Connections and skills
Anyone can! Connections and Skills – Activity for Health
Connections and Skills – Activity for Health is a unique professional tool for engaging people suffering from memory loss. The goal of the assessment is to stimulate the person's diverse skills in order to maintain interpersonal connections and brain skills – in a fun and meaningful way.
Who is the assessment for?
The assessment is intended to assist those suffering from cognitive decline, due to dementia (Alzheimer's disease, stroke, Parkinson's, etc.), who are staying at home, in a day center or in a nursing home.
With whose help?
Treatment in the kit is done with the help of a spouse, children, grandchildren, caregiver, foreign worker, volunteer, or professional.
For information about the Volunteers Through Evaluation project – click here.
What does an assessment help with?
Preserving cognitive, sensory, motor, and social abilities and slowing the rate of their deterioration.
Improving the patient's quality of life and vitality.
Strengthening innovation and developing quality and enjoyable relationships between the operator and the patient.
Cognitive stimulation has been found to be at least as effective as medications for improving cognitive function. People who took medications and participated in cognitive stimulation activities showed significant improvements in their functioning. It is recommended that anyone suffering from cognitive decline begin a variety of activities as early as possible.
What does an assessment include?
The kit contains seven collections that present a variety of activities on different topics:
Physical training and sensory stimulation collection. In the physical training collection: 2 bags of weights, 2 exercise bands, 2 small balls, a bottle of water. In the sensory stimulation collection: a lavender bag, a personal massage roller and hand cream.
Brain training collection. In the collection: various brain teasers, "on the tip of the tongue" communication flashcards, pictures of who and who, and pictures from stories. Proverbs, stories, and poems.
Collection of games. In the collection: dominoes, cards, tangram, memory game, bingo and a green felt surface.
A collection of memoirs. In the collection: an album "Photos from My Life", a collection of memoirs "There Were Times" and my memoir book.
A craft collection. In the collection: worksheets for coloring and crafting and a pencil case containing panda paints, markers, scissors and glue.
Songs. In the collection: a variety of favorite songs for singing and conversation.
Recipe collection . In the collection: easy recipes for joint preparation.
Each collection is accompanied by an operator's instruction booklet. All activity aids are contained in a specially designed, handy bag.
Cost of assessment
Estimated cost – 400 NIS (+ 59 NIS shipping fee)
Key contacts and skills set for health activities and professional project managers:
Debbie Lahav - Occupational Therapist and Arts Therapist. lahavs100@gmail.com
Dafna Golan Shemesh - Social worker and therapist in the arts and with animals, director of the Beit Shemesh nursing home. dafna.golanshemesh@gmail.com