nursing facilities.
"Another issue that continues to be lacking in Alzheimer's and dementia," she said. "We do not have many options for people who can live with their partnerwho are not full-time caregivers. "
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