Women with Cool Jobs
Women with Cool Jobs
Dementia Educator, Music Therapist, and Art Therapist Provide Person-Centered Dementia Care, with the Creative Dementia Collective
The Creative Dementia Collective provides person-centered dementia care in a whole new, creative way. The Collective is made up of 3 Millennial ladies with a variety of background and expertise when it comes to helping individuals who have dementia, care givers, and their community. Their services include: Music Therapy, Art Therapy, Dementia Education, Self Care for caregivers, Community Events, and Legacy Work.
Erin Staadecker, Jael Weinberg, and Kaylee Allen are helping people see and care for the person, not just react to the disease, with a variety of innovative options and solutions. They come from a passionate stance of serving
Resources
- Creative Dementia Collective website
- Teepa Snow's Positive Approach to Care (Dementia Industry Expert)
- Dementia Friends USA
- Certification Board for Music Therapists
- American Art Therapy Association
- Televeda
Contact Info:
Creative Dementia Collective
@creativedementiacollective (Instagram)
creativedementiacollective.com
Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)
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Those moments where we feel very human but also otherworldly spiritual connected to something larger than ourselves. When they saying over the rainbow there their arrangement of over the rainbow at Carnegie Hall. And he told me that story early on in our therapeutic relationship. And then later, you know, he lost his ability to speak through something called aphasia. That's somewhat common for folks living with dementia. And on his deathbed, he wasn't able to verbalize To me it was just looking at each other and trying to communicate with our eyes. And I sang him over the rainbow and the look of relief and calm that came over his face when I sang it to him. And then I followed that up by saying, I know your story. I know that you sang this at Carnegie Hall, I know how important it is to you, and to your Seattle Men's Chorus family, and I and I will keep singing the song.
Julie Berman - Host:Hey, everybody. I'm Julie and welcome to women with cool jobs. Each episode will feature women with unique trailblazing and innovative crews. We'll talk about how she got here, what life is like now, and actionable steps that you can take to go on a similar path, or one that's all your own. This podcast is about empowering you. It's about empowering you to dream big and to be inspired. You'll hear from incredible women in a wide variety of fields, and hopefully some that you've never heard of before. Women who build robots and roadways, firefighters, C suite professionals surrounded by men, social media mavens, entrepreneurs, and more. I'm so glad we get to go on this journey together. Hello, everybody, this is Julie and welcome to another episode of women with cool jobs. So today, I am so excited to say that we are almost at the one year pod versary of women with cool jobs. That is going to happen on October 6, and it's coming up. And I'm so so excited. So I hope you will celebrate with me I have a few announcements that will be coming out on that date that I'm so excited to share with you. And also this is a cool episode because I am not only sharing one woman with a cool job, I am actually talking to three women with cool jobs. Their names are Aaron static, or jL Weinberg and Kaylee Allen, they are part of the creative dementia collective, which provides Person Centered dementia care, and really wonderful creative ways. So all of these women are super cool, because they all have really different skill sets that they are bringing to this field of dementia care. And they do so in such a complimentary way to help specifically provide the person him or herself who has dementia with care, to better communicate to better connect with people to empower them. And also just to allow them to share a little bit of who they are, what their story is. And to make sure that they feel like someone's seeing them, someone's able to carry the story of who they are after they're gone. And they also work with the community, who cares for that person, whether it's the family, whether it's good friends, but anyone who loves and cares for these men or women with dementia, they are there to help them through education, through tools of connecting through different methods that they have developed or that they know over their experience. And so it's the coolest, coolest thing. So you may not know but I was part of this really cool company, we would go in and do therapeutic gardening education for adults, mainly with memory care. And so I did memory care, I went into residences, and I did that for about two years. And the beautiful thing about these communities is that where where someone is on a spectrum, you know can vary because depending on if they just got to that residence or they've been there for a while, sometimes they're talking more sometimes they're talking less sometimes they're moving for sometimes they're moving less than. And so it's really a spectrum. But the incredible thing that I learned is that we are always able to connect with someone on a really very basic human level, see humanity and someone else. And we are always able to teach and we're always able to learn. And so those are such special things that I learned from my time. And I think that what you're going to hear in this episode today is So cool because what these women do is so important. And also, the incredible thing about this episode is that you get to see three, various ways that you can get into working with older adults, whether it's specifically in dementia care. Or if you just want to work with people who are older adults in various capacities, three, three examples are right here for you, of how you can do that, whether it's to get into education, whether it's to get into music therapy, or our therapy, or helping people tell their stories, so many cool things that are possible. And so I love the idea of like expanding this outwards and saying, there are just so many ways we can have cool jobs as women. And I hope that you love this episode, it was so special, what they're doing the work is like so heart centered and special. And it just makes my heart happy that there are women out there like Aaron, jL and Kaylee, who are doing this for the people we love, and who are teaching people how to really consider the people and not just the disease. So thank you, thank you, as always for listening, and stay tuned in for some exciting announcements for my one year anniversary of women with cool jobs. Hello, ladies. So thank you so much for being here on living with cool jobs. Thank you for having us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, it's my pleasure. So I have Aaron, stacker and Kaylee Allen. And so they are here with the creative dementia collective, you guys provide Person Centered Dementia Care in a really awesome, creative way. And you guys have a plethora of services that you offer to families and to people who are dealing with dementia, including music therapy, art therapy, dementia, education, self care for caregivers, community events, and legacy work. And AI in particular, I'm really excited to talk to you guys about this, because I don't know if I've ever mentioned too much on the podcast. But I used to work this really cool organization. And that's how I know Aaron. That's how we met. And but it was all about basically doing these really wonderful therapeutic gardening classes in memory care, residences. And so that's how we met. But it's such a beautiful space in general. And I feel like there's so many incredible things that you guys are doing in a very different way that I am really happy to have you guys talk about what you're doing, what your perspectives are why you guys got into this field in the first place, because you guys are millennial. So we're missing a third of your group where you might see if she pops on later. And her name is jL Weinberg. So she is she is the third Musketeer in your in your group. Yeah, we'll see if she gets to pop on. But I'm so glad to be here talking to both of you. And so I want to hear you guys explain, in your own words, tell me what is the creative dementia collective? Well,
Kaylee Allen:it's the three of us. So we all have worked in the senior care industry for many years now. And found each other through that. And we're less than thrilled about some of the larger structures that exist within senior care, and how difficult it is to implement changes and new ideas and new innovations. We think that person centered care is really critical. We think that engaging in the arts and creativity is very critical, especially for folks living with dementia as they begin to lose their access to other traditional therapies and traditional approaches. And we just decided, Well, we know exactly who needs these services. We know exactly how to deliver these services. Let's stop trying to turn a large shift that is the senior care industry. And let's just go do it ourselves. So that's the collective that's that's kind of how we started.
