Ceaco Puzzles Donates 137 Puzzles

By Max Wallack

Puzzles to Remember

 
I want to thank Ceaco Puzzles in Newton MA for its recent donation of 137 puzzles to PuzzlesToRemember.

Ceaco has donated many, many puzzles over the past eight years. Many of these puzzles are 300 large-sized piece puzzles that are donated to Assisted Living Facilities.

These puzzles provide many hours of quiet, peaceful, brain stimulating activities for seniors living in these facilities.

 Here are just of few of the puzzles Ceaco has donated this week:

Max Wallack graduated from Boston University and worked as a Research Intern in the Molecular Psychiatry and Aging Laboratory in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Boston University School of Medicine. He is currently a student at Harvard Medical School. His great grandmother, Gertrude, suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Max is the founder of PUZZLES TO REMEMBER. PTR is a project that provides puzzles to nursing homes and veterans institutions that care for Alzheimer's and dementia patients

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Hailey Richman is named one of 10 Hasbro Community Action Heroes

By Max Wallack  
Puzzles to Remember

Our 9 year old Assistant Director, Hailey Richman, has been named one of 10 Hasbro Community Action Heroes.

Over the past year, Hailey has helped PuzzlesToRemember place over 10,000 puzzles. She often takes puzzles into nursing facilities and spends time there interacting with the residents and doing puzzles with them.

She also encourages other young people to participate, involving entire girl scout troops to interact with senior citizens.
 

Also, Hailey founded Kid Caregivers, a support group for kids who are assisting their families in caring for a loved one with dementia. Hailey advises kids as far away as Russia, Germany and Africa about how to interact with family members who have dementia. She maintains a website, www.kidcaregivers.com, where kids can write to her asking for advice on how to handle the caregiving situations they are in.

Hailey has begun giving presentations at schools, explaining Alzheimer's disease to children. She is always amazed how many kids come up to her afterwards, describing their caregiving roles at home and asking for advice.

Hailey is also the youngest Purple Angel Ambassador. She is also busily at work constructing an invention that will, helpfully, prevent many falls among the elderly with dementia.

Hailey has appeared on 2 radio shows: Lori La Bay’s show: Alzheimer’s Speaks, and Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network. She discussed the impact of children helping to care for a loved one with Alzheimer’ disease.

What does Hailey do in her spare time? She is a member of a children's choir in New York and she collects new pajamas to provide to children in shelters.

Hailey will be honored at a national toy fair this winter. I am very glad she is receiving this well-deserved and prestigious award!

Max Wallack graduated from Boston University and worked as a Research Intern in the Molecular Psychiatry and Aging Laboratory in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Boston University School of Medicine. He is currently a student at Harvard Medical School. His great grandmother, Gertrude, suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Max is the founder of PUZZLES TO REMEMBER. PTR is a project that provides puzzles to nursing homes and veterans institutions that care for Alzheimer's and dementia patients

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New Springbok PuzzlesToRemember for Those with Alzheimer's

By Max Wallack
Puzzles to Remember
I am happy to announce that there are now 11 different Springbok PuzzlesToRemember available.

In addition to the 36 piece puzzles, there are now available several 100 piece puzzles with large piece size, bright colors, and memory provoking themes. These puzzles are being used in many dementia facilities and provide a very positive experience for residents with memory problems.

Here are a few of the new images:

All the available puzzles can be seen and ordered here.

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Max Wallack graduated from Boston University and worked as a Research Intern in the Molecular Psychiatry and Aging Laboratory in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Boston University School of Medicine. He is currently a student at Harvard Medical School. His great grandmother, Gertrude, suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Max is the founder of PUZZLES TO REMEMBER. PTR is a project that provides puzzles to nursing homes and veterans institutions that care for Alzheimer's and dementia patients

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Tips for Kid Caregivers

by Brigette Evans
Guest Blogger

A caregiving trend has emerged and grown in the last few decades that many
people aren’t even aware of. The number of children acting as caregivers to ailing
parents and aging grandparents has increased everywhere.

Kid caregivers in the U.S. are estimated at 1.4 million according to the American
Association of Caring Youth. The 2011 U.K Census says there are 250,000 kids
under 18 performing these duties, some as young as five years old.

The adults can be suffering from a variety of ailments such as Alzheimer’s disease,
dementia, arthritis, diabetes, heart, and lung or kidney disease.

These young caregivers are helping their family members with cooking, shopping,
meal preparation, household chores and personal tasks. They assist with mobility
issues, helping grandparents get out of bed and keeping their parents company.
Immigrant families’ teenagers may have a higher level of education and better
communication skills than their elders.

They can help translate their parent’s native language to English and help out
with medical and doctor’s appointments as well as the transportation to get them
there. The American Psychological Association says kids are “experiencing
parentification.” They have extremely high stress levels as they try to balance
school, caregiving and even sometimes outside jobs to earn money for the family
as well.

