Summer Safety for People Living with Dementia

EPOCH Exchange Cleaned Transcript

Summer Safety and Meaningful Outdoor Activities for People Living with Dementia

Welcome to the EPOCH Exchange, where we bring together experts, caregivers, and community voices to share insight and guidance about senior living and dementia care.

I’m Erica Labb, Director of Team Engagement and Culture at EPOCH Senior Living.

And I’m Sarah Turcotte, Area Community Liaison for our Bridges by EPOCH and Waterstone communities.

Today, we’re talking about summer, and I could not be more glad.

Yeah.

Specifically though, we’re looking at how families can help loved ones living with dementia enjoy summer and enjoy it safely. We’ll discuss the importance of things like hydration and temperature control, but we also want to explore how we can organize fun and outdoor activities together.

We are joined by the fabulous Trish Keaney, Executive Director of Bridges by EPOCH at Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut. Trish brings nearly 30 years of leadership experience in memory care and skilled nursing. When she was in high school, her grandmother was diagnosed with dementia, and she watched as her family struggled to do their best without a lot of information or support. That experience inspired her to forge a career in dementia care and to offer that much needed help to others, which she does so well.

Trish, thank you for joining us today.

Thank you, ladies. Happy to be here.

A pleasure. Lovely to have you.

Two of my favorite subjects, summer and the population I serve.

Yes. Absolutely. That’s the truth.

I can’t thank you enough for making the travel all the way up to Massachusetts, too. It’s so great to have some of our Bridges friends from the Connecticut area come up and join us for this podcast. So thank you.

Welcome to beautiful Westford. A beautiful day in Westford.

Yes. Happy to be here. Yes.

And it is feeling quite summer-like out there today. And summer really offers so many different opportunities, fresh air, movement, sunlight, and connection. And for families caring for someone living with dementia, really the key is to enjoy the season while planning around the heat and the hydration, and sometimes overstimulation and risks can come from this, too.

So, I’d like to just first start off by sharing with our audience, what are some of the benefits of getting their loved ones outside and enjoying some of the summer?

Well, I think it’s a big stress reliever. It’s a stress reliever for all of us.

Yeah.

Big benefit, especially after a winter like we’ve all had. When you step outside and you feel that sunlight on your face, we know sunlight has great benefits for our folks. So, I think just reducing stress, and feeling that great sunlight, it just does wonders. Does wonders for all of us, not just memory-impaired folks.

Yeah, it’s like all the senses.

You mentioned the sunlight, feeling the sunlight, and hearing the little birdies and feeling the breeze. It just activates you.

Oh, instantly. Yeah. Instantly. I feel like the weather is changing around us. Today’s a perfect day to talk about summer. It’s summer outside, and you instantly feel better. Smelling flowers.

Yeah. Yeah, the birds, the birds always bring it for me. I’m a bird watcher and yeah, it’s just a beautiful time of year. It’s funny, especially the New England region, and how everybody’s mood shifts like click. Like, oh, winter’s over, yay.

Especially like you said, being cooped up, utilizing the outdoors and the fresh air and sunshine can really be a tool for caregivers. When you’re cooped up and inside, it’s not as easy to access a change of scenery and get kind of that instant gratification of that sunlight and fresh air like you were saying.

Yeah.

It’s amazing. You step outside, and if you go right into the shade, you want to go right back in.

Yeah.

And we see that with some of our folks, but when you get them into that sunlight, it’s like, ah. Feels so good.

Yeah. Feels so good.

I want to stay out here. Love the warmth.

Yeah. And so I guess today maybe talking about thoughtfully preparing for fun summer activities for all of our loved ones, considering physical and cognitive challenges maybe, but let’s talk a little bit about thoughtful planning, some safety concerns, but how you with your team and in general would go about planning outdoor activities with the folks you’re caring for.

So, say it’s a day out at the park, or the beach. We’re fortunate in Connecticut, we do have beaches. We love to take our folks to the beach for the day. But that trip, it could be just for an hour, but we’re planning for two days.

