Senior News March, 2005 Vol. 24. No. 3

 

Published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka, California. HSRC is a non-profit community-based organization offering services for senior citizens, multi-generational families and caregivers.

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the Over-60 Program are both now available

Medicare drug plan calendar

Why pets are good for people with Alzheimer's

Spring brings harbor seal pups to beaches

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Learn from your pets
Why pets are good for people with Alzheimer's
by Maggie Kraft

We all know of studies that show how pets help us lead healthier and happier lives. They lower our blood pressure and heart rate, reduce anxiety and make us laugh. They provide unconditional love and a positive attitude. They are forgiving and non-judgmental and never purposely make us feel stupid, unloved or unneeded. If we meet their basic needs and treat them with kindness, they will likely follow us to the ends of the earth.

Pets are perhaps even more important to people with Alzheimer's who are much less able to voice their needs. It is up to us to decipher what they need by reading their body language, tone of voice and facial expressions for cues. Animals, especially those we invite into our homes as pets, have learned to interpret the behaviors of irrational and inconsistent humans as an everyday survival tactic. This training enables pets to live happily with a person with Alzheimer's.

There is much we can learn from pets about interacting with people with memory loss. My dog, Nevada, stresses that the tips below will also work on non-memory-impaired people and should be taught in all basic human obedience classes.

Never argue with a person with memory loss. How many times have you seen a pet argue with its human? Okay, an occasional disagreement perhaps, but never a full-blown argument.

Don't correct a person with memory loss. Animals have lived long enough with all types of humans to know this is an essentially futile proposition, so they don't bother. They know the best course is to simply acknowledge the statement, sit for a moment and then change the subject.

Focus on the emotion, not the words. Animals have learned to ignore most of the words we use. They respond to the emotion and tone of what we say. This works also with people with dementia, who find it harder and harder to get the right words out at the right time anyway. The pet doesn't need the "right" words to get the point.

Don't make a person with dementia feel stupid or unimportant. People with dementia have a rough time finding purpose and meaning as daily activities are reduced or simplified by those of us working hard to keep them safe. Pets make a person with dementia feel needed, loved, important and useful. Pet me. Feed me. Take me for a walk. Look at me. Aren't I cute? Go ahead, a big belly laugh is called for here. Thank GOD you scratched me there.

Moods are contagious. People with memory loss look to their surroundings for cues as to how to behave. If they are surrounded by happy, kind, fun people, this will always be better for them than being surrounded by angry, obnoxious, unkind people. Animals know this and will gravitate towards the fun humans.

Maggie Kraft, MSW, is director of the Alzheimer's Resource Center, a program of the Humboldt Senior Resource Center. This article was contributed to by Nevada, Canine Pet Therapist.