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An innovative
program called "Heart's Desire" at an assisted living
facility in Geneva, Illinois, helps people with Alzheimer's
rekindle recollections of favorite activities from their past.
The program,
designed to keep Alzheimer patients active and help them relive
some of their memories, recently saw 90-year-old Kay Peters
out for a ride in a horse-drawn carriage.
For Peters,
who now has stage 3 Alzheimer's, the ride brought back memories
of her youth when she drove trotters at such Chicago-area
harness racing tracks as Maywood Park and Aurora Downs.
As her
rather tame buggy ride ended, Peters grinned and said "Great.
Really Great. It's been a long time since I have been in a
buggy."
"We
try to pick out people who have something interesting in their
past because they have long-term memory, not short-term, and
this is comforting to them," said Sharon Brazill of the
Arden Courts assisted living facility.
Source:
Alzheimer Week
of August 4, 2002
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