Yeah.

We want to make sure that we have sunscreen. We want to make sure that we have plenty of hydration, we have plenty of snacks for our residents. We want to make sure we’ve been to the area before we go-

Scout it for the first time. Yeah.

Yeah. Ample places to sit. Is there a restroom close by? Go at the time of day you’re going to go with your folks and see what it’s like. Is it crowded? Scope out your place so you make sure it’s a successful day-

Yeah.

Yeah for everyone that you take with you, that it’s comfortable, and it’s successful. So I think proper planning, even if you’re just going to go for a ride and get some ice cream. Plan it out.

Ice cream places this time of year can have long lines.

Yeah, really long lines. Yes.

Those little ice cream places, you can wait for hours.

So, make sure you go at the time of day that you plan to go. Scope it out and just make sure it’s going to be a successful outing for the folks you’re bringing. Right.

It’s almost like planning for all the what-ifs, right?

Yeah.

Because everyone’s loved one has a different what if when they are planning a different outing. So scoping out the scene and checking for all the possible solutions to the what-ifs that might come up on your day is a great suggestion.

Yeah, and I think the little things, like is there a place to sit, because a lot of people aren’t going to be able to get on and off the ground, right?

Right. Or won’t be comfortable. Can you see the water from a pathway? Or do you have to trudge over a long boardwalk and, or through sand, or over a sand dune? Those are all considerations before you get there.

The benefit, I think, for a lot of our viewers and listeners is that they’re retired or are working part-time, and they can go at times that are less crowded. Like on a Monday or a Tuesday, well, we’re filming this in May, but school’s still in session for another month.

If you have these hot days, those are great days to go on a weekday because school’s still in, so you don’t have, no offense, but a lot of families and balls flying through the air and Frisbees, and it’s a little more peaceful. There’s more parking.

Yeah, the beach can be a crazy place when everyone’s out of school.

Right. So yeah, those weekday getaways, early season, perfect. Yeah.

And I’ll tell you something that did happen in our community. We had a nice day at the beach planned. Residents were super excited. We had everything ready to go, and got to the water, and hadn’t heard on the news, beach was closed.

Oh.

Couldn’t go in the water. And not that we’re taking long swims, but a lot of our residents want to put their feet in.

Yeah.

Even some of them go up to their knees, and we had to leave pretty quickly because it’s not safe, we couldn’t do what we wanted to do.

Yeah. Oh, absolutely.

So, when you talk about planning-

Right you really have to think of everything. Yeah.

You really do have to think of everything. Call ahead if you have questions on where you’re going, but again, just making sure that the afternoon outing, the morning, is going to be successful for the folks that you’re going to be with.

Yeah.

And thinking about support and, a lot of times on the show, it comes up, people are asking you, “Hey, how can I help?” Maybe a beach day is a good day to get help, is to say, “Hey, I’m taking my loved one to the beach, but I’m a little anxious about it. Maybe you could come with us.” That’s a great time to ask for support because it’s-

Absolutely kind of a big outing. Everyone loves the beach.

We know because on the days you’re going, and you say to the staff, “Who wants to volunteer?” Everyone’s like, “I will, I will.” Right?

So, getting that support those days. And also maybe starting small, like smaller outings, especially if you’re new to being a caregiver.If the challenges are new to you, to start, like you said, the ice cream outing is a good one, right?

Great outing, yep.

Who doesn’t love ice cream? Sometimes you don’t even have to get out of the car.

Right. Or they get to you.

Right. And sometimes just being there, it’s such a summer activity that so many people have. Their favorite ice cream place, their favorite ice cream, and memories of going with their family. Nostalgia. Taking their kids. Even some of our folks who sit in the car and just wait for their ice cream, we brought to them, they love just watching the sights and sounds.

Yeah.

And the dogs-

The dogs and the kids Yeah, absolutely. That’s so fun.

