The Brain and Aging

How Creative Enrichment Took a Brain from Zero to Ten

As per customary routine, I went up and down the halls of the Assisted Living to invite the residents to Kareen’s Kettle. When I entered John’s room, he was watching the news while seated in a recliner, his body shifted far to the right and head leaning over the arm of the chair. Concerned, I asked, “Are you o.k.?”

He looked confused, mumbling that he was o.k. I soon realized he thought I wasn’t coming until the afternoon because of a glitch in the calendar.

“Are you sure you’re o.k?” I persisted.

“I don’t feel that good,” he replied.

I reported his condition to the nurse who said she’d check in on him. No sooner had I finished the conversation than I saw John headed with his walker straight to his regular seat in the large semi-circle of older adults where they faced a large picture of the brain I had drawn on the dry erase board.

The Brain.jpg

I scanned the faces of my participants and quickly surmised an unusual lethargy in the space.

“O.k., ladies and gentlemen, on a scale of one to ten, ten being terrific, and one being terrible, what’s your number?”

With the exception of two people, numbers ranged from four to eight, with most being around a five. John was a zero.

Armed with this information, I mustered my best energy to guide them through our usual warm-up routine comprised of breathing and chair exercises, sung to their favorite tunes. Our topic of the day was the brain. And I was lucky that the charge nurse was willing to serve as an improvisational mind reader at a moment’s notice.

After reviewing the four lobes of the brain, I invited Linda to produce her magic. One by one, she moved from person to person with great gusto and humor, ruffling up the men’s hair as she came up with the perfect insight for each individual. By the end of the exercise, I had laughed so much, my face hurt. Linda had raised the energy level from zero to a hundred in just a few minutes.

The remainder of our time was spent discussing how our brain thinks, imagines, ponders, meditates, contemplates, wonders, deliberates, believes, reflects, and remembers. I told them the story of a resident named Tom who came to Brookside long ago with a traumatic brain injury which affected his personality. His song, “Yuk, Yuk, Yuk” is featured in my album, “The Person in the Picture Ain’t Me.” We discussed how Albert Einstein said that imagination is more important than intelligence. And I had the housekeeper, Lisa bring in a box for them to guess what was in it. Turns out it was empty, but it was a great catalyst for us to discuss what it is to think outside the box.

In the end, using the Glen Campbell song, “Gentle on my Mind” as a catalyst, I encouraged them to be gentle with themselves. After all, they all have a lot of memories and information stored inside their brains – it’s no wonder it’s difficult to retrieve everything. I also encouraged them to continue to come to the Kettle, as it’s a great place to stretch their imagination and learn new things – all great for brain health. Life is a series of adjustments to losses and disappointments, and coming together for creative enrichment is a great thing to do to strengthen the brain, and ultimately the spirit.

After our final song, “Happy Trails,” I went from person to person to shake their hands and thank them for coming. When I came to John, I asked, “So, you showed up with a zero. Did our experience raise you at least one notch?”

“Oh,” he shook his head with a huge grin, “It took it from a zero to a ten!”

What Individuals with Dementia Say About Their Brains

Lone Coyote in Cornfield - Photography by Kareen King

Lone Coyote in Cornfield - Photography by Kareen King

It’s my intention to bridge the gap between loneliness and friendship through creative engagement gatherings. For example, I once used The Wizard of Oz’s Scarecrow character as a creative conversation-starter. The above image, by the way, makes me think of the Scarecrow in the cornfield. Amazingly, no matter how advanced the person’s dementia, each individual had a quick response to my invitation to say something about their brain. I have constructed the following poem out of their comments:

My Brain
My brain
Doesn’t have both oars
Got rusty
Is too small
Is slow
Is pretty good, but slower now that I’m older
Is soft
Is non-existent
Tries

My brain
Is not that whippy
Is retired
Is on vacation
Works overtime
Is blank
Is still working good
Is dancing

My brain
Is still going
Is smart
Is powerful
Does a pretty good job
Is tired
Is not too great
Is revved up and doesn’t know where to go
Is full of information
Is thoughtless
Has kept me going for 88 years

My brain
Is full of joy
Escapes me when I want to think of something special
Is sometimes very good
Is always busy
Has good memory for my age – 95 ½
Is stuck on the wind and gone
Is weary
Is sometimes pretty dormant
Still works

Speaking of brain, I spend time each week with a small group of individuals with advanced dementia symptoms. They are not able to carry on verbal conversations with me, other than short phrases. So, my means of connecting with them are through music, photography, eye contact, touch, and saying their names. I was once introduced to a resident who was in the process of moving in to her new “home.” Her two daughters stood behind her.

Within minutes, the staff ushered her to a chair next to a darling 95-year-old woman whose enthusiastic response to our time together is incredibly endearing. I opened our gathering with “Mairzy Doats,” a nonsensical song from their era and which has become our opening ritual. The new resident immediately sang with fluency, clapping her hands and clasping the hands of the lady seated next to her as they swayed to the rhythm. I was moved to tears when I saw the two daughters weep together in the background as they observed their mother’s “awakening.” The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as I imagined much of their anxiety surrounding the letting go of their mother to the hands of others, dissipated in the 30 minutes we shared together. It was hard to maintain my composure as I imagined what it would be like to be in a similar position with my mother and sisters.

Oliver Sacks, best-selling author and neurologist, wrote that “it is the inner life of music which can still make contact with their inner lives which can awaken the hidden, seemingly extinguished soul; and evoke a wholly personal response of memory, associations, feelings, images, a return of thought and sensibility, an answering identity.” Genuine love and caring makes it even richer.

In the meantime, for a great resource on how to generate brain-engaging moments, I recommend my book, “Engage! 28 Creative Enrichment Experiences for Older Adults,” available by clicking: http://seniortheatre.com/product/engage-28-creative-enrichment-experiences-older-adults/ 

I also do creative engagement workshops and present keynote concerts that move, touch, and inspire individuals who serve older adult populations to connect with more empathy and creativity. For more information, contact me by email. I would love to connect with you!

 “I’m lucky because up till now my brain has kept me on an even keel. I don’t go to the edge of cliffs or swim in the deep sea,” – an 82-year-old Irishman