Colin the Companion Talks - English: Southern Africa

Educational materials for public benefit, such as information about mental and physical health issues, farming and agriculture, business, literacy or other education.

Program Number: 68287
Program Length: 2:16:34
Language name: English: Southern Africa

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Notes about the recording

Motivations and variables for Alzheimer care applied practically in the chats: • Focusing on creating comfort and a positive environment – flourishing. • Each chat is a ‘frozen moment’, the introduction of Colin as friend and ‘being there’ is repeated de novo. There is no sequence of ‘events’ or story line weaved through the successive chats. • Since it is assumed that the senses are affected less by cognitive damage, there is an underlying sorting matrix: the five senses. To assist cataloguing, Themes are provided. (However, it is understood that the senses also have neurological links to the brain; thus, this is not pretended as a winning recipe – only momentary comfort and recreation.) • The cub must be present and confirm ‘being there’ by ‘care moments’ – hug, touch, soft laugh, etc. • Introducing simple, unadulterated humour (without an agenda) – help patients focus on flourishing within the situation. This is also accompanied by a distinctive reassuring soft laugh (Colin chuckle). • In preliminary stages, involve care-worker – guidance given in square brackets. In later stages, the interaction follows it course. • Building interaction without overloading the patients with questions and taking their mind off the here and now. • Avoiding excessive direct questions. Use guiding questions and prompts. Simplify posed questions. At times, ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ will suffice. • Sharing experience with view to immediate pleasure – short-term care and matters current to the chat. The presentation is in ‘frozen-moment’ present tense for sharing. • Avoiding alluding to past or future times. Focus on the situation of a shared experience. • Since patients have difficulty remembering, no ‘homework’ or tasks flowing from the chats can be given. • Since memory is the problem, the chats steer away from inculcating insights or problem-solving. Work from the senses at hand and the associated experience. • Giving the patient say in the situation, by providing options (lying down or sitting up, choosing flowers, etc.). • Incorporating simple, basic exercise to guide patients and help them enjoy the chat. • Breaking tasks into simple, manageable bits/steps. • Where possible within the interaction process, we avoid instructing; rather indicate or demonstrate how actions should take place. • Presenting a simple, one-dimensional narrative with an uncomplicated story line, which involves the patient. • The chats progress incrementally. During the progress, more complex concepts and words are filtered in – to exercise the brain (albeit on subconscious level). • The interplay of sound effects and ‘mood music’ is used to calm the patients and make them feel special. • As an appeal to their subconscious, a recreational phrase, at times, mantra, is inserted after each chat. Since the ‘appeal’ is to the subconscious, these final phrases provide a certain leeway. They may use references to God in a responsible, discerning and caring way, without evangelising or aiming to convert (see the examples in the chats). The main aim is a ‘final phrase to comfort’, not ‘a thought to remember’. • The chats are structured in a way that allows the music to enhance the narrative or blend in with the final recreational phrase. Thus the choice of music should be ‘chat-specific’ to a degree, although generally provide a soothing and comforting background sound. Again, religious music would also be acceptable, if it adheres to the mentioned criteria.(For this mix we used 432Hz calming tunes.)

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