Julie Berman - Host:I think that's amazing. And you know, I wasn't in that world for that long, like I'd say, you know, two years. But it's interesting hearing, you know, your perspective on that and just even being there for such a short time. I could certainly see how that would be a lot of effort to turn such a large ship in some of those cases. And I love that you guys have this really beautiful, collaborative, like entity that you've created of like a really nice complementary set of skills that you guys have. So I want to talk about what each of you do within that, like your specific skill set. So Aaron, I'm gonna start with you, what are your skills that you bring to the collective? Yeah, thank
Erin Staadecker:you. Um, and you're right, we we met in the memory care world. And that really is my background, I worked in memory care and assisted living for about six years. And my focus really was more on the life enrichment side of things and, you know, engagement activities, you know, recreational therapy like that. And I really, really love finding creative ways for folks who have either cognitive or physical limitations to still engage in life and still do things that make them happy and bring them value and purpose. And oftentimes, that's super, super frustrating to be able to figure out how to do in that kind of setting. You know, heads, there's a, there's a big turnover in that industry. And I found myself simultaneously loving doing that kind of work and then being so frustrated on the brink of burnout. When I was like, Okay, I need to get myself some training, I need to better understand kind of what I'm dealing with working in the memory care setting. So I found what a lot of people find when they are in that position, they go to YouTube, and they start like YouTubing, or googling dementia, and Tifa snow usually pops up, that is a name, it's t pa snow, like snow falling. And I found teepa snow videos on YouTube. And she is an awesome, you know, world renowned dementia educator who has really managed to take, you know, dementia care, translate it for care partners, you know, family care partners. And, and make it accessible to understand what's going on with dementia. What, how can we adjust our approach to caring for folks who are living with it, so that they can be successful and our relationships can still be preserved and still thrive? So I, I'm a certified independent Trainer with deepest knows our organization, which is called positive approach to care. So I bring like that the dementia education piece, a lot of it is, you know, building people's dementia awareness, understanding what is happening with the brain, you know, how does that impact you know, somebodies you know, communication, their motor skills, you know, their executive function, things like that. So getting people to see kind of the why and how, and then also translating into Alright, you know, how can we adjust our approach to best meet them where they're at. So I, I bring, like I said, the dementia awareness dementia education piece. And working with folks to help modify and adapt to find activities that are, you know, best match for their skill level where they are now in their dementia journey, and also to give them purpose and meaning in life stuff. Yes, to have fun. Yeah, quality of life.
Julie Berman - Host:Those are, those are so important. And I think that people who've never worked in that memory care space, it is such a huge adjustment. And I can only imagine for family members going through that process as well and adjusting to their family member who is also constantly evolving and changing. Yeah, that it's like if you don't have the foundational education to understand what's happening and how you can work with them and how you can care for them and how you can still try to connect with them. It's hard. It's really hard.
Erin Staadecker:It's really hard and and that's when you see a lot of people just like being not knowing what to do and then staying away. Yeah, I don't know what to do. When I go see mom, it breaks my heart. It's really depressing. So I just don't go
Kaylee Allen:I don't know how to interact with her. And most of you don't have that training. I mean, right people in the industry people working these jobs are provided that training right here and sought it out. You know, yeah,
Erin Staadecker:I somehow somehow the one day or it's like a you know, a six hours of state mandated dementia training just didn't quite fully prepare me for a career of working in that. I don't know It's weird. Um, so yeah, I sought out something else.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah. And that's awesome. And it's it's so cool that you went above and beyond and we're starting to do your own research and then yes, like cheapest No, I have heard of her. I haven't looked into her programs or trainings and and stuff but I have heard of her because of you know, where we worked before. And she is definitely like, anything credible source of knowledge and just like a powerhouse in in that area of education. And so Kaylee, I want to now move to you and tell us about what you do what your skills are.
Kaylee Allen:So I'm a board certified music therapist, and on demystify that a lot of people have no idea what that means they think I come in and play harp, or use iPods and just put headphones on people all day. That is cool. And music is great, however, you can use it, but that is not music therapy. So music therapy, first of all, is about a relationship between a client and a Board Certified music therapist. And it within that therapeutic relationship, we use music to accomplish non musical goals. So it's not therapy for musicians, it's not therapy, to become a better musician. It's therapy using music. So in dementia care, often that looks like using singing to increase speech fluency. And to help people access their language centers in an easier way. or using instrument playing or dancing to do some gross or fine motor skill work using songwriting, or instrument playing or dancing again, to, to non verbally express our feelings. Language is often not always but often impacted by dementia. So that that non language based modality can be really, really helpful for folks. And you might have heard anecdotally that, folks with dementia, you know, they might like somebody will say, Oh, my grandma had dementia. And you know, she didn't talk for the last like, several years, but she would still sing, and she could sing every word. And she knew, you know, she knew the ins and outs, and then she would chat a little bit after she would sing. That is real. And that happens. And the reason that happens is the way music works. within the brain. People think that there's one Music Center, like there are two very small speech centers right here, or there's, you know, your limbic system, your reward center. Music actually is not just in one spot in the brain. When you do music, it uses every piece of the brain all together. So that is why it's a really great therapeutic tool for anybody who's experiencing any thing neurological, our lane is dementia, but it goes way, way beyond that. So to give it a real world example, a lot of people know the story of Gabby Giffords, the Congresswoman who was shot in the head and where she was shot, it actually was mentioning the two speech centers, they're just these two little spots on one side of the brain on your right side of the brain. And the bullet just obliterated those areas, they were very, very damaged for her. So traditional speech therapy was not as accessible to her and was just agonizing. Because imagine that you just tore a muscle and instead of strengthening everything around that muscle, you're just working that muscle, it's terrible and painful. But with music, being global, and the brain, they used something a very specific type of music therapy called melodic intonation therapy, or MIT. And it's a specific type of music therapy, to help you relearn how to speak through singing. So they would use singing to regain her speech faculties. And since it was, you know, working in other parts of her brain, it allowed the the other parts of the brain to build up and become stronger and support those more damaged parts of her brain and create new neural pathways, new connections in her brain, not with the damaged tissue, but with new growth around the damaged tissue using that music. So it's really it's a really, really cool modality. And obviously, it has a lot of applications within dementia care. I could go on and on but that's, that's what I do. And then also just, we recently added pet therapy. I have a cute, wrinkly Pitbull named rosemary, and she became a Canine Good Citizen. And in Washington State. Once you have your CGC you can do pet therapy, we are still going to do like the full pet therapy certification because she can and why not put some more letters after her name? pet therapy for your listeners. A lot of people conflate it with service dogs. So sir Dogs and pet therapy are different. a service dog is a dog trained to specifically partner with somebody with a disability. That could be like a seeing eye dog. Right, so they perform a specific skill for that person. pet therapy is a little bit more broad, it's less specific. And it's more about just the innate benefits of interacting with animals and petting animals. It releases endorphins, it can relieve stress and pain, it motivates people to get up and to participate in things that they wouldn't normally participate in. And folks living with dementia, like there's this saying, in the industry that like, the things that reach the most hard to reach people are music, babies and animals, like those are, those are the ways if you have somebody that's really tough to reach music, babies and animals are the ways to get through. And even somebody who's just like kind of settled in on themselves and really isolated when they see a dog come up. Or a cat or whoever they just light up and, and connect. And that's because animals have that way of connecting with people. And they don't care about your disability, they don't even see your disability, they don't know that you're in a wheelchair, they don't know that you aren't talking real English words, and that it's all gibberish and word salad. They are just connecting with you on an energetic level. So the pets that therapy services are really, really fun. And just to see the way that it lights people up is just a joy.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah, I can only imagine I never saw pet therapy, but I could see how that would be so incredible. And that's awesome that you guys have that now, too. I love that. And I want to make sure, you know, to mention, like, I think that the idea of music and just how you explained it, incorporating so many different areas of the brain, like that's not something that I guess I ever really knew the science behind. But I always found it so fascinating. When I first started, you know, working with older adults in memory care, one of my first experiences that I found super shocking was that one of the the women who I would work with during the gardening classes, she would always after the class they would put on music, and she would sit down and she would be completely enthralled with like watching the music, and they had the videos, and then she would be singing every single word sometimes to these songs. And yet, she was pretty much nonverbal. For most of them, you know, for most of the rest of the time, at least I would be working with her. And I thought that was the most fascinating thing. And then at the same time, I have young kids. And so it's fascinating to see how young kids to get so excited right away like before, they're even verbal as well, with music, they like they hear a song they love, and they automatically start trying to wiggle and dance. And it was just really interesting, because those both coincided around the same timeframe in my life. And it was just so fascinating to see the power of music. And yeah, and then hearing you explain the reasons for that, because it's not just in one area of the brain, but it affects so many areas of our brain. That makes so much sense. So I'm so excited to know that so thank you for explaining,
Kaylee Allen:Oh, you're welcome. And it's like it's an innate language, right? It's a human language. I mean, you observed it with your, with your children, as they were infants. You didn't teach them, right? Hey, this is music. And hey, when you hear a beat, you're supposed to move to it. That's just naturally what our bodies and brains want to do. So it's pre and post language, you know, it's it's a it's a music is a language, but it exists in our, in our beings, before we know how to speak. And before we have any of those skills, and it exists long after any type of brain change or injury. It's it's just it's human. It's part of what we come pre programmed with. So if you understand how it's working in the brain, it can be a really powerful tool, because then you just tap into that those natural instincts and those natural reflexes that are just, I don't need to know words to be able to communicate with you.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah, and it's nice. I want to get to this a little bit later because I want to talk about what jL does a little bit, but also that ability to connect with people. I think that's what you guys try to do so much just like reading through your website and looking is like how, how are we able to still connect with individuals who who have dementia and connect, you know, not only have their families connect with them still, but be able to care For them, the caregivers are working with them. That connection point is so important and understanding, you know, Aaron, like what you were talking about understanding kind of where they're at different ways to go about making those connections. So I definitely want to cover that because I think that's so important for what you guys are doing, and your method of going about that. But I know I don't want to leave out what JL does. So I was wondering if you guys could just talk a little bit about what she does within your collective. And just maybe like, give us some some tidbits about like, what, what she does to work with people who have dementia?
