Caring for a Loved One with Dementia

• Event: Curl Up This Winter with Libby and Tumblebooks
• Date & Time: Tuesday, December 09, 6:00pm
• Location: College Avenue Branch
• Description: Curious about accessing e-books, audiobooks, magazines, and movies from a new tablet while at home this winter? Learn how to use Libby, Tumblebooks, LOTE4Kids, Kanopy, and Hoopla!
• Register Here

• Event: Understanding Alzheimer’s & Dementia
• Date & Time: Wednesday, December 10, 11:00am
• Location: Beech Grove Branch
• Description: This course covers basic information on the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia, stages, risk factors, research and FDA-approved treatments. Registration is not required but you will receive an email reminder (and it can help us plan).
• Register Here

• Event: Connection Cafe (January)
• Date & Time: Wednesday, January 07, 11:00am
• Location: Beech Grove Branch
• Description: All adults are welcome to join this social hour featuring games, arts & crafts, music, & other ways of connecting. This is a safe space for people who may have a caregiver down the hall in Chair Yoga as well as anyone just wanting to connect with others. Registration not required but encouraged.
• Register Here

• Event: Chair Yoga
• Date & Time: Wednesday, January 07, 11:00am
• Location: Beech Grove Branch
• Description: Join us for this delightful time supporting caregivers of adults. If that is you – or if you would like to sit alongside your neighbors in this program, come on in to this weekly program! *Registration encouraged, but not required.
• Register Here

• Event: Connection Cafe (January)
• Date & Time: Wednesday, January 14, 11:00am
• Location: Beech Grove Branch
• Description: All adults are welcome to join this social hour featuring games, arts & crafts, music, & other ways of connecting. This is a safe space for people who may have a caregiver down the hall in Chair Yoga as well as anyone just wanting to connect with others. Registration not required but encouraged.
• Register Here

Dementia Resources in the Library Catalog

The Library catalog includes book lists created by staff to help you navigate the sometimes overwhelming amount of material available. If you see a book you like, you can find out where it’s located. If it isn’t at your neighborhood branch you can place a hold and have it sent to the branch that’s most convenient for you.

• Book List: Brain Health
• Book List: Caregiving for Older Adults
• Book List: Caring for a Loved One With Dementia

Articles about Dementia in Online Databases

Another way to find information is by searching online databases that the Library subscribes to with your Library card. Many times the latest research or resource is available in a magazine or journal article. Through the databases, you can find an articles that could help with a specific challenge or interest. For example, browse the results of this search for articles about music therapy and Alzheimer’s published in the last five years.

What makes this even more convenient is that the book lists, The Library’s catalog, and the articles can all be reached through your home computer, your tablet, or your smartphone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Reading Aloud

Reading aloud with your adult loved one improves family bonds and fosters cooperation, just like when you read to children. Many programs in memory care involve reading aloud or looking at picture books to improve cognition, memory, and quality of life.

Picture books, especially with larger type and fewer words, are often easier to see and understand. Did you read classics like The Very Hungry Caterpillar when you were a child? You can read this again and share your memories with your loved one.

In addition to children’s books, people with dementia also enjoy coffee-table books and travel books filled with photographs and illustrations. Books like Penguins by Frans Lanting or Indianapolis: Then and Now by Nelson Price provide large photographs that can stimulate conversation and memories for both the loved one with dementia and their caregivers.

If you feel you can’t get to a Library location, you can choose e-book picture books to download to your computer or mobile device through OverDrive, Hoopla, or the TumbleBooks Library.

e-Books & Streaming

Download and stream millions of e-books, movies, music, and more instantly for free with your Library card. No late fees, no worries.

Please visit e-Book & Streaming Help for detailed information about how to use our digital collections and get ideas to make the most of your Library card at home.

Need help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our  locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. The Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Magazines

Books aren’t the only place you can look for colorful pictures and photographs; magazines are a great resource. Most back issues of magazines can be checked out at branch locations. There is a large number of magazines available for viewing and downloading online through OverDrive Magazines.

Reading aloud together, looking at books