I even think of some of the summer concert series that might be happening locally. There’s so many different spaces, and you can choose where you’re sitting, and like you were saying, planning ahead. Where is there a shaded area? Early entry. Do I have a friend that could come and help place the seats so that it’s easier to get in and out of this event? But I think that there’s so many different things to go out and get involved in.

Yeah, and I love that you mentioned concerts because I think that’s a great way to be in community. Usually, they’ll accommodate early entrants.

I know you guys make those calls. Yeah.

Like, “Hey, we have a crowd coming.” And they love to take care of our seniors, our veterans. So people will roll out the red carpet for you, and you don’t have to stay for the whole concert. You don’t have to be there for the encore.

Exactly.

But to have that sense of community and joy of an orchestra or a folk singer that people have nostalgia around is just such a great way to enjoy the summer.

Yeah, music and outdoors, right? I mean-

It doesn’t get any better than that it really doesn’t. Add some cold beers, and they’re thrilled.

Never coming back. Yeah.

Yeah. They’re never coming back.

We’re lucky in Connecticut, so every town in Connecticut has a town green, and-

Every town?

Every town has a town green.

Wow.

And they do summer concerts on the green.

That’s great.

Usually Tuesdays or Wednesday nights, depending on the town. So in Trumbull, we have them on Wednesday nights, and our folks are regulars at summer concerts on the green. It’s a fantastic night. And again, we call ahead of time. They give us perfect parking.

Fabulous.

Perfect place to sit that if we don’t want to stay for the whole show, or if it rains, we can get in and out of there easy. It’s a great, great night out.

That’s awesome.

And a lot of our family members will join us. It’s just a beautiful night.

Like I said, music and outdoors. Yeah, I love that.

And the evenings are cooler, too.

Yeah, cooler, much more shade.

Oh, yeah. And I also think, too, a lot of towns, some towns are really active with their dementia-friendly efforts, so it definitely behooves folks to reach out and ask because you’d be surprised at the accommodations that you likely receive.

Yeah, sometimes it’s better than expected.

Oh. Like they really just go the extra mile to welcome the group. Until you get out in your community, you don’t know how-

Yeah they’ll embrace you.

Speaking of the concert series, whoever’s performing usually announces, “Hey, we have our group from Bridges Trumbull.”

I love that.

So they really shout out.

Oh, they’re popular folks-

That’s great at these concerts because they get up and sing and dance like everybody else. So, I love that you brought up music, Sarah. Yeah.

Outdoor music, and there’s so much of it this time of year. Yeah. Well, it makes me think, because not everyone’s a beachgoer. I’m a beach girl, but my husband, he’ll be there for a little while, but he’ll be down at the summer concert at the end of the night. Yeah.

I think we know, too, how much joy is associated with cognitively, music for all of us, but being in community, being a part of something bigger than yourself.

Yes.

It checks a lot of the boxes for what we’re looking for to promote just overall wellness and joy of living.

Yeah.

And we had guests on from Waterstone of Lexington talking about some projects they’re working on, some residents there, and just how great they feel when they’re part of something else.

Absolutely. And I think no matter what stage we’re at in aging or if we have dementia or other health challenges, we can find a way to be in community ourselves and also to find ways for our loved ones to also be in community, and I think it’s a win-win. Everybody that goes will have a great time. Even though it’s a little harder on the caregiver, but you’re going to have a great time. To have joy is important.

And I think, too, it’s important, while we’re talking about all of these fun and exciting things, there’s a lot of great ways to get out and have fun. I think I’d like to just touch a little bit on the safety aspects, too, because while we’re out there having fun, it’s really important to consider things like hydration, heat, and-

Because we all sit with our little waters.

Yes.

Because it is important. Folks with dementia can be severely impacted from dehydration, and I’d just love for you to share a little bit on why it’s so important for someone to drink water, especially someone with dementia.

Yeah. So, we’ll go out in the sun, and we could be out there for a while doing an activity we love, and we know that we need to drink. And we can get it, we have access to it, we’re going to get ourselves hydrated. Some of our folks that we care for, they’re not going to ask. They’re not going to tell us, “Hey, I’m thirsty.” We have to anticipate all of that for them. And heatstroke and fatigue can happen really quickly with our residents, so it’s important.