Erin Staadecker:Yeah, you bet. So I mean, you you teed me up, actually, for just the perfect segue, because jL and the work she does also is about maintaining those kind of connections and the relationships between all people who are, you know, in a community who are touched by dementia, and we say it that way on purpose, right, because if you have dementia in your family in your support circle, it's not only impacting the person who is living with it, it really is impacting everybody. So when we say people touched by dementia, that can be you know, the person who is actually experiencing that brain change, and then their family and their caregivers and their, you know, everyone surrounding them. So, so what jL does just a little tangential tangential note, but what Dale does, she's a art therapist and a licensed mental health counselor. Kaylee, I'm gonna let you talk about the art therapy side, but I'll definitely toot her horn with her, her specialty and focusing on legacy work. Jael really is that amazing storyteller and sees the value of storytelling as a form of human connection. And so we wanted to have legacy work be one of the core pillars of our of our work that we get to do with our clients to really get to tell the story of who are who our clients are? Who is the person who is behind the disease, that is their dementia? You know, what makes them unique? How do they want to be known? How do they want to be remembered. And, you know, it's a really important way for our clients not only to stay connected with who they are, but also for their loved ones to be able to stay connected to who they are, and know how you know, what they value and know, you know, what, to what to recognize and what to celebrate in them. So, you know, we're doing customized legacy work with each of our clients. Right now. We're working with somebody who has a really, really impressive career in the arts. You know, lucky for us, we got we got the jackpot with that one. But, um, and just seeing how can we preserve that? How can we really celebrate it? How can we keep this person in touch with that part of them, that gives them so much pride and it's such a wide avenue for the people in their life to be able to stay connected to her?
Julie Berman - Host:Does she? Or do you guys do that through? Like videos? Or do you do that through written stories or pictures? How do you like what's an example of capturing legacy work? Um, Kelly, do you want to actually talk about your your, you have a beautiful day I have, yeah,
Kaylee Allen:I have a personal example to share. So first of all, legacy work is a very broad term. And it can be anything that that captures your story, and preserves it. So quilt making, garden planting, right? Making garden stones making a family recipe book, making a family slideshow, doing genealogy, your family tree stuff. So it's it's a very broad and very broad term. And we can do kind of whatever project works for somebody. So my dad is living with dementia and has been for the past 26 years. And he loves music. He's always been a musician that has been something in his life that brings him a lot of joy. And at one point in his life, he thought it might be a career, but it's always been just a daily practice for him. And he is a huge fan of rock and roll. I would say the first band that really blew his mind and really hooked something in him. As often as the case when we are young adolescents. He heard the Beatles on Ed Sullivan compound was like this is it like this is this is rock and roll. I'm here for it. So that that music that is most important to people is going to give you the most therapeutic benefit, because it has the most connections in their brain, right. And it has the emotional connections, it has memories. It's motivating to them, it makes them reminds them of coming of age and finding their own identity and finding their own voice. So for him, that's the Beatles and a year ago, just about He turned 64. And if you're familiar with the Beatles, you know where I'm going with this, there is a very famous song called when I'm 64. And I work close to SBU Seattle Pacific University. And I was working with students and interns through SP at the time. So they were kind enough to let me use their facilities. And they have a recording studio, and professional recording studio where their students train. And so my siblings and I went in ahead of time and recorded the instrumentals and the background vocals of the song when I'm 64. And then when we picked him up on his birthday, we said, Hey, we're going to a music studio, and he thought that was the coolest thing in the world. Yeah. And when I asked him, Hey, what are we doing here? And he's like, are we gonna listen to you sing? I was like, No, you're gonna make a record today. He was like, Oh, cool. So he got in the booth. And he's saying the song and. And so we have, we have that now that, that project and that, and, and that product, right, the process was very important, but also the product and like legacy work is, is what we can keep what we can preserve of that person's legacy. It has his voice, it has his children's voices, it has a band that he loves it, it captured a moment in time for him. And as his dementia progresses, he will be less able to access the skills that he needed to accomplish that day. But now we have it. And so when, when he's gone, like we, we always have that. And also now we can kind of conjure it up, and he has a really happy memory about it. So that's a that's a specific personal example of legacy work. And one way that it can look and that that modality works for him because it's about what he loves. And it's about his story and and what's important in his life.
Julie Berman - Host:I love that so much. I almost feel like every family should do something like that. Whether or not you have someone Yes, totally. Because that's like the most special. I mean, like what a special gift not only for the person, but yet for the family to have that in the future. That's beautiful.
Kaylee Allen:And if I can, if I can be so jL right now, this is the part where she would hop on and talk about how us as humans, we have an innate need to communicate, and to tell our story and to be heard, and to say, Hey, I was here. That's why you have cave paintings, right? That's why people carved their initials in trees, is hey, I was here I mattered. I did something. And when folks are faced with a diagnosis of dementia, oftentimes that brings up this existential fear of but but I'm going to disappear and and I'm not going to be able to tell these stories anymore, and they're going to be lost and who's going to who's going to tell my stories when I'm gone? Who's going to remember them? Who's going to keep them? So legacy work, talks to that existential fear, and says, Okay, well, let's talk about what sort of legacy you want to leave behind and what what's your sort of stories you want to tell. And that's why it's such a pillar of what we do. And I want to make sure before we get on so many tangents because we're good at that, to talk about her modality of art therapy. So she uses art. And she would be the first to tell you that you don't have to be an artist to do art therapy, just like you don't have to be be a musician to do music therapy. And people can access art well into the progression of dementia and end of life. And, you know, you adapt it to look different, but it's, again, a nonverbal way to express ourselves is a nonverbal way to say for some group of people, for instance, colors have different meanings. And colors can have different associations. A lot of people think red is angry, right? And it's for a lot of people. For our current client, red is passion, right? So it's just finding, finding out what, what art means to different people and what those colors mean to different people. And then, and then you get to really see what they're trying to say in their art. And it can be everything from collage making to painting and coloring book coloring books, and it's it's a very wide art is, is cool like that, you know?
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah. And I think that it's amazing that you guys really bring in so many different facets that are that are so important to people who have dementia and in their community, all the people who are affected by it. I want to go back and talk about how did you guys get into this area? And why do you feel it's important. What is it that made you guys so passionate and want to be in this world? Like, what is it that draws you in?
