People struggling to talk to and interact with family members with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia can borrow memory kits from the Oak Lawn Public Library to help.
The kits are plastic totes containing games, read-aloud books and activities suitable for individuals with varying levels of memory loss or cognitive decline.
The library has five kits, each with a different theme residents with Oak Lawn library cards can borrow for three weeks at a time.
One has musical bingo, where players listen to music on a DVD and cover pictures of the instruments they hear on their card.
The kit called “Golden Oldies” is filled with photos, cards and DVDs of actors and music from the 1950s to the 1970s.
The kit named “In the Garden” was designed with people who like to garden, or used to garden, in mind. It includes a matching game with different types of flowers, small bottles of scents, such as rose, honeysuckle and cut grass, and a jigsaw puzzle of Monet’s garden. But the puzzle has only 63 pieces, so it would not frustrate someone with mild cognitive loss.
“The kits are meant to be enjoyable and engaging, so the person has a positive experience with the materials,” said Meghan Moran, assistant department head of customer services.
Some of the games can keep a person with dementia busy, while their caregiver tends to another task for a brief period of time.
One kit has laminated pictures of flowers with holes to thread a colored red cord through. It’s a tool to improve dexterity and might appeal to someone who used to crochet or knit, Moran said.
Several of the kits have Aquapaints, which have invisible pictures on white cards. When someone dips a paintbrush in water and “paints” on the card, the image and colors appear.
“The person does not have to worry about staying within the lines,” Moran said.
There’s also a board with laces, zippers, snaps and other fasteners for practice or merely to occupy a person’s attention.
Some people in the late stages of dementia “fidget” a lot, she said. “Sometimes, it’s agitation.”
So Moran included tactile toys a person can manipulate, like moving a marble through a maze in a gel-filled pad. Instructions and ideas on how to use each component are in the totes.
Moran says the kits have been well received. Since March, when the kits became available for circulation, 23 have been checked out.
Sensory toys and activities for dementia patients are sold online, but they cost upward of $15 each, and there is no guarantee a particular game will interest the buyer’s loved one. By borrowing the totes from the library, caregivers can see what puzzles or activities their family member enjoys at no cost.
Moran assembled the contents for the kits based on her research of aging and cognitive decline, and with input from Rush University Medical Center.
“My department does a lot of programs for seniors,” Moran said.
The library applied for and received a three-year grant from Age Options, a nonprofit agency that works to improve services for older people in suburban Cook County. The grant the Oak Lawn library received funds about $7,500 a year for materials and services for people age 60 and older.
The first year, the money had to be used for technology-based materials and programs. The Oak Lawn Library bought Chromebooks reserved for its older patrons and Wi-Fi hot spots that provide users internet access.
The second and third year grants are to be used to address social isolation among seniors, Moran said. She looked at what other organizations were doing and saw some had memory kits they lent to seniors and caregivers.
The Orland Park Public Library, for example, has offered bags, called caregiver kits, filled with games and activities for individuals with dementia since 2021.
One of the objectives in the Orland Park Library’s 2021 strategic plan was to add more programming and services for people with dementia and their caregivers.
Toward that goal, the library is partnering with the Alzheimer’s Association to offer an Early Stage Memory Loss Support Group and hosts a caregiver support group.
At a community outreach event, the Oak Lawn Library staff had a table next to a group from the Alzheimer’s Association and Rush University. The association was partnering with hospitals across the country to conduct a two-year clinical trial of risk factors for cognitive function, called U.S. Pointer.
“They were there to recruit people for the study,” Moran said. “We told them we do programs for people 60 and older and we would welcome any input they have. They were excited about the memory kits.”
Moran had begun to purchase materials for the kits. How many items to put in the totes was partly a monetary decision, and wanting them to be light enough to be easily carried. She sent the list of materials to Rush personnel involved in the Pointer study for them to provide feedback.
An associate professor from the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging also came to talk to the library staff about cognitive decline and the purpose of the materials in the kits.
Personnel from Rush suggested adding bilingual materials and kits for people who are just beginning to show signs of cognitive decline. Moran is exploring those ideas.
The library continues to offer separate craft projects for seniors, such as a birdhouse to paint.
Kimberly Fornek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