And a lot of them will refuse a drink-

Yeah even if you ask. And we always say in our communities, try not to ask a question with a yes/no answer because it’s usually no. Here’s your water.

Yeah. Here’s your water.

Hydration is the same. And have some with them.

Yeah. “Hey, we’re all going to take a drink. It’s really hot out here.” Yeah.

But just making sure they’re staying hydrated.

Yeah.

Super important, because they can’t always tell you. Increased confusion can happen real quick if they’re not hydrated. Yeah.

Very little change in what we’re in hydration, you can have brain effects. So many things. If you’re noticing they’re not wanting to use the bathroom could be a sign that they’re dehydrated. Just a lot of things.

So, a lot of everything that we do starts with hydration. Yep.

And in the heat, 10 times more. Yeah.

10 times more important. Yeah.

So, those are some good signs that you shared to look for, too, just different signs if someone’s not able to communicate. Yeah.

And also, I wanted to remind, especially caregivers, that urine is close to clear as possible. So, if you’re caring for someone and the urine is real dark yellow, we know we’re at the stages of dehydration.

Yep, absolutely.

That’s an easy thing to look at if you’re the caregiver. Yeah.

Absolutely. It’s a telltale sign, and I just think, too, like you shared, Trish, not everyone loves to drink water. Most especially if they’re afraid that it’s going to require an extra restroom break. So I’d just love for you to share different ways that caregivers might be able to encourage or get hydration into their loved ones.

So, I know prior to folks coming to our community, we have our inspiration sheets. We find out things about them. It’s important to find out what they like to drink. Right. Like anything. So, we do ask, I know the folks that regularly go out with our residents on trips, they’re great about finding out what your loved one likes. I’m not a big water drinker. It’s got to have something in it. Crystal Light or Lemonade.

A little flavor. Yeah.

Yeah. And then I’m all in.

Or NEO next to it. Yeah, sorry.

That’s exactly what I do. I have the NEO.

What is it called? NEO. Okay.

And it’s drops? Yeah.

Drops. A bunch of different flavors.

There’s one even with caffeine. That’s my favorite. But yeah. Finding out what residents like. They’re more apt to have more of it.

We’re big on the no sugar Gatorade or-

Yeah some drinks with some electrolytes in it when we go out. Yeah. And encouraging that. And also finding out, when we take folks out in the morning, we need to ask the questions before they come with us. How did breakfast look? Right. Were they up at night? Make sure they’re hydrated before you even take them out of the building. Very important.

I love how you say, “We’re all going to take a drink,” because we want to stay– I think what’s sometimes a challenge with anyone that we’re caring for is that we’re telling them what to do, or we’re trying to parent them. We’re all grown adults here, so I think encouraging without being infantilizing. Right. Making sure, like, “Hey, it’s a hot one, y’all. We’re all going to drink.” Yep.

“Yep, we’re all going to drink it.” Rather than like, “You need to drink. You’re going to get dehydrated.” No one wants to hear that at any age. No.

But it’s what- none of us like to be told what to do what to do. Even if it’s good for us, we don’t like to be told.

Right. And I’ve even seen my Life Enrichment Director often, she’s like, “Hey, social everyone.” Social. Cheers.

Or the cheers to something. Yeah.

“Hey, let’s celebrate this great day.” Yeah. “Let’s look at that boat in the water.” Anything to get people to do a normal thing where they drink.

Right. And we’re not talking caffeinated drinks.

We’re not talking Diet Coke-

No, Diet Pepsi or coffee

We’re talking about decaffeinated drinks. Those are the ones-

Yep that are going to hydrate. And people can put fresh fruits.

Yep. I’ve seen people make them look fancy, and also have a little bit of flavor outside of things like Gatorade. I also even think of eating your hydration. Yeah.

Watermelon. Things like Jell-O with a little bit of whipped cream make it a little sweet, but you’re still getting that hydration. Yeah.

Or watermelon. Watermelon’s perfect this time of year.

Watermelon is huge during the summer. Yep. It’s one of my favorite summer treats.

So, great advice on the hydration, and kind of moving along because I want to make sure we can hit all of the safety tips. But I know for some of the caregivers we work with, most especially if they have a loved one at home, one of the scary parts about the weather getting nice is sometimes people want to get out and want to go, and sometimes it’s at an unexpected time and could be unsafe wandering, really leading to some scary situations. So, I would just love for you to talk a little bit about wandering and how people might exit-seek during this time of year, and how someone might be able to support their loved one with that.

People see a nice day-

Say, “Bye.”

And normally want to go out. And it may not be, depending on what you’re doing as the caregiver, but go with them.

Go for a safe walk with them. I had a resident at our community the other day, and for no other reason than it was a nice day out, and so we walked with him. And it got him a good walk, and he tired out eventually. We sat on a bench. We went back in to get something to drink. But yeah, go with them. If it’s possible, go with them.

Another nice tip that somebody actually told me years ago, when I was actually caring for somebody, have things ready by the door, especially when the weather turns nice.

Because when somebody wants to go, it might not be the opportune time, right? We know the summer, thunderstorms come in real quickly. Yeah.

And somebody might want to go, and it doesn’t look great out, and a storm can hit. Have some umbrellas right there.

That’s a great idea, like a go bag. Yeah.

Yeah. Have things waiting by the door with a bottle of water in it. And it was somebody who happened to get caught in one of those situations, and they said, “Hey, make sure…” It’s like when you go to the hospital to have a baby, your bag’s ready to go.

Yeah, your bag.

Have a bag ready-

That’s a really good tip. I’ve never heard that one that you can just grab and take out the door.

Make sure your phone is charged. Have your phone with you in case you need to call anybody if you’re out there and get into a situation. But just be ready for them, because it’s great. “Hey, let’s get the fresh air.” Might not be the opportune time, so have some things ready. We want to just go.

For a lot of us that are caregivers, we don’t want to say no, because that really-

That could lead to a whole other-

That could lead to a whole other. Yeah, to be able to say, “Sure. I’ve got my bag. Let’s go,” and to have briefs or band-aids and water, and all that stuff-

And battery charger in there. Yeah.

All those things just in case, especially, people are fit and will walk a long way. Yeah.

And so it’s like you don’t want to keep trying to turn them back. You could be out there a long time. A long time.

Yeah, you could. I’ve actually used the umbrella for shade, even when it’s not raining, because it gets pretty hot.

That’s true.

And I think your to-go bag suggestion really coincides, too, with scouting out what your summer activities might look like ahead of time, so that if you do find yourself in a grab-and-go position, you have your go-to places that you know you can be successful, or stop by and enjoy a visit or quick walk- Yeah or ice cream successfully. Yeah, I would say a lot of our design at The Bridges, especially for EPOCH, have little places to stop and see things. And I think that’s the same when you’re outside.

When you live in a place where there’s a florist to pop in and look. If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere where there’s a coffee shop or destinations along the way.

Yeah. Even a little park where you can stop and watch the children play or whatever, that’s a good way to cool off, rest, find community-

Yeah and break up the walk. It’s also maybe when you say, “Okay, let’s head back,” rather than just sort of keep going and going and going. Divert. Yeah.

So I would say that’s a great segue, though, to just share a little bit about some of the ways that you and the team, and just Bridges overall, are, what are they doing with the residents during the summer, and what kinds of activities? I know earlier, before we got started, you were sharing some fun summer activities you do at your community in Trumbull.

Yeah. So we actually had a suggestion this year to go to an amusement park, but I’m not sure we’ve booked that yet. We’ll keep you posted on that one.

Yeah, let’s go back after that one.

We have a very active resident council, and somebody is very, very much wanting to get on a rollercoaster again, so we will see.

That’s awesome.

More to come. I really hope you can make that happen. More to come.

The things that we do all the time in the nice weather, whenever entertainment comes, we talked about music and outdoors. So thankfully, our Bridges offers us a rooftop covered deck with a lot of shade in the summertime, so we can have all of our live entertainment out there-

I love that in the nice weather.

Gardening. I think gardening is the activity that our residents find the most pleasure in.

Wow.

Just digging in that dirt. There’s something very therapeutic about that. So many of our residents had gardens, flower gardens, and vegetable gardens. We utilize our vegetables in the kitchen.

It’s the race to the ripe tomato. Yep.

Yeah. And our residents take really a lot of pride in their garden and bringing vegetables in, and the dining staff cooks them. There’s something to be said about that. It’s such a nice way for them to feel like, “Hey, look what we grew. We’re going to eat this later in our salad tonight.” Yeah. I would say gardening is our best, our live entertainment outside. Just walks.

In between our big programming, we encourage all of our team members, who doesn’t like a walk? Yeah.

After a meal or during that downtime, if you’re finding somebody that’s really wanting something to do, just take a walk out in their courtyard. There’s bird feeders.

Yeah, watch the birds. Yeah.

There’s beautiful flowers. I have a resident who will stop in front of one of our pretty trees, and we can talk about that tree for 20 minutes. Wow.

I love that.

And it reminds her of a tree she had in her yard, and we can go on from there.

So, we do host every summer, we call it a pool party. No, we don’t have a pool at the community center. Not yet. For safety reasons, let’s say. But we do a water gun, and we have little pools around, and some of the residents get into the big Super Soakers, and I have to tell you- Like a squirt gun fight.

Oh, yes. I love it.

It’s quite something. Listen, we’re all a kid inside.

Yeah.

Summer brings out a lot of fun memories and things that we did outside.

Yeah.

And years ago, things weren’t so extravagant. They played in the hose.

Right.

They hooked it up to a sprinkler. So man, you put some of those Super Soakers in hands, and a different personality comes out altogether.

Wow.

What a great idea. It’s a lot of fun.

Follow that up with an ice cream sundae or an ice cream truck, and the day’s done. Live music.

Yeah, live music. That’s right.

Popsicles outside-

Yeah, and then some Super Soakers, and it’s a crowd favorite. Family members, everybody.

Everybody. All your staff and everybody. Yeah. That’s fantastic.

So I would say just from simple walks, which could do wonders. Just looking at flowers, hearing the birds, to a big Super Soaker party.

Yep, I love it. You really hit sort of everything. Yeah.

From appreciating nature, being in the moment, to going wild with the squirt guns. I love it.

I’m coming to Trumbull this summer.

Me too.

I want to know where that party is.

I don’t know when, but it’s in August.

So keep me posted. We’ll be ready.

Trish, thank you so much for joining us.

It was my pleasure.

Thank you for having me. A great conversation.

What a treat. Yeah.

Truly, what a treat.

Are there any final takeaways that you would want to share with the audience or caregivers that might be feeling nervous or changing their routine this summer?

Take folks out. We all love to be outside. I will tell you a very brief story and ending. When I first started at Bridges Trumbull, I was eating lunch outside, and I brought a resident out with me. I didn’t know much about her yet. And her family happened to come in and visit, and they were crying because she was outside. She was a big bird watcher.

Mm.

And she was not able to verbalize with me, but the look on her face when birds would fly by in the sky, and they said she hadn’t been out in a while, they thought. Ah.

So, I often have the conversation with everyone on my team. We all love to be outside.

Yeah. It’s our nature.

We’re totally no different. So, if you have that downtime, if you’re going to go sit out, bring somebody with you.

Yeah.

Love it. We all love to be outdoors.

So, happy summer, everyone.

Happy summer. We are ending with a charm.

Let’s get outside. Yes. Enjoy that sun.

Well, thank you again, and thanks everyone for listening in, and until the next time, thanks for joining us on “The EPOCH Exchange.” Fantastic. Bye, everyone. Bye. Happy summer.