Erin Staadecker:That's a great question. Um, I think we can each answer it differently. And then there's kind of the individual ways that we all ended up in the industry, and then the kind of, you know, collective way that we all ended up together. Give us an example of your personal way that you got in, um, well, for me personally, growing up, I, you know, I was, I grew up as an only child. And so most of my memories, as a kiddo are me and like, a ton of grandparent figures, you know, whether it was you know, hanging out with my parents, and like, my actual grandparents or being around my synagogue, and if you've ever been around the synagogue setting, you know, that you just, like, by default have like, 87 new grandparents. And so, um, so for me, it's, those are my fondest memories growing up with older adults, you know, I always resonated a lot more with their generation of music, their kind of ways of connecting, you know, sitting around playing cards versus, you know, being raised on video games. And so for me, I kind of stumbled into senior living by happenstance, you know, I found myself at a crossroads of life. And it was literally just a friend being like, Hey, you should come interview for this company. And I was like, what, like, Senior Living? Okay. Sure, why not. But it was one of those things that, you know, it hits you upside the head, and you're like, when you know, you know, and it felt like I had gone back to what felt natural for me. And also, personally, it was, you know, a pilgrimage coming back home to Seattle, where I'm from, and where my grandparents and great grandparents, generations grew up. And so I was coming back to where my name carried some cloud, you know, and my people knew who my grandparents were, they knew who they were through their synagogue, they knew who they were through the horse racing community. So when I was coming back, and I found myself like, all of a sudden in this, you know, environment of working with older adults in the greater Seattle area, people knew who I was, and that, for me was was a legacy, you know, an experience and legacy all on its own. So I, I just felt really welcomed to go back into having, you know, 87 grandparents all over. And you bet they, they, they scooped you up like that, you know, and for some people that that's kind of they want that surrogate grandchild there to be able to dote on and love on and, you know, so but in many ways, the relationship between myself and my residents for all those years, was a two way street, I got so much value from the love they had to give and, and they also got the experience of getting to be a loving grandparents figure that I had been to so many people growing up. So that's that's kind of my short, my short version. I'm gonna turn it over to you. You have a very different story about that here.
Kaylee Allen:Yeah, I mean, everybody does, right, there's no two paths are exactly the same. Mine was initially very practical. When you are getting your degree in music therapy, you do practicum placements. So while you're learning in the classroom, you also go out to a site, usually weekly, and you study under a Board Certified music therapist in a variety of settings. So I did special needs classrooms and hospital settings. And there was one placement in a juvenile detention setting. And so I did a variety of things. But of course, one of those was memory care, and older adults. And I just fell in love with it. I like that type of music. I grew up loving that type of music and singing it in my jazz choirs and, and I just loved their way of relating, and that way of connecting. And when you have dementia, you're, you know, kind of your social skills are different and you don't have those kind of veneer of, of pretending to be something and having to go through the rigmarole of of Oh, Hello, nice to meet you. And yes, nice to meet you. You're just kind of in it right away, and connecting on a very real level and you skip all of the superficial social stuff, and I find that really appealing. And then of course, my dad has dementia. It's a very specific type of dementia and most of my clients are not in any way like my dad. His dementia is from a traumatic brain injury. But those early experiences really teed me up for being able to use music as a tool of connection because when He, when he had his injury initially, and he came out of his coma, it was kind of like the lights aren't on. Right, nobody's home, it was a little bit like a creepy look like nothing behind the eyes. It was as as he was recovering, acutely, and, but my mom bless her heart encouraged us to just try talk to him, you know, even though he's not talking back. And even though it looks like you're talking to a brick wall, talk to him. And one of those days, when I was talking to him, I was in kindergarten. And I sang a song that we learned at school. And that was the first time that the lights came on. It was the first time he looked at me with any recognition in his eyes, it was the first time we actually had a real moment of connection. And it just lit up something in his brain. Because his brain like like all of us, we know music and specifically for him, we bonded over music, my entire life, music was very important to him. And so then every time I visited him in the hospital, I was singing, saying the whole time, and I just found I was really comfortable in that modality I could you know, it, I'm the type of person that if you say a sentence that is similar to a lyric, I'm going to sing that lyric, I cannot help it. And people dementia, like they're going to flow with you. Right? Right through that, right? If, if you're, if you're like trying to get somebody to walk somewhere with you, and you start saying like, Okay, let's go. Alright, come on like that. You might have some stop and start, you might have a stall that you might not even get started. But if you go off we go into the wild blue yonder. Suddenly, they're walking to that beat, right? Because because of the brain connections because of it's actually a thing called rhythmic entrainment. I won't get into it, because you asked for my short answer. But that's that was my path as I found it in my in my training in school and loved it. And it definitely connected back to my childhood and in finding a way to connect with my dad when he was recovering from his brain injury.
Julie Berman - Host:That's an incredible story. And it's really like, my my oldest is now in kindergarten. So I can't even imagine like what that would have been like for you trying to connect you with your dad, but I'm so glad that that allowed you to connect with him. And that brought some of that spark back and definitely sounds like now he's all about the music first. Sure. So that's Yeah, that's amazing. And what a powerful story to like, have music be such an important part of what you do. And such an important part of how you not only empower others, like just to find words and to be able to express things, but also to connect with others. That is really amazing. And thank you for sharing that. Thanks. Yeah,
Kaylee Allen:I mean, it's it's a, it's a very important part of my story, right, my legacy that's key central to where I've been in life and the work I've done and where I am now. Yeah, I can't tell it without it.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah, I could see that. And it's fascinating to for both of you that you guys have completely different reasons for, you know, how you got into this field. But I can completely see how you landed here. And why also, it's so important for you guys to be doing the work. And so I want to get into now like, what is it like in your job every day? So tell us a little bit. I'm going to start with you. Aaron, tell us a little bit about your like your responsibilities or your tasks or the things that you work on with the collective? Sure. Um, well,
Erin Staadecker:it's been a, it's been a weird year, teaching ourselves how to not only start a business, but then completely pivot it to accommodate for this pandemic landscape that we're in right now. So the way we started where we thought hold the collective at the beginning is a lot different than how it looks now.
Julie Berman - Host:Okay. When When did you start? So let's let's clarify. We like your Tony, Tony.
Erin Staadecker:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we're, we're just masochists, I guess. So yeah, we started right in the middle of a pandemic. So what it looks like now, I won't I won't take you through the traumatic road that led us here. But what it looks like now is we we get to work one on one with our clients and at home care partners. So we had originally started out working with kind of the bigger organizations right, like the senior living the memory care communities. And we're quickly reminded why we all actually wanted to leave that industry and go directly to the people who are you know, at home with mom or dad, you know, who have found themselves especially over this last year thrust in the position of being a care partner doing their very, very best while oftentimes also trying to, you know, work and raise kids and keep their own self care practices in place and that, you know, that is the first to go. So right now we we market ourselves directly to, to like adult families, adult children, you know, people like in Kaylee's position, Kaylee's in at home care partner, caring for her dad, and she's, you know, getting this first hand experience navigating what it's like to what it's like to do that, you know, and so in that sense, you can bring a lot of really awesome firsthand empathy for our clients and the folks we're working with, you know, being millennials Well, we're also trying out different, you know, marketing avenues than you normally find in kind of the senior living world. We're playing around with things like, you know, reels on Instagram, and, you know, doing things like podcast, stuff like that. So we spend a lot of time you know, figuring out how can we reach our audience, you know, just like any, you know, business owner does, how can we reach our audience, you know, where are they hanging out. And then when we are working directly with, with our clients, we spend a lot of time creating a customized engagement plan to work with them. So, you know, Kelly said earlier, no, two people with dementia are the same, everybody's unique. And so each way that we approach our care is unique as well. So we, you know, the three of us, we, we really have a thorough assessment and intake process with a new client, getting to know them getting to know their life story, what their preferences are, you know, what's really going to be, you know, the best way to connect with them. And then we get to create, you know, a customized plan, you know, whether it's gonna have a stronger music focus, or we're gonna really, you know, work on bolstering their care community with, you know, dementia awareness training, you know, or are we going to do co treatment sessions. So then, when we work with a client, we also can do a hybrid of virtual and in person sessions. So we're, you know, flexible in that regard these days, as you have to be. And it's been really lovely actually being able to, you know, do in person sessions with folks and work with them over the course of either like four, eight or 12 sessions that we that we've created into kind of a package, a package model with our sessions and services. So um, I know I'm missing a lot of things for sure. We are super, super lucky, I was hoping we would get to have the the third and final member of the collective join us. I know, she's, she's been with family, working on supporting her family. And we were hoping that that jL would be able to pop in, and it looks like she might be able to join the conversation for a second. So, um, so I'm gonna I'll keep going while Jay, I'll get settled.
