an article ofFrancina Lerma Barcelo,psychologist of
In this article I share an activity focused on the maintenance of the temporary orientation in older people who live in a residential center, and who mostly suffer from cognitive decline or dementia.
According to the Alzheimer’s State Referential Center (CREALZ), “the reality orientation therapy (TOR) is a set of techniques through which the person becomes aware of their situation in time (time orientation), in the space (spatial orientation) and with respect to his own person(personal orientation). It provides the person with a greater understanding of what surrounds them, and produces an increase in the feeling of control and self-esteem”. This type of therapy belongs to the so-called non-pharmacological therapies or psychosocial interventions.
In this case, the activity consists of providing external support for time orientation in the users of the residential center, in order to promote awareness of their situation over time and to favor contact with daily reality. In addition to providing information that can be consulted at any time and is available to all users, it has been carried out in a group and participatory manner, so that everyone recognizes both its work and its usefulness.
Procedure and material
As can be seen in the photograph, we have used different templates lids of different tupperware (one size for the days of the week, another size for the numbers…), sheets of paper and colored pencils to write and color the days of the week, which we have reinforced by gluing a piece of recycled cardboard to the back. Then we have cut them out, laminated them and placed a piece of velcro on the back.
In each session we have been checking what material we have and what we are missing, for example, taking all the number cards we must know what numbers are missing in order to have them all, and we have been doing the same with the days of the week and the months, thus reinforcing transversal skills such as reasoning and working memory.
Once we have been able to verify that we already had all the material, we have hung the base in the form of large cardboard with 3 lines of velcro and we have named a person responsible for the panel, which will be in charge of updating the date and the weather on a daily basis. In addition to the group benefits, through this responsibility we manage to promote self-esteem, participation and involvement of this person in the daily dynamics of the center.
Methodology
At the beginning of the first session we explained the reason for the project, since we realized that on many occasions it is difficult for us to know what day of the week it is. When proposing the activity, we were all classifying and organizing resources we needed: we were going to need to make cards with the names of the days of the week, the numbers, the names of the months and the year. In addition, it occurred to us that we could also add some cards to represent what the weather is like.
So we’ve been doing the work together for 4 sessions, although perhaps it can take longer, depending on the level of autonomy of the users and their speed of work. In any case, it should be remembered that, as always when we carry out activities with people with dementia or deterioration, the most important thing is not the result, but the processthat is, everything we have been working on during the different sessions: sensory stimulation, praxis, organizational capacity and, above all, teamwork.
So after 4 weeks, already with all the material prepared, I we have presented and hung in the dining room, in the space where we normally carry out the activities, so that they can access the information whenever they need it and so that it is a resource to turn to at the beginning of each activity, in the daily section reality oriented.
conclusions
The older people who have participated in the creation of the time orientation panel have been involved in the project from the beginning, and have been motivated and active throughout the different sessions. He participatory workset and above all the fact that it is a significant activity, with an observable objective in the short and medium term, makes this activity a very attractive option to be carried out in similar contexts.
The long-term results are equally interesting, since the people who have participated will be able to see and use the resource that they have made with their own hands on a daily basis, thus favoring their temporal orientation, their self-esteem and their sense of participation and responsibility in the middle.