My Pet Therapy Partner Invites Smiles and Conversation

By Joan Blumenfeld, MS, LPC

Bromley & Joan Blumenfeld

Bromley is a working dog, all nine-and-a-half pounds of him! He’s a four-year-old Maltese with the disposition of an angel, genetically programmed to be a lap dog.

Bromley came into my life, a tiny white ball of fur, when he was only eleven weeks old. I wanted him to be the kind of dog I could take with me anywhere.  By the time he was just a bit over a year old, he had earned his American Kennel Club Good Citizen Certificate and become a Delta Society Pet Therapy Partner.

Bromley and I have a genuine professional partnership. We work together with cognitively and physically challenged elders. Bromley gives unstintingly of his unconditional love, acceptance and physical warmth. He works the room, going from lap to lap, while I tease out meaningful conversations from people who often find it hard to express themselves. Bromley is much cuter than I am but I’m the better driver, so we make a good team!

The very first client Bromley visited fell madly in love with him. She was a 75-year-old woman who had experienced a mild stroke and was very isolated socially. She was eager to share her considerable knowledge of dogs with me, declared herself to be his “Grandma,” and for years after was proud of her special relationship to Bromley.

We also work at several assisted living facilities with groups of people who have varying degrees of dementia, from mild to severe. Bromley is the star! He touches their hearts and makes them smile! And not incidentally, he is a guaranteed catalyst for stimulating thoughtful questions and conversations.

During one of our recent visits, a member of the group asked me what sorts of games Bromley liked. I told them about his love for playing tug-of-war with old socks and hide-and-seek around the coffee table. Then I asked them what they played when they were young and the next hour was spent in lively reminiscing about their childhood games: Red Light, Giant Steps, and Hopscotch. One favorite was “A My Name is Alice, and My Husband’s Name is Allan,” which they used to play while bouncing a ball to the rhythm of the ditty; the group went from A-Z, filling in the blanks, with almost everyone participating enthusiastically

Most  of the people we work with have severe memory loss but when they are told the little white dog is coming for a visit, they remember exactly who it is.

PEARL OF WISDOM

People with dementia “live in the moment.”  Love, acceptance and fun in that moment are great gifts!

Joan Blumenfeld, MS, LPC is a Geriatric Care Manager practicing in Fairfield County, Connecticut. For information see her web at www.joanblumenfled.com . © Joan Blumenfeld 2011.

Do you have your own Pearl of Wisdom? Please share by commenting below.

A Blog is Born!

By Joan Blumenfeld, MS, LPC

Who me, write a blog? Are you kidding? A Luddite at heart, I didn’t know what a blog was until I was asked to write one.

As a professional Geriatric Care Manager, my focus at work is on my clients, on honing my skills and increasing my resource network.  But as the sole proprietor of a private practice, I am also an entrepreneur and must give considerable attention to marketing myself and my services. “Build it and they will come” does not apply unless people know who and where you are and what you do.

Over the many years I have been in private practice, I have done all sorts of marketing: I sent out hundreds of print newsletters to my contacts and clients; I facilitated many classes and support groups for family caregivers. I did workshops for professionals. I addressed audiences large and small. And now, I’m jumping into 21st century social networking with both feet!

This state of affairs came about because of my membership in an entrepreneurial business networking organization called Business Network International (BNI). BNI is an association of professionals and small business owners committed to growing their businesses and to helping each other.

One day a BNI friend told me about friends of hers who had a website devoted to helping family caregivers take care of their elderly parents. She thought we ought to meet. Her friends are two sisters, Kim and Karen, who managed the care of their father in his last years and developed www.incareofdad.com in his honor. They wanted to support other family caregivers by sharing their experience of the problems they encountered, the resources they discovered and the successful strategies they developed for navigating a fractured health care system in his behalf.

I Googled their site and was impressed by its elegance and professionalism. So I called Karen and made an appointment for lunch. We hit it off immediately.

In the course our visit I said something (neither of us can remember exactly what that was) and Karen commented, “That’s a real pearl of wisdom!”

I jokingly responded, “That would be a nice title for an article!”

Karen agreed and on the spot invited me to write blogs for her website!  I accepted without having any idea of what a blog was! As soon as I got home I called a tech-savvy friend to find out more about blogs. When I learned about the reach and the fun of blogging, I was hooked! Writing is exciting! It’s deeply satisfying to share my knowledge and experience with caregivers who deal with the challenges of caring for their frail elderly friends and relatives on a daily basis.

PEARL OF WISDOM

New connections and ideas can lead to wonderful new places. Be open and jump in!

Joan Blumenfeld, MS, LPC is a Geriatric Care Manager practicing in Fairfield County, Connecticut. For more information see www.joanblmenfeld.com . © Joan Blumenfeld 2011

Do you have your own Pearl of Wisdom? Please share by commenting below.