Kaylee Allen:Yeah, well, I can I can add to that, too. Yeah. So um, a lot of people have the question, like, what is music therapy look like? And what are you actually doing your day? So it varies, right, but let's take the example of songwriting. Right? Most people I work with are not musicians and have not written a song. And when I say like, Hey, we're gonna do a songwriting session, I get a deer in the headlights look. And first thing I remind them is like, We're not trying to win any Grammys, we're not trying to like pack Carnegie Hall, like, we're just gonna write a song. And it's very process oriented, right, we have a product at the end that they can be proud of, and show off. But it's very much about the process of collaboration, and creative expression. And we can do that from scratch, we can do that, like, you know, let's let's play around and find something that works, I can do that by, you know, having a chord structure ready for them and letting them make up some lyrics and a melody, we can improvise it and just kind of see what comes out. Or we can do something called the template method, which is kind of like, you just take a song that already exists, and put in your own words. So I had a sample several years ago and the Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl. And we wrote a song called Go Hawks go to the tune of side by side, and you just you take the melody, you take the structure and you put in your own words, and you just you break it down for him You start with a question a prompt, you know, hey, what what sort of things do you like about watching the Seahawks, and then you you put that brainstorm on a on a piece of paper, and then you go to the lyrics and start plugging things in and seeing where it works. And then people can think really creatively, you know, people who might not might not have a great verbal skills will come up with these cute clever little rhyme schemes and you're like, oh, okay, I see you. So that's like one example. But the biggest thing is, I'm always using what's called client preferred music. Right? We talked about a little bit earlier, that music that's most important to them, and, and most connecting to their lives. So at juvie, it was hip hop, and memory care, it's Sinatra, I mean, so it's starting actually, to get a little bit more rock and roll, which is very fun for me. And then it's the biggest principle is we're doing active music making as much as possible, because you know, sitting and listening to music certainly has its benefits. They're well documented in medical journals, there are physiological benefits for sure. But being actively engaged in music is what engages the full brain. And, and that's what gives you the ability to kind of use what's called neural plasticity, which is the principle that our brains are plastic or moldable, are, are changeable. And as we've learned things, we we can change the way our brains Connect. And so yeah, when you're actively engaged in music, you're doing more of that active brain change, you're doing more of the creating new connections. So those are the big things is using client preferred music and doing it in active music, making live music. And it can look like a lot of different things like songwriting, like dancing, like sing alongs, like music and trivia, like name that tune. It's, it can it can vary. It depends on the goals you're working on.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah. That's incredible. And now we're, we're lucky enough. So thank you, first of all, for explaining that because I think it's so helpful to have examples. And it's so interesting to me, when you're, when you're talking through some of those, that's actually so much of what people do with young kids. Yeah, like, I feel, I don't know if it's bad to say it, but it's like so many similarities between how we teach young kids these skills, and then how you're, you're doing that for older adults that I don't think that we remember kind of all those ways that we teach people when were younger, like get those, you know, those different things in the brain going and, and then also to be able to apply that towards the end of life as well. And yeah, able to help people is super fascinating to me.
Kaylee Allen:It's not an offensive parallel. They're, they're good. Yeah, we don't want to infantilize No, they're adults. Right. But you're right. On a neurological level, there are a lot of parallels.
Julie Berman - Host:So so fascinating. And and the thing that I love about it, too, is that like, because my my background, I did adult ed and training and but that I love is that I can see how people can still learn and do new things. At every age, even when you're going through something like dementia, it's like you still have the capability to learn and to, to do new things. It's really incredible. It's actually very hopeful to me. So I love hearing you guys talk about this. It's so cool. And so now we're lucky enough to have jL on the call with us. So thank you for popping in. You're part of the collective and specifics with our are like collecting memories. What is that? Like? What are your responsibilities sort of day to day, and then if you can give us more details, that's better, because I think some people who may be listening, they're not familiar with, you know, memory care or the dementia community as a whole.
Jael Weinberg:Thank you so much for bearing with me. Sure. Yeah, so I'm jL Weinberg. I'm an art therapist and a mental health counselor and I am 1/3 of the creative dementia collective. And kind of my primary role in the collective is well, first of all, I'm an art therapist. So bringing in the kind of creative therapies element alongside Kaylee. She's a music therapists and kind of specializes right in that area of creativity. And then art therapy, kind of from a traditional lens is the visual arts right? There's like drawing, painting, sculpting, that are kind of the foundation of what art therapy was created around. But since its creation, you know, in the 1940s ish, it's expanded quite a bit. And art therapy has come to encapsulate many many different forms of creativity. So that's kind of my approach. That's how I view art therapy. And it's about kind of harnessing the creative energy, what it means to us kind of as humans, to create things, why that's so important and why that's so moving.
Julie Berman - Host:So will you give us an example or two of maybe something specific that you've done with someone who has dementia or, you know, done in collaboration with their family? Absolutely.
Unknown:So the the kind of focus of my art therapy work with the collective is legacy work. So it's basically how we tell our story, as a person and an individual, how it relates to where we came from our ancestry, things that have been important to us and how we want that story told in the future. So I just finished working with a client who was I think, 79, and she had been living alone through the pandemic, and really experiencing deep deep loneliness, a lot of depression, which was very common for older adults. And the the legacy project that we did the art therapy project we did was I bought a deck of blank playing cards. And we went through many, many conversations about her life. And we were creating gratitude cards. So when she had say things that she was grateful for, I write them down and gold Sharpie on one side of the blank playing cards. And we created a deck of you know, 30 or so cards that she was grateful for things places, she had traveled to people in her life, things she had done qualities about herself. One of them was like her resourcefulness. Since she was a young kid, she had been taking herself to the library to learn things, stuff like that. And then after we did a number of sessions creating these cards are following sessions where she used to be the client used to be a painter. And she kind of lost her connection to painting, I think it was a combination of her hands physically couldn't recreate what she used to paint, which kind of connected to her mind of thinking, Oh, I'm not good at art anymore. And there was this like confidence block. So we worked a lot on kind of getting getting her hands moving, getting her reconnected to paint. But she was still a little bit hesitant. So as art therapist I stepped in. And on the back of each of the cards, I painted a tiny little scene or a little symbol that related to the card. And so now she has this gratitude deck. That's like part legacy work part self care, where she can go through the cards herself, if she's having a tough day and remembering the things she's grateful for. She can go through them with family, because sitting around with someone who's living with dementia can sometimes be awkward for people, they they're not sure what to say. They don't know what to talk about. So having things for them to do together like her and her family or her in visitors could be really helpful. So it's kind of a social reminiscing aspect. But then also, as she ages and she has more and more care partners or caregivers engaged in her care, they can go through the deck with her, and they can understand what matters to her. What are the things that she lights up about? What are the things that Oh, tell me about, you know, the time that you went to New Zealand, right, and she's oh my goodness, right. And they have this whole conversation. And then at the end, we you know, I bought a little kind of wooden box from Michael's craft store. And we stained it together. She had a furniture, refurbishing business when she was younger. And so I asked her if she wanted to paint the box, she's like, I think it would be better to stain it and I was like, cool, I don't have furniture stain. But I do have acrylics, I can water down and a little like Burnt Sienna Burnt Umber vive would look like a woodstain. So that's what we did on that little, you know, box and we keep the cards in there. And it's portable enough she can keep it in her purse or keep it in a bedside table. And it's a way for her to tell her story over and over again. And people to learn about her story through the visual and the linguistic right with the writing on the other side. So that's kind of a full example of art therapy used as a legacy Work Project.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah, and thank you for going through that in such detail. It's so incredible to hear. And I could see how it would not only help the person like herself to go through that. And I can't imagine like as an artist that would probably be so heartbreaking. You know to have lost some of your dexterity and your ability to create what you To be able to create, but then to be able to still create something, have those memories and then be able to share it with other people and for the other people in her community, to be able to engage with her, and be able to ask about the things that are important to her is like, I mean, that's amazing. that's invaluable. So that's such an awesome tool. I love that example. Like, I want to do it for myself. What would I put in my, you know, in my deck? I don't know, it's such a great idea. And so yeah, so thank you so much. And I think for all of you, what you guys are doing is is so important. And I and I think that I was so happy when I was able to go into those communities and be part of doing something that people were lighting up and like you could tell they wanted to be there, even if they weren't participating that much, but just doing something to say, okay, you're still a person, you still deserve to be treated like a human being, you still deserve to, you know, feel like you can have connections, you know, to have these meaningful experiences in your life, I think you guys are doing like, you know, such a beautiful job. And you guys do it so well with with such beautiful complementary skills. And I think some of the things that you guys are talking about, like, I feel like everyone in every community could could benefit from doing those things, whether whether or not you've got someone in the dementia care community, or otherwise. And I want to ask you guys, so for people who might be interested in going into this area, know, specifically elder care, working maybe in memory care with people who have dementia supporting their families? What are some top tips?
