A heart -adopting story of a mother and daughter, ups and downs of dementia

Eine lustige Erfolgsgeschichte Dani Klein Modisett, Autorin und ehemalige Stand-up-Komikerin, brachte ihre Mutter im Jahr 2016 von Manhattan nach Los Angeles. Nachdem sie von einer in Manhattan ansässigen Freundin gehört hatte, dass sich das Gedächtnis ihrer Mutter verschlechtert habe, wusste Dani, dass es die richtige Entscheidung war, ihre Mutter in ein Alzheimer-Pflegezentrum zu bringen. Doch nur ein Jahr nachdem sie sie nach Los Angeles gebracht hatte, bemerkte sie, dass ihre Mutter traurig und zurückgezogen war. Mit 84 Jahren wirkte ihre Mutter depressiv, leer und aß kaum noch. Für einen kurzen Moment begann Dani, ihre Entscheidung, ihre Mutter umzusiedeln, in Frage …
A funny success story Dani Klein Modisett, author and former stand-up comedian, brought her mother from Manhattan to Los Angeles in 2016. After hearing from a girlfriend based in Manhattan that her mother's memory worsened, Dani knew that it was the right decision to bring her mother to an Alzheimer's care center. But just a year after she brought her to Los Angeles, she noticed that her mother was sad and withdrawn. At the age of 84, her mother looked depressed, empty and hardly ate. For a short moment, Dani started her decision to move her mother in question ... (Symbolbild/natur.wiki)

A heart -adopting story of a mother and daughter, ups and downs of dementia

a fun success story

Dani Klein Modisett, author and former stand-up comedian, brought her mother from Manhattan to Los Angeles in 2016. After hearing from a girlfriend based in Manhattan that her mother's memory worsened, Dani knew that it was the right decision to bring her mother to an Alzheimer's care center. But just a year after she brought her to Los Angeles, she noticed that her mother was sad and withdrawn. At the age of 84, her mother looked depressed, empty and hardly ate. For a short moment, Dani began to question her decision to move her mother.

Considerations of what she could do to help her mother led Dani to the services in the care center of her mother and to private groups such as the Visiting Angels. Despite these options, Dani ultimately decided to laugh and looked for a comedian with interest in geriatrics on social media. With her many years of experience in the comedy, she knew that her mother needed some fun in her life.

Shortly afterwards, Dani was connected to a retired comedian named Sue, who visited the nursing center. Sue and Dani's mother immediately got on in a fantastic way, joked and giggled. Sue brought some conviviality into the life of Dani's mother and understood with her previous life.

over time, Sue worked formally with Dani's mother 10 hours a week and significant changes were found. Dani's mother started eating again and was more active with other people. Even if Sue wasn't there, she waved happily, smiled, hummed and looked for contact with the supervisors and other residents. Dani describes this change in her mother's health and well -being as "... really remarkable".

laugh on call: The best medicine

With her newly discovered respect for laughter in the care of dementia patients, Dani founded the Laughter on Call. Under the motto "Courage. One laugh after another", Dani's company can bring individual dementia patients together with a comedian, hold laughter workshops for staff in nursing centers or organize a large comedy show for all residents of a care center. Currently the services are limited in California.

Why comedians are successful

The supply by Laughter on Call is called humor therapy by researchers and health pacemas. Humor therapy is examined worldwide and offers positive effects and raises the mood of different patients. No matter whether young or old, a good laughter from a clown, a humor therapist or a comedian can help with recovery.

Humor therapy works for dementia patients, since some types of laughter and social communication are also preserved in the course of the disease. Although dementia patients lose cognitive functions over time, activated laugh and smile can restore a feeling of normality for these patients. However, dementia patients are also slightly insulted, confused or sensitive to some jokes. If you work with an Alzheimer's patient, playful insults should be avoided and your jokes are tailored to your audience.

The story of Dani and her mother is understandable for many Americans. With the rising rate of one of ten people over the age of 65 who develop to Alzheimer's every year, there are millions of family members in America who are faced with the challenges of this progressive illness. Services such as those of Dani will definitely be asked and hopefully will soon reach more dementia patients!