These youngsters lack social opportunities due to the large amount of
responsibilities they are shouldering. Building relationships with friends their own
age is a luxury they cannot participate in.

Many times their academic performance drops, they are truant or absent and
even drop out of school (22% of them), altogether to take care of a family
member who needs them at home. Tragedies such as fires being started by
accident as the child tries to cook for the family happen more often than in the
past.

If you have a “kid caregiver” or know of one, don’t let them suffer in silence.
These kids can benefit from the following tips.

See if they can become part of a “caregiving team” that includes
adult family members.

Get some basic training of infection prevention and lifting
techniques to reduce injury to the caregiver

Don’t let them drop out of school. There are academic and
tutoring resources available through schools and religious
institutions among other places.

Seek financial assistance and respite care from non-profit groups.

Look into obtaining a medical alert system for emergency
situations. It can be a life saving device.

Lastly, have them participate in counseling and prepare
themselves for worsening situations or even death.

We may not be able to reverse the trend of needing our kids to be caregivers, but
at least we can equip them with knowledge and skill to lessen their stress levels
for their own health.

-- Brigette Evans

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Our New Director of Media and Publicity

The blog below is by Hailey, the Assistant Director of PuzzlesToRemember.  Hailey is also the new Director of Media and Publicity.  She is wonderful about spreading the word to other children and to adults about how to interact with those with dementia.  Please contact us at PuzzlesToRemember@gmail.com if you would like to interview Hailey about her work.

Teaching Kids In My Class

Today I was able to teach my classmates about Alzheimer's disease.  I used the smart board and did a presentation.  I explained to the students a little bit about what the disease does to the brain and the ways that people with the disease act.  I then read the book: Why Did Grandma Leave Her Underwear in the Refrigerator by Max Wallack and Carolyn Given.  After reading the book I answered lots of questions from my classmates.  I even found out that a boy in my class also has a grandmother with the disease!  I did not even know that, we never talked about our grandmas!

 I would like to thank my teacher, Ms. Zelwinder for letting me do my presentation!

Tips

1. Ask your teacher if you can do presentation about Alzheimer' disease for your classmates.  

2. Read a book to the class about the disease

3. Answer questions that your classmates may have about the disease
4. Have your classmates share their feelings about the disease

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Making Friends

by Hailey Richman

PuzzlesToRemember

www.KidCaregivers.com

 

Many seniors REALLY like kids.  Whenever we work on puzzles with seniors we try to become friends with them.  So we are not just working on puzzles but making friends too!  We became friends with Dorothy.  She has mild dementia which means she was able to talk a lot and understand us. She is in her nineties.  After we solved the puzzle with her, we talked to her about the olden days and sang the song, "Follow The Yellow Brick Road". Since her name is Dorothy, she had the name of the lead character in the Wizard of Oz.  Here are some tips:

Tips

1. Introduce yourself to the seniors in the nursing home

2. Tell them a little bit about yourself (your name, your age, your grade)

3. After solving a puzzle, talk to the senior about something fun.

4. Thank them for solving the puzzle with you

5. Give them a compliment. (for example: "your hair looks nice, you have such a nice smile, I love your nail polish)

6. Smile and give hugs!

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"Why Did Grandma Put Her Underwear in the Refrigerator? An Explanation of Alzheimer's Disease for Children" Receives a First Place Children's Book Award in the Category of "Family Matters"

By Max Wallack  
Puzzles to Remember

The 2016 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards has awarded a first place national prize in the Category of "Family Matters" to "Why Did Grandma Put Her Underwear in the Refrigerator? An Explanation of Alzheimer's Disease for Children".

The book, first published in 2013, is coauthored by Max Wallack and Carolyn Given.

The book also received an honorable mention in the category of "Health." The book is available here.

Max Wallack graduated from Boston University and worked as a Research Intern in the Molecular Psychiatry and Aging Laboratory in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Boston University School of Medicine. He is currently a student at Harvard Medical School. His great grandmother, Gertrude, suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Max is the founder of PUZZLES TO REMEMBER. PTR is a project that provides puzzles to nursing homes and veterans institutions that care for Alzheimer's and dementia patients.

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Hailey Richman's Interview on Alzheimer's Speaks

By Max Wallack

Puzzles to Remember

 

Today, Hailey Richman, the Assistant Direct of PuzzlesToRemember, was interviewed by Lori La Bey on her radio show, Alzheimer's Speaks.

Lori is a great interviewer and very knowledgeable about Alzheimer's caregiving.

Hailey, who is only 9 years old, did a superb job explaining the very many wonderful things she is involved in to help those with dementia.

You can listen to the interview here:

Max Wallack graduated from Boston University and worked as a Research Intern in the Molecular Psychiatry and Aging Laboratory in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Boston University School of Medicine.  He is currently a student at Harvard Medical School.  His great grandmother, Gertrude, suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Max is the founder of  PUZZLES TO REMEMBER. PTR is a project that provides puzzles to nursing homes and veterans institutions that care for Alzheimer's and dementia patients

Read More....