Erin Staadecker:Yeah, I mean, I always will recommend teepa snow, her organization is called positive approach to care. You know, even being able to, you know, jump on board with like, dementia friends, just doing a really quick, you know, educational course online, and then you can broadcast to the world like, Hey, I'm, you know, a dementia friend. And it just gets the conversation going, especially like on a social media platform or something like that. And people always like to be able to put like, a badge or a, you know, a certification or a, you know, a ring around their profile picture that says, you know, hey, here's a cause that's important to me, I'm learning about it, maybe you should, too, you know, they, they do. They do good work with that as well. You know, always, of course, the Alzheimer's Association for especially for, you know, local chapters with research and support and things like that. But I know these I know, these gals have their own specific organizations as well to talk about so.
Kaylee Allen:Yeah, music therapy. It's the American Music Therapy Association, which is a national organization, the laws regarding how music therapists are certified and registered vary state to state. So we have a national accreditation body. But if your listeners are curious about finding a music therapist in their area, I would guide them not to the AMT, a website, which is great for information, but to the C b m t.org. website that stands for certification board music therapy. So on the cbmt.org, there is a find a therapist tool, and you can put in your state, and it shows you every music therapist who is nationally certified, and you can you know, see exactly where they're, you know what, what town they're in. And that that's just a super handy tool, if any of your listeners are curious about music therapy, and then obviously, you know, we've got a bunch of information on our website we have I did a blog on what is music therapy, because I get that question so much and yeah, and we've got just little quick descriptions and examples of what what our work entails jail. Do you want to talk about our therapy organizations?
Unknown:Sure. Very similar to Kaylee and music therapy. The Art Therapy Association is the American Art Therapy Association or ABA, a TA. And if you go to their website, the American Art Therapy Association, they also have a find a therapist tool. If you're looking for an art therapist somewhere in the US and you know something that I would give as advice to someone looking to enter into the dementia care field through a mental health care lens. If you're a therapist, if you're a social worker, if you're a counselor, look into your area and see There's a either online or you know, once COVID passes through if you're listening to this episode after that, and they have in person training somewhere, geriatric mental health care training, they have little certification programs, they have one day courses, I'm sure there's conferences, but look into educating yourself through the lens of geriatric mental health care, because there's a really big void in that area of counseling. And the more people who are working in the healthcare field, who understand the specific elements of aging, the specific elements that impact mental health, mental health across the lifespan, especially in older age, the better everybody is equipped right to deal kind of with those issues whenever they come up, and however they present. So if you're in mental health care, and you're looking to, you know, get into dementia field, I would absolutely suggest taking a geriatric mental health care course or certification.
Erin Staadecker:I also realized, we're doing a educational series coming up in October, we've partnered with Televisa there, they're an online engagement platform specifically for older adults. And we're going to be doing I think, what four sessions live streaming, nationwide, you know, talking about, you know, covering some dementia, one on one on one basics, talking about, you know, the basics and the applications for music therapy, art therapy, all the different modalities that we talked about today. And, you know, there are a lot of really cool online engagement platforms like that, that have, have really kicked into gear, especially over this last year to try to reach people in home. So, you know, if you're an at home care partner, if you are somebody who is living with dementia, if you just want to be better informed to be a dementia advocate out in your community, check me out things like tele beta link Sr. Those are some really good resources as well. Okay, yeah,
Julie Berman - Host:I can link that if you totally want to send me We'll link that in the in the notes for the podcast. So you can do that so people can check it out. I want to ask you guys, because you guys are all so passionate about this career? What is your favorite thing about being in this job? Oh,
Unknown:that's a really good question. I think for me, it's about our stories, the storytelling aspect of what we do. And and, you know, I, if you read my little bio, on our on our website, my story I talked about that I come from a long line of storytellers, my grandparents were master storytellers. And my parents as well. And I, I love the element of human stories. And I feel that the, the spark, for me, comes from helping people who are living with dementia, tell their stories, express what was meaningful to them, right, we all have different experiences, different lessons we've learned from our time on this planet. And when people develop dementia, it becomes difficult sometimes to express those stories in a way that makes sense to other people. So the thing that's really kind of the spark for me is almost being the translator or the facilitator of helping people tell their stories, and then having those stories be heard by people that matter to them. And that's the part that really just gets me super jazzed, I could talk about storytelling all day long, I get so excited about it, and just my face lights up. Because it's so powerful, to feel truly, truly seen as a human. Like, at the end of the day, you know, that's really the only thing that we all want. It's why we painted on caves, you know, 1000s and 1000s of years ago, it's why when you go on a hike, you see, you know, initials carved into a tree with a heart around it. We just desperately want people to know that we were here and we existed and we mattered. And so I love being able to use the skill set that I have to help people experience that and feel that they mattered and that they their time has been heard. And the things that they've done have been, you know, honored and will be talked about after they're gone. Because I think that's kind of one of the most existentially terrifying parts of being a human. Is this fear of when I'm gone? Will anyone remember me? Will I have mattered? Will I be forgotten? And through legacy work and through storytelling? The answer's yes. You'll be remembered, right? I, you know, have worked with all these clients and I still tell their stories, and I will continue to tell their stories. And that's the part for me that just makes my whole core feel excited. And I could talk about it forever.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah, and that's it's beautiful to hear. And I think that's true for everyone at every age, you know, and I think that we We probably must start thinking about it a lot more, towards the end of life, it's my guess. And especially, you know, I can only imagine the people you guys have worked with who, who do have dementia, and are dealing with various stages of losing their memory and, and that ability to still be able to share their story and to share the meaningful bits, and to make sure that someone will really hear them. And remember, that's so so important. Like I, you know, I can't imagine I know, it's like my three year old just wants to share his story. Like he just, you know, it's just innate in us at every age. And so, but by then, we have so much to tell, we have so much to share, we've done so much. And I think that the incredible thing about having worked, you know, with with older adults and being there is that, like sometimes you do get to hear these amazing stories. And, but sometimes, you know, you don't, you don't have the full grasp of it. So having that captured in some way, and especially for the family members is so special. So Kaylee, what is it about this work that lights you up every day.
