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Welcome to Doorway….
Bev Foster B.Mus, B.Ed, A.R.C.T., A.Mus
This edition of Doorway holds personal significance for two reasons. First, I’m pleased to announce the availability of 2 new Room 217 CDs. On the instrumental only Warm Breezes, guitarist Rob Piltch and I play favorite pop tunes from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. On Classic Comfort, I play some of the most beloved classical piano music ever written. This completes Volume 1 of the Room 217 music library and can be purchased in a beautiful boxed set for easy storage and accessibility. Check out our recently renovated website at www.room217.ca for further details and for ordering information. Second, this is Doorway’s first special focus issue, featuring articles, stories and resources around Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). My personal interest in ADRD comes from caring for my grandmother, Hilda Gross, who suffered from stroke-induced dementia during the last years of her life.
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Mother - Adult Daughter Relationships Within Dementia Care: A Critical Analysis
Catherine Ward-Griffin, RN, PhD, Abram Oudshoorn, RN, BScN, Kristie Clark, RN, MScN, Nancy Bol, RN, MScN, University of Western Ontario
This article is a shortened version of a paper published in the Journal of Family Nursing (2007), 13, 13-32. The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the Marian and Chester Fish Research Grant from the Alzheimer’s Society of London and Middlesex, Ontario, Canada.
Caregiving is relational, and cannot be separated from people’s experiences of each other in the past, present, or even the anticipated future (Poirer & Ayres; 2002). Moreover, family caregiving takes place within a historical context since bonds of affection and reciprocity that sustain caregiving are rooted in past relationships (Pallett, 2001). Many argue that the mother-daughter bond is central to the lives of women (Allen & Walker, 1992). Given the longer life span of women and the gendered role expectations of women to assume the role of primary caregivers for family and friends (Armstrong & Armstrong, 2004); intergenerational caregiving between mothers and daughters will become increasingly common. In order to identify and implement appropriate programs and policies that promote the health and well-being of both caregivers and care recipients, we need to broaden our understanding of the relationships between community-dwelling mothers and their daughters within the context of dementia care.
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New Directions in Alzheimer’s Care
Dr. Jack Diamond, Scientific Director of the Alzheimer Society of Canada, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University
Dr. Jack Diamond highlights several interesting new directions in Alzheimer’s care. Even when a truly successful treatment to stop further brain degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease is found there will still be the need to restore the damage that has already happened. Reversing the damage is the subject of current research into how the environmental enrichment of interactions with caregivers and family members may encourage repairs within the brain. Animal studies encouragingly suggest that despite the damage caused by Alzheimer’s disease, long term memories remain and may be recoverable if new connections can be made by the surviving cells.
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Relaxing Music and Mealtime: A Useful Strategy to Decrease Agitation Among Nursing Home Residents with Dementia
Sandee Lynn Hicks-Moore, MN, RN, Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, University of New Brunswick Saint John
Agitation in individuals with severe cognitive impairment is a significant problem that affects care and overall quality of life. Building on previous research, this quasi-experimental study proposed that relaxing music played during meals would exert a calming effect and decrease agitated behaviors among nursing home residents with dementia. Thirty residents residing in a Special Care Unit participated in the 4-week study. The Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory was used to gather data. Baseline data was obtained in week 1 (no music). Music was introduced in week 2, removed in week 3, and reintroduced in week 4. At the end of the 4-week study, overall reductions in the cumulative incidence of total agitated behaviors were observed. Reductions in absolute numbers of agitated behaviors were achieved during the weeks with music and a distinct pattern was observed.
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Book Review: The Long Way Home: A Journey Through Alzheimer’s
Marian Ritchie, Harrop Press, 2005, 334 pp
Marian Ritchie is an ordinary woman who finds herself in an extraordinary situation. Happily married and heading to Florida for the winter with her husband, their lives together take an unexpected turn down a turbulent path fraught with emotional distress, spiritual turmoil, and physical weariness. Their world changes forever. The reason? Alzheimer’s.
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Dementia and Music Therapy: Memory Stimulation
Peter Mutch, MT, Alzheimer Society of Prince Edward
Music therapy is an incredible tool for increasing the quality of life of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (ADRD). The most common needs addressed through music therapy for this population include anxiety, depression, aggression, memory stimulation, physical stimulation, pain management, communication, and emotional expression. It can be implemented using both receptive and active approaches. In receptive music therapy, the client will listen to either pre-recorded music or live music played by the Music Therapist. In active Music Therapy, the client participates in making music through experiences such as keeping rhythm with shakers, singing, and playing a melodic instrument. The choice of whether to use receptive or active Music Therapy techniques is based on the assessed individual and/or group needs. In many cases, especially in the early to middle stages of the disease process, both are used. Often, in the late stages, receptive music therapy is the primary approach. This article will focus on techniques employed in memory stimulation.
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Rooms Around the World
Profiles hospices, hospitals, long term care facilities and people using or beginning to use music in therapeutic ways. If your organization would like to be featured in Rooms Around the World send us a picture and share a unique aspect of it with our readers. This issue:
MAREP: The Kenneth G. Murray Alzheimer Research & Education Program,
Bobby’s Hope House: Hospice Greater Saint John,
Camp Odonata: Grief Camp for Children
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Music Note
Music note tells the story behind the songs on Room 217. Time In A Bottle – ©Denjac Music Company – Words & Music by Jim Croce Baby boomer is a term used to describe those born between 1946 and 1964. Boomer music is considered to have been written in the late 1950s through the 1970s. Warm Breezes is a collection of favorite boomer tunes and includes an endearing title: Time in A Bottle by Jim Croce.
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Eric & Lilian
Wrapped in a Shawl of Love
Our Broken Souls
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Warm Breezes and Classic Comfort are now available! Click here to order all of the Room 217 therapeutic music resource CDs.  
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About Dementia Guide?When someone you care for is experiencing symptoms, or has received a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or another dementia, Dementia Guide offers helpful information and tools created by people who understand what it’s like. 
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About Alzheimer Wandering Registry?To give you peace of mind, you can register the person you are caring for, or yourself, with Safely Home™ - Alzheimer Wandering Registry, a nationwide program assisting police in finding the person who is lost and safely returning them home. 
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About Singing for the Brain?Singing for the Brain is a group activity started and managed by the Alzheimer's Society West Berkshire Branch, UK for people with memory problems and their carers. It is an opportunity to participate in singing sessions together, in an informal and friendly setting. It stimulates the mind and body and is an opportunity to make friends and to help each other.
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About Music Therapy in Dementia Care? Edited by David Aldridge with contributors from around the world, Music Therapy in Dementia Care takes a comprehensive look at music therapy as a means of improving memory, health and identity in those suffering with Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). It is a must read for caregivers and families of ADRD sufferers and an essential resource for music therapists and those involved in working in psychogeriatry.
Jessica Kingsley Publishers ISBN #1853027766 
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