How did we get into dementia crafting?
As a craft group, we support charities that we
choose as a group. Mainly these are
charities that help families and children. But we are always happy to diversify
and are keen to learn new ideas and skills.
Some of our group members had a personal interest in
crafting for people with dementia and
their families. Having tried a few of their own items in a care home they were
personally involved with, they introduced the concept to the group and soon
more members were researching and experimenting in this area too.
When we looked online and saw the cost of buying some of the commercially available dementia crafted items ... that's when our needles and hooks took off! The costs of these commercially available items are not unreasonable, given the labour involved. Everything has to be made with such care and attention to detail. Knitted, crocheted or fabric items need to be sewn securely. Each crafted item, such as a lap blanket , has to have a variety of sensory activities to hold the owner's interest. (We used buttons, bells, balls, beads, ribbon and other activity ornaments, as well as varying the texture of the stitching or fabric.) These are firmly attached to withstand the pull of exploring fingers over time. Everything has to be washable, of course.
When we looked online and saw the cost of buying some of the commercially available dementia crafted items ... that's when our needles and hooks took off! The costs of these commercially available items are not unreasonable, given the labour involved. Everything has to be made with such care and attention to detail. Knitted, crocheted or fabric items need to be sewn securely. Each crafted item, such as a lap blanket , has to have a variety of sensory activities to hold the owner's interest. (We used buttons, bells, balls, beads, ribbon and other activity ornaments, as well as varying the texture of the stitching or fabric.) These are firmly attached to withstand the pull of exploring fingers over time. Everything has to be washable, of course.
Our main advantage over the commercial sites is that we don't have labour costs and we can often source our materials reasonably cheaply by recycling and also by using the donated yarn and materials we receive from time to time from people who hear about us. (People sometimes have unwanted materials from a relative or friend's stash that they ask us to put to good use.) Thus we can make items to donate, at no cost to the recipient.
Charity
crafting is a friendly, sharing and global 'hobby' (aka addiction?) and the
word goes round.
It is commonplace for our members' holidays to
include trips to craft shops and also to charity shops in a hunt for attractive
fabrics or yarns to 'rescue' for later up-cycling into an item to donate. On a
trip to Ireland last year one of our members got talking to some lovely ladies
in Galway who were immediately taken with the dementia crafting idea. She gave them some blankets she had made
whilst on holiday ...
...and since then they have taken them to
"Alzheimer's Ireland" who have spread the idea to crafting groups,
one of which has set themselves a goal of making 20 for a care home. Super!
Who
is using our items?
Recently we visited a local care home here in
Edinburgh to see if they would be interested in trialling some of our dementia
items. They invited us in for a chat and
two of our members went on behalf of our group, taking some of our items.
This is their account of their visits so far.
On our first
visit to The Elms Care Home in the
Grange we were greeted at the secure
front door by a cheery carer and immediately directed to a pleasant seating
area to meet the Karen, the Activity Coordinator.
Karen started by outlining some background about the
home. The Elms had moved from being a
traditional care home with some dementia residents to being much more
specialist. They take some of the people
most seriously affected by dementia to whom other care homes are unable to
offer places. Residents can be referred directly from the Royal Edinburgh
Hospital. The home is funded by the
Church of Scotland.
We showed Karen some sensory lap blankets and
sensory sleeves crafted by members
of Craft Tea for Charity.
Karen had experience of sensory sleeves and whilst she was pleased to receive these, she was very excited by the concept of the sensory lap blanket. She loved the idea that they would offer the sensory experience in conjunction with a cosy blanket. Although the house is well heated, it has large rooms and some of the residents feel the cold. Karen liked the fact that the crocheted / knitted front was backed to add weight to the blanket. She also mentioned that sensory cushions, made in a similar vein, are also welcomed by dementia patients and are something to cuddle. She took us for a tour of the house introducing us to some of the residents. We left the lap blankets with Karen and asked for honest feedback once the residents had had the chance to use them.
The
second time we arranged to visit The Elms, the
appointment had been made at short notice so we were not sure whether the coordinator
was expecting us. However, we were
greeted like VIPs and taken to a sitting room for coffee and biscuits.
Karen talked enthusiastically about the reception
our lap blankets had had. An article
about the project had even been put in their Crossreach Magazine together with
an appeal for knitted/crocheted squares which could be made to make the lap
blankets. She appeared with a pile of
squares made from relatives who were delighted to be able to help in some way.
She explained further that a relative had recently
made a donation to the home and so they planned to convert one of the lovely
sitting rooms into a sensory room. She
took us to meet the Acting Manager who was meeting with a Sensory Room expert
and they showed us a website of the type of items they were looking to equip
the room with. They are looking to
develop regular themes in order to be able to make the room more dynamic e.g.
seaside, forest.
We handed over the 4 sensory lap blankets members
had made since our last visit. Our group
members had used their creativity and imagination to try to make innovative
blankets that would appeal on a personal level to their recipients. Karen and
the others were especially delighted with the shirt and tie blanket, knowing
immediately who would benefit from this blanket – a gentleman, wheelchair
bound, who had always taken pride in his appearance, always wanting to be
dressed in suit and tie.
They also loved the blanket which had areas that
looked like a flower garden.
We agreed to establish greater links between our
group and the home. Our group focus at
the moment is our monthly overseas parcel to charities who help families and
children (see our Facebook page for regular updates on these). We are however
delighted to be able to help people closer to home too and to contribute in our
own small way to helping people with dementia.
We left the home on a total high, feeling that our
group could make a difference.
A sample pattern for a
sensory lap blanket has been made available to the group’s members. If you are interested making one, you are warmly
welcome to email us for a copy at enquiries-craftteaforcharity@hotmail.com
If you are interested
in helping us, donating items or services or would just like further
information on this or anything we do, please feel free to contact us at enquiries-craftteaforcharity@hotmail.com
Our
group aim is 'to craft for charity in a caring, co-operative social and ethical
environment' . We hope we can bring a
little bit of sunshine into other people's lives.
