Abstract
People with an irreversible dementia such as Alzheimer's disease rarely, if ever self initiate activities. When not engaged in a meaningful activity they have a higher risk of falling.
Many are asleep when not engaged and then they need hypnotics when awake in the middle of the night. The Club is a program developed for people with moderate memory loss.
It focuses on meeting the physical and social needs of people by engaging them in meaningful activities throughout their waking hours. This "continuous activity" approach to programming has lowered falls, decreased the use of psychotropic medication and increased staff and family satisfaction.
Namaste Care was designed for residents in care homes with advanced dementia that were not able to actively participate in "The Club". "Namaste Care" is based on two principles, the environment and a loving touch approach to care. This program has lowered the use of antipsychotics and hypnotics, and has been implemented throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Iceland the Netherlands and this year in Singapore, Taiwan and the Czech Republic.