Kaylee Allen:I mean, beyond the fact that I get to play music every day. I mean, that that just on its face is like, I go to work with a guitar on my back. And I spend a lot of my day making music and singing awesome songs. So so that's I mean, just from a base level is pretty awesome. But the the thing that really lights me up about this work is when you find that song for somebody, you know, each of us has usually more than one, but a certain song that really, really is meaningful, so meaningful to us and central to our story and central to who we are, and and makes us feel like ourselves, you know that song that is just like a favorite song or a song that we we loved at a pivotal time in our life, or a song that got us through a really challenging time in our lives. And when you find that song for a person, just the way that that you connect with them, and the way that you see them and the way that they feel held, and and witnessed, I'll give, I'll give one short example. I had a client who was a 35 year member of the Seattle men's chorus. And that was central to who he was and central to his life. He was a gay man. And so they were his family. You know, his he was a little bit of strange from his family. But then on top of that they lived in the south, and he lived in Seattle, the Seattle men's chorus was, was his family. And his most pivotal performance with them was at Carnegie Hall. And he had a profound moment of meaning and connection and just that those moments where we feel very human, but also otherworldly spiritual connected to something larger than ourselves, when they saying over the rainbow there, their arrangement over the rainbow at Carnegie Hall. And he told me that story early on in our therapeutic relationship. And then later, you know, he lost his ability to speak through something called aphasia. That's somewhat common for folks living with dementia. And on his deathbed, he wasn't able to verbalize To me it was just looking at each other and trying to communicate with our eyes. And I sang him over the rainbow and the look of relief and calm that came over his face when I sang it to him. And then I followed that up by saying, I know your story. I know that you saying this at Carnegie Hall, I know how important it is to you, and to your Seattle men's chorus family. And I and I will keep singing the song and I will think of you every time I sing the song and I will tell your story. And you just we had that idi moment where you're just looking at somebody and you know, it's hard to describe the look in his eyes. But that of that moment, that powerful moment of have I found the song that matters to I know why it matters to you can't tell your story anymore. So I'll tell it back to you. And by the way, I'll keep telling it.
Julie Berman - Host:Wow, that's an amazing story. Like you're gonna make me cry. Keep it together. But yeah, that's incredible. It's such a powerful example of not only really true really capturing something that was so special and important, but also being able to help them at such a hard time. You know, and I can't imagine what it's like for individuals who lose that ability to communicate, you know, but the fact that they know that like, yes, like, you get me, you get what I'm, you know, like, what I'm trying to communicate well is important to you. That's like, you know, that's beyond words, like you cannot. Anybody wants that. Right. Yeah. Yeah, that's so powerful. Thank you for sharing that. And, you know, I, Aaron, I want to ask you, you know, with, with your perspective, like, what is it that keeps you loving this? Every time coming back to it? Yeah. Um,
Erin Staadecker:you know, there's no doubt and anybody who knows me, like, you can't hang out with me without me whipping out my phone and showing you like a 9 million pictures of like, older adults, and like telling you 100 stories about like, on the day, like, okay, Aaron, we don't care. So like, I mean, they do actually, my friends and family get quite invested in the people that, that I work with, and say, they hear a lot about them all, anonymously, of course. But um, yeah, of course. But, you know, aside from really falling in love with, you know, either my residents in, you know, a memory care setting or our private clients, I really, really, really love getting to work with the families, and the people in the greater care community that I think is the thing that like, really lights me up. Because for me, personally, when I started building my own dementia awareness, it was like, all these light bulbs started going off. And I was like, Oh, that's why they do that thing. That's why they say it that way. That's why when I you know, ramble on and ask them 100 questions at once I get no response, like, Oh, that makes so much sense. So being able to pass along that same kind of training to families, whether it's, you know, just basic dementia awareness, or like really practical skills training, I'll give to two examples. So I was working in a memory care setting, I don't know, maybe like a month and a half ago. And I, there was a gal there who, you know, is in really late stage dementia, her daughter just happened to be there when I was coming in to do my session. You know, and I was engaging a full group of people. And there's always, you know, in a, in a group, there's a lot of different ability levels, right, there's a mixed acuity, there's folks who are going to be you know, your joiners who just are always really participant, you know, they, they get into it, and then there's going to be the people who are, you know, are nonverbal, and they often get overlooked. And instead of focusing on those people who are just super easy to engage, I really wanted to work with this woman who was, you know, in a wheelchair, she, you know, was nonverbal, you know, most people would just kind of like, ignore her, and she would just kind of be there passively. But her daughter was sitting there with her. So I really wanted to get down on her level. And I wanted to try a couple different approaches to have her engage. And, you know, Kaylee talked about earlier, like, the light coming on behind your eyes that that had been on for a while, you know, and the caregivers were like, Oh, that's, you know, Miss A she's Don't worry about her. And I was like, Challenge accepted. Like, all right, so you know, I got to engage her I was in there doing some horticultural therapy work. And I got to engage her in a couple different ways that actually had her come up from her hunched over state, which is really typical people in you know, later stage dementia come up from a hunched over state actually make eye contact with me. smile, laugh, she started grabbing my hand doing some like really, like strong, strong proprioceptive touch, like different things. And her daughter is sitting there next to me, like literally just jaw on the floor, like, what is happening right now. And she starts to well up, and she starts you know, I'm there engaging with her to the vehicle, you know, plants and nature. And she starts to well up and be like, Mom was a master gardener. Mom always had the most beautiful, you know, yard It was her pride and joy. So not only was it a moment for this woman, to come alive and connect with somebody, and you know, like they've said, be seen. But also for her mom to see, oh my god, that's my mom, or for her daughter to say, Oh my God, that's my mom. There she is. I haven't seen her in a minute. Thank you for bringing her out. And then, you know, getting to her being like, Can you show me how you did that? So I got to show her like, you know, a skill or two and like, it's really it's, it's just a small little tweak to your approach and the way that, you know, I posed a question or in the way I, you know, held her hand in the way you know, it's something that is really trainable that now I can teach this, this daughter so that she can do it with her mom next time so that her mom can be engaged and, you know, join in the session next time. Instead of being the person who's always just like in the corner that everyone kind of ignores. So like, that's the piece that really lights me up, we also did a session recently with another private client, where they there they've been living at home. And this woman's dementia has progressed over the last year with COVID, you know, isolation, loneliness, depression, it's really accelerated dementia, for a lot of people, especially when they're, you know, at a in an in home setting, not a whole lot of like social interaction, you know, we're social beings, it's not normal for us to be isolated, whether you have a healthy brain or not, for sure. So they really wanted to broach the subject of her dementia with their friends and family, but they didn't know how it was, like awkward and uncomfortable, and there was a lot of like, shame and stigma around it. So we jumped in, and we facilitated a workshop day, you know, really to build their care community. And I think we had, like, 30 people, I think we're planning on there being like five or six, maybe 30 people later, we have about half in person, you know, we had a couple of us there in person. And then you know, I was there hosting another, you know, 1314 people on zoom, coming in from all around the world, because they wanted to show up, they wanted to understand what was going on with this woman they love who's their, their friends, you know, their colleague for many years, their their beloved family, too, and they showed up, they're like, we're here to learn, we're here to understand how we can be a best support, we're here to understand how we can advocate for you. And it was an educational opportunity for that whole community of people. And it also took the emotional labor of having to explain their struggles and their, their dementia journey, you know, to everybody, you know, individual conversations one at a time. So we really took that off of this woman and her husband, who are our clients, and created an opportunity for people to step up and show leadership in their support. So now that what they're dealing with is like, Okay, well, our new problem is we have to convert our spare bedroom into a guestroom, because after our care committee session, we have all these people who want to come through and come visit and support us with different household tasks and social events and things like that. So now we have to figure out how to get a guest. I'm like, awesome, that's a good problem to have that is, you know, and then the, you know, the family and friends, they're all off talking about how they can support this couple privately, like, yeah, they're advocating separately out in the world. And even, you know, if they're not showing up to support, you know, this couple directly, chances are, there's going to be somebody else in their circle who's somehow touched by dementia, you know, and there were people, there were older adults, there are other millennials on the call. And I'm like, if people came out of that session, with a little bit more dementia awareness to spread out in the world a little bit more compassion, and maybe it empowered with a couple steps to take to support people who are touched by dementia. Awesome. That's what lights me up, and seeing people get off and like, get out of that session and be like, totally, just, like lit up and inspired and overwhelmed with support. That's what that's what I like.
Julie Berman - Host:So enduring that, you know, I think it's so empowering. Because you're not only allowing that that couple to share this information, in an probably what feels like a much lighter way for them. But it's also giving them the tools and the words and the communication around how to have the people who have loved this woman who's part of their family, like how to help them as a couple how to help their you know, their loved one. And actually doing so with the knowledge of like, yes, like, this is tried and true information, not just like randomly guessing. Yeah, how can I help? I have no foundational knowledge in this. Yeah. And I think like, that's so important, you know, the, the world of, of being someone in that community of dementia, I think, is just so different. And I think that, you know, it's like anything that if we don't know about sometimes there we don't know about something sometimes we're just like, as human nature, it's like, we want to go hide, we want to run away we want to, we're like too scared. We don't know how to bring things up. We don't know the words to use. We don't want to hurt people's feelings. We don't know how to support them. So like, our automatic sad reaction is to, like feared like, let me go hide. But I think at the end of the, at the end of the day, you know, it's it's like we we want to be there. We want to know how we can support people whether it's going through this you know, in dementia or it's going through something else. Mental Health or, or health, physical health issue, but like, how can we best do that and through empowering through knowledge through community through connecting, like all these things that you guys do, is is truly incredible. And I'm so excited, I know you guys started only a year, a little over a year ago. And you're constantly shifting with what you know how you're going about it with what's going on in the world with the pandemic, because, as we all know, we are constantly still constantly shifting what we're doing so but I look forward in like five years or 10 years, to see what you guys have accomplished. And, you know, to close up, I always ask the same question, will you share a sentence that uses verbiage or jargon from your field, and then translate it so it's understandable to so Kaylee, I'm going to let you take this one.
Kaylee Allen:So if jL or Aaron have something that's more general, or specific to their modalities, go for it. But I immediately think of some music therapy jargon. So here's, here's a sentence that makes perfect sense to music therapists working in memory care, when you're doing a sundowning group employ the ISO principle. Let me translate. So first of all, sundowning sundowning, for those who are not familiar, is the phenomenon of when the sun goes down later in the day. It's not, you know, a specific time, it's different for everybody. But later in the day, typically, you'll see increased anxiety, and agitation for folks living with dementia. And oftentimes, the complaint is, well, this is just such a nice place to be, but I ought to be getting home, my mother's gonna be worried about me, I can't stay here. And of course, these are folks whose parents have been gone for a long, long time. And what you don't want to do is say, Oh, darling, your your mother's been dead for 20 years. That's like, not a not a kind of way to meet that person in that moment. But music is a great way to redirect. So oftentimes, you do music therapy groups, in the sundowning time, because you need that whole brain activity that's fully engaging, and that is so engaging to the brain, that other distractions are just going to fade away. Because if I'm actively engaged, engaging, and making music, I can't think about when I'm going to make for dinner, I can't think about a conversation that I had yesterday, like, my, my, I don't have enough brain bandwidth. So the second part is employ the ISO principle. So ISO principle is, is Oh, principle. It's a music therapy principle that essentially says, meet people where they are, right, meet people where they are. And then if you need to make an adjustment, or that's not where you want them to be, you do so gradually. So when somebody sundowning that's not an ideal place to be if you're getting ready to go to bed, if you're getting ready to wind down for the day to be anxious and agitated, and but I need to get home, I'm going to get in trouble. My mother is worried about me, like, you're not going to sleep, right, you're just going to fight. But I'm not going to start by saying like Kumbaya, that's not going to work. She's just you know, if somebody sat down and they're just gonna look at me, like you jerk Get out of my way. So I meet them where they are. And with music, that means that I am meeting their energy level. So when somebody is in increased anxiety and agitation, that's a high energy level, I need to give them a physical outlet, right? Because otherwise, the worry is just going to cycle and cycle and cycle, we need a physical outlet to drain that energy. And to put it somewhere. So I start with really high energy songs, we move our bodies, we sing, we dance, we laugh, we like get that energy out, we purge it, and then really gradually, I decrease the tempo of each song that I'm doing. So that over the course of an hour, you're not even noticing that each song is just a tad slower. And by the end, we're yawning. We're lowering the lights. I might be singing lullabies. I'm singing ballads where I did. I do this group three times a week, every week. And I recently was asking, you know, I always asked at the beginning, how are we feeling? How was the day and this one lady goes busy. I was like, oh, busy, okay, we've had a chaotic day. We're feeling busy. And then I did the group. And at the end of the group, she is literally Like kicked back in a recliner closing her eyes. And like, how are we feeling? And she goes, really? Oh, honey. Yeah, me too. I'm feeling relieved, Let's relax. It's the end of the day, we don't have anything to worry about. And she's one that like, will paste the hallways, and it's hard to get her to stop. But that music that engages her, not the slow stuff at first, you got to hook her with that rock and roll and give her something to dance to because otherwise her feet are gonna be moving up and down the hallway, make her feet move to the music, and you got her. So yeah, that's a that's doing a sundown in group employ the ISO principle.
Julie Berman - Host:That's a great example. Thank you for doing that. You're welcome. Yes. Well, it was such such a pleasure to have you guys all on the podcast. And tell me the details. So if people want to connect with you, if they want to find out more about the collective if they want to reach out to you, if they want to learn more about what you do, how can they find you tell us all the ways.
Kaylee Allen:So our website, creative dementia, collective calm? We're on Instagram, we're on Facebook. We're on the socials find us there as well. Aaron, do you wanna hop in?
Erin Staadecker:I was gonna say we're at creative dementia collective on
Julie Berman - Host:all those platforms. Okay,
Erin Staadecker:we Yeah, stay tuned, we also have a workbook that we're releasing closer to the holidays, it's going to be a resource, actually, a two set of two workbooks, one supports care partners. One is designed specifically for people living with dementia. So just a handy dandy resource that we're trying to roll out as they approach a really challenging time, around holiday season, or what can be a really challenging time, depending on how you approach it. So yeah, you can find links to that through all of the aforementioned places. And we also have links to other podcasts and a couple other panel interviews and things that we've done. You can also go on our website and read some longer form blogs about the different modalities if something you heard today struck your fancy.
Julie Berman - Host:Okay, awesome. And so your website is just how it sounds? It's nothing nothing fancy about it's just www dot creative dementia collective calm. You got it. Okay, awesome. So thank you so much, ladies for being on it was such a pleasure to have you until learn about all the really incredible work you guys do for people in the dementia community. Thank you. Yeah, that's such a delight. Thank you so much. I feel I feel re inspired by the cool, the cool job that we get to have. Yeah. You guys all do have very cool jobs, and it's so meaningful to you. Thank you very much. Thank you for creating the space for it to come on and share of your soul. Welcome. Hi, everybody. I Hi, everybody. Thank you so much for listening to women with cool jobs. I'll be releasing a new episode every two weeks. So make sure you hit that subscribe button. And if you love the show, please give me a five star rating. Also, it would mean so much if you share this episode with someone you think would love it or would find it inspirational. And lastly, do you have ideas for future shows? Or do you know any Rockstar women with cool jobs? I would love to hear from you. You can email me at Julie at women with cool jobs calm or you can find me on Instagram at women cool jobs. Again, that's women cool jobs. Thank you so much for listening and have an incredible day.