Caring for the Caregiver

by Phil Puotinen

I read an article in the Kansas City Star recently that had some rather astonishing facts. According to the American Medical Association, elderly care-giving spouses have a 63% higher chance of dying than people their same age who aren’t caring for a spouse. A study by the American Geriatrics Society found that they are six times more likely to develop dementia themselves compared with people whose spouses don’t have dementia.

If you are a part of the Baby Boomer generation, as many of us are, this means that there is a strong likelihood that one of your parents may be in this situation. It may even mean that you are a participant in the caregiving. Worldwide, there are over 35 million people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In the United States, there are over 5.3 million diagnosed and, to bring it even closer to home, in the U.P. there are over 8,000 people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. There are 10.9 million unpaid caregivers in the U.S. providing care for the 5.3 million persons diagnosed, according to the most recent data from the Alzheimer’s Association.

The Alzheimer’s Association, Upper Peninsula Region of the Greater Michigan Chapter, is committed to providing education and support to caregivers in the Upper Peninsula. Programs and services are available to help caregivers manage their situations and to help reduce their stress.

One of these programs is the Creating Confident Caregivers Workshop. These free workshops are offered in partnership with UPAAP, the U.P. Area Agency on Aging. They are designed to assist persons caring for family members with dementia. They have been found to reduce stress and to help empower caregivers. The workshops are two hours long, once a week for six weeks. They are available at various locations throughout the Upper Peninsula.

Persons participating in the workshops learn strategies to reduce caregiver stress and to learn and practice ways to find time to care for themselves. These goals are accomplished through:

Gaining information and knowledge – learning more about the illness they are dealing with and how it impacts the person with the disease. Things as simple as making sure that lighting is adequate or minimizing distractions to allow the person with the illness to be able to focus on tasks more effectively can have a big impact on managing daily activities.

Developing skills – for the complex and often new tasks they need to perform. Learning how communication changes with the progression of the illness, and how to take these changes into account to help the person with the disease maintain a contented, calm and secure life. The course also hopes to improve self- care skills for the caregiver, which in turn helps to reduce their stress.

Developing an improved outlook or attitude – As the caregiver learns and develops additional skills and knowledge, they become more confident in their role. As they gain confidence in what they are doing, the tasks become less stressful.

These classes offer an excellent opportunity for caregivers to learn and develop new skills and techniques. They also offer opportunities for support from other caregivers who share common experiences.

We all can make a difference in the lives of caregivers and the people for whom they are caring. Caregiving is a demanding job requiring 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week attention. We can make a difference by keeping in touch with the caregiver. By doing something as simple as making a phone call, or stopping by for a visit, we can offer the caregiver some relief. The main thing is, let’s not forget the caregiver, or stay away because we don’t know what to do.

Each year, World Alzheimer’s Day is celebrated on September 21^st. This day was established in 1994 as a way to bring awareness to this illness that affects so many people. It is also a time to recognize the efforts and sacrifice of caregivers, and an opportunity to advocate for greater support and commitment of resources. This year, celebrate World Alzheimer’s Day by making a commitment to support those you know who are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease.

For more info. on this or other programs offered by the Alzheimer’s Association, or for more info. on how you can help, contact: Alzheimer’s Association – Greater MI Chapter, UP Region, 710 Chippewa Square, Suite 201, Mqt., 906-228-3910, 800-272-3900, www.alzgmc.org

Phil Puotinen has a degree in Social Work from NMU and is the Alzheimer’s Association’s U.P. Program Coordinator and Wraparound Facilitator. Phil and his wife Carol, of Laurium, MI, cared for his dementia-debilitated mother for two years until other medical complications required nursing home care.

Inner Nutrition: Mindfulness

by Lee Goodwin

There is a movement afoot these days. It is not a political movement, but it has implications for the lives of countless people every day. It is a movement deeply rooted in religious traditions, but it is not the property of any church or synagogue, mosque or temple. It is a movement that is accessible to every person and holds the promise of great healing. The movement is known in shorthand as “mindfulness.” At its core, mindfulness is rooted in contemplative practices that can be found in all of the world’s major spiritual traditions. However, it finds its clearest expression in the twenty-five hundred year old Buddhist tradition of meditative practice. In the past thirty years, there has been a tremendous acceleration of interest in the application of mindfulness practices, especially as a complement to mainstream medicine and mental health practice.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a prime example of this movement. It began at the University of Massachusetts with the work of Jon Kabat Zinn (Full Catastrophe Living). Kabat Zinn felt that there could be no better place to introduce those long tested meditative practices than in a hospital. He created the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Stress Reduction and Relaxation Course in order to work with patients for whom it seemed medicine had reached the limits of its capacity to help. Kabat Zinn also understood the importance of doing research. The practice and effect of mindfulness practice would need to be replicable and verifiable in order to gain acceptance in the mainstream of medicine. It has. Since 1979, at UMass alone, over 17,000 patients have completed the MBSR course and MBSR is being taught in over 240 medical centers around the world.

Each MBSR class immerses students in a variety of meditative and attentional capacities. Sitting meditation, walking meditation, yoga and simply attending to pleasant and unpleasant events during the day, all are aimed at helping participants become more open and aware to more of their lives. The aim being that being more awake leads to greater freedom to choose how to live each moment of this precious life.

As an indication of the scope of this mindfulness movement, the University of Wisconsin’s Dr. Richard Davidson was recently awarded a major National Institutes for Health (NIH) grant to study the effects of meditation practice on the brain. The Mind and Life Institute has for decades now carried on significant discussions between scientists and contemplatives at the behest of the Dalai Lama. Major studies of the effects of mindfulness practice are going on every day. A quick Google search of mindfulness and the NIH will reveal the wide range of clinical trials and other studies that are being conducted across the country.

Still, for all the promise that this research and mainline acceptance holds, there is a dimension of this work that eludes the precision and technical skills of the scientific mind. It has been said that in most Asian languages the word for mind and the word for heart are the same. So, to understand mindfulness fully one must also see it as heartfulness. There is a deep mystery that is being uncovered in this movement and it holds tremendous potential for healing. There is a also a delightful joke in all of it – and the joke is that after all the searching and study, the capacity for health and wholeness was there lying close all along just waiting to be found.

Lee Goodwin is a Lutheran pastor currently serving as the director of The Sabbath Project, a program providing support for professional leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who serve parishes in the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin.

Why Sounds Are Part of Sound Health

by Roslyn McGrath

“Vroom-vroom-vrOOM” roars the motorcycle below my open bedroom window, followed by silence, intermittent bird song and eventually far-off mowing sounds. Each elicits a response from my body and mind, as I tense or relax with my perception of each. Every day, every moment, we hear, make and respond to sounds. We can close our eyes to sights, but not to sounds, even when we sleep.

And it’s not just the ear that is sensitive to sound. As naturopath, musician and psychologist Dr. John Beaulieu explains so well in his book Music and Sound in the Healing Arts, every cell in our body vibrates, so they too can receive and respond to sound.

The link between sound and health has been recognized since ancient times, most notably with Apollo’s position in Greek mythology as a God of both medicine and music.

In the more recent past, Harpo Marx regaled audiences with his mesmerizing harp music, bringing moments of tranquility to the manic mayhem of the Marx brothers’ comic films. And currently, organizations such as the Chalice of Repose project offer compassionate end-of-life vigils of contemplative music chosen to meet the individual needs of the dying.

Greek mathematician, philosopher and musician Pythagoras considered the universe a vast musical instrument. This view is echoed by Native American author Joseph Rael in his book Being and Vibration, as he describes, “We are nature’s music singing to God.” Indeed, modern science has shown us that everything has a vibration, though we usually experience most of them subliminally.

So what is music? According to Dr. Beaulieu, it’s the appreciation of sound, and this appreciation can impact us profoundly.

And we can create music from our very own bodies – just open your mouth and . . . SING! As Marquette Choral Society Director Dr. Floyd Slotterback explains, “Singing leads to many healthy outcomes. When you sing you use your breathing apparatus and lower abdominals more actively. You are encouraged to sit with good posture by stretching the spine and feeling an expansion of the rib cage. There are also benefits to the social aspects of singing, including attainment of group goals, enjoyment of working together, and the opportunity to laugh and share a love of singing. For those choirs who move or dance, the physical workout adds an extra dimension. Any age can be involved (I have a woman in my church choir who is 105 years old!) And, it’s just plain fun!”

Musician Jan Cloutier has performed for many local elders and veterans, sharing a repertoire from their era with her guitar and voice. She actively encouraged group members to sing as much as they were willing and also made percussive instruments available for use. Jan says it wasn’t long before feet began tapping, shakers rattled and gentlemen rose to ask ladies for a dance or two, thus enhancing their cardio-vascular systems and pleasure.

Many elders have trouble with their short-term memory, though their long-term memory is basically intact. Hearing these songs would bring back detailed personal memories from the era when these tunes were popular. All benefited from their recollections. Jan adds, “For me personally, I feel that music transcends self. Without it, life would be like living in black and white.”

Recently, Toby Christenson, a recognized expert and innovator in the field of healing music, shared his work at Marquette’s People’s Festival. Toby uses the sound energy of the drum to create a force that disrupts unhealthy patterns and then combines elemental rhythms to restore and realign the mind, body and spirit. Toby says, “What I have found in my work is that the greatness of our being resides in our bones – hidden gifts from our ancestors and our souls’ journey are waiting to be awakened. The sound vibrations and rhythm of the drum resonates through the body, releasing our greatness and providing unmatched power and balance. The sound of the drum is the tuning of the soul!

Another sound healer, Nicole LaVoie, had a revelation about the primacy of sound when considering the biblical quote “In the beginning was the Word.” She realized the “word” was sound, and came to conclude that sound is key to everything on earth. Within the full range of frequencies – matter, sound, light, x-rays, gamma rays, etc., matter is the lowest frequency, and sound is the next-to-lowest. Nicole theorizes this may be why “Matter responds very well to sound because it is the closest neighbor in the frequency spectrum.”

The impact of sound on matter has been studied. Dr. Hans Jenny spent thousands of hours experimenting on the effects of different frequencies on inorganic substances, such as plastic, dust, etc. In the hundreds of photographs he and his staff took, these materials come to look like marine life, bacteria, human organs, and other living, breathing creations while under the influence of the vibrations.

There have been many studies on the impact of sound on human health as well. For instance, Dr. Norman Weinberger, research professor in neurobiology and behavior at the University of California, Irvine, cites studies showing that passive musical involvement can reduce the release of stress hormones in various circumstances, including some types of pre-surgical anxiety; decrease distress in newborns and in certain cases, reduce the length of hospital stays. [“The Musical Hormone”, MRN, Fall 1997, IV (2)].

Dr. Weinberger also explains, “Perhaps the most unexpected use of music in therapy is in a highly passive and unique situation, that of comatose patients who have uncontrollable epilepsy, that is, brain seizures, even while they are unconscious. Playing classical music reduces the incidence of brain seizures.” [“The Powers of Music: A Treatment for Epilepsy?”, MRN, Fall 1998, V (3)].

So what about unavoidable sounds that grate on our nerves? As a fairly sound-sensitive person, I’ve coped with this in various ways. If I try to ignore the offending noise, I tend to become more aware of it and increasingly irritated. When I pay attention to something else, something more important to me, it becomes a non-issue. I can also block annoying sounds with ones I prefer. For instance, when a nearby warm weather outdoor party goes late into the night, my best antidote is playing a recording of ocean sounds loud enough to cover the partiers’ noise – I actually sleep better with it on!

Recently, I was on a conference call for a silent group meditation when a car horn began going off outside. I felt disturbed, then brought my attention back to the focus of the meditation, without trying to wish the sound away. Within seconds, I spontaneously began experiencing the sound as Gabriel’s horn and blissfully soaked it in.

I am not always in such an ecstatic state of mind, and I’m guessing you’re probably not either. Thankfully, there are many more enjoyable and therapeutic sounds we can choose in creating our auditory environment. Take some time to notice how your body and mind feel when you hear wind chimes, waterfalls, rock ’n roll, classical, therapeutic and other forms of music. Pay attention to what kinds of sounds serve you in different situations. And consider increasing your exposure to them. You just might reap the pleasures of more sound physical, mental, emotional, spiritual health.

Marquette resident Roslyn Elena McGrath has been sharing healing arts since 1996. She has am M.A. in Painting and a B.S. in Art Education from the State University of New York, New Paltz, and has published well being-focused periodicals, including this magazine, since 2002.

Sources:

Music and Sound in the Healing Arts, John Beaulieu, Station Hill Press, 1987

Being & Vibration, Joseph Rael, Council Oak Books, 1993

Return to Harmony, Nicole LaVoie, Sound Wave Energy Press, 1998

Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics, Jonathan Goldman, Element Inc., 1992

MuSICA, the Music & Science Information Computer Archive, www.musica.uci.edu/index.html

From Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine, Fall 2010