‘Lighting spark’ with dementia e-book

Steve Vanderwerf hopes his free resource guide for caring for someone with dementia will help “light a spark that may not be lit”.

Mr Vanderwerf created the e-book which details information on dementia, care techniques, appropriate communication for carers of those living with dementia, the role and benefits of reminiscence therapy and a number of activities to help jog the memories of people living with dementia.

The majority of the material – particularly on reminiscence therapy – was passed down from Mr Vanderwerf’s late mother, Heather, who worked in the aged care industry for about 20 years.

Easy to read, Mr Vanderwerf’s e-book also includes a list of activities to help unpaid carers and aged care workers better communicate with someone diagnosed with dementia.

“A big part of my family’s learning to adapt to someone with dementia revolved around reminiscing. We spent many hours designing, creating and producing activities or products that were extremely successful in providing a good quality of life,” he tells DPS News.

“And really, isn’t that what we all want? So, why should it be any different for them?” he asks.

Some of the e-book activities include asking the person living with dementia to write about or draw a picture of their most loved pet, how they travelled to school, one of their proudest moments, the career path they took after school, their most memorable day, and a favourite childhood toy.

The importance carers and friends play in strengthening the quality of life of a person living with dementia is evident in Mr Vanderwerf’s e-book.

“A person suffering from dementia still needs and wants a good quality of life, just as you do, but without assistance from carers and friends their ability to receive a good quality of life becomes more difficult,” he says.

Mr Vanderwerf hopes residents living with dementia, as well as their carers, find solace in his and his late mother’s work.

“Just to look at the expression on residents’ faces, seeing that something has ‘clicked’ in their head after completing one of the activities in the book is worth it,” he says.

“The more we can provide for Australia’s ageing population the better. The number of ageing Australians is only going to grow.”

Download your free copy of Dementia, what works! – A resource guide for caring for someone with dementia.