| Can A Smile A Day Keep Dementia Away? |
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 Vivian Jenkins welcomes an “Ernest T. Bass” character to Life Enrichment Center. His antics had everyone slapping their knees in laughter.
The potential for smiles as medicine is the topic of a new 40-minute film titled “The Smile Within,” which documents the study of 400 people in 36 aged care centers in Australia. It follows the work of humor therapist Jean-Paul Bell, the creative director of “Play Up,” a humor program that seems to manage agitation experienced by people with dementia.
The study, developed by the University of NSW Dementia Collaborative Research Center, was initiated by the Arts Health Institute, which seeks to bring creativity to care.
“I’m not surprised,” says Nurse Karen Bridges, who is the center coordinator for the Life Enrichment Center Adult Day Care in Shelby. “When people laugh, you see their whole demeanor change. We believe in laughing a lot every day at Life Enrichment.”
“We have some participants who can’t talk, but their facial expression says it all when we make them laugh,” says Darlene Surratt, a Life Enrichment program assistant, who is well known among family caregivers for her ability to make people smile and laugh. “I did something this morning when a participant came in the door that made her belly laugh. Her husband just beamed to see her reacting that way.”
According to the study, humor can be used to manage agitation experienced by people with dementia. “The therapy was found to be as effective as antipsychotic drugs that are used to treat people with dementia,” says a report in the Newcastle newspaper. “It can also improve communication and trigger memories.”
Bell sees humor as a way to improve people’s quality of life.
For more information about how Life Enrichment Center can enhance your loved one’s quality of life, call either center: 704.739.4858 in Kings Mountain or 704.484.0405 in Shelby; ask about the free trial visit.
For more information on humor therapy, click on www.thesmilewithin.com
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