McGill Cares - Activities to Engage Persons with Advanced Dementia

Joyce Simard, MSW, is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Nursing, University of Western Sydney Australia, and the patron and founder of Namaste Care International. She has been involved in long-term care for over 40 years, serving as Alzheimer’s specialist for many healthcare companies that provide services in skilled nursing homes, assisted living communities and hospice organizations throughout the world. Ms. Simard will discuss Namaste Care, a program of person-centered activities offered to people with advanced dementia or when a person is at the end of life. All interaction is offered in a calm, peaceful environment with an unhurried loving approach. It is offered in a small group setting or taken to the bedside as an individual activity in a nursing home, assisted living community or hospice organization. During the pandemic, the Namaste Care Individual program has helped to ease the isolation in care homes where groups have been cancelled and visitors have not been allowed in the home. This episode of McGill Cares is made possible thanks to a donation by the Lindsay Memorial Foundation. Original Air Date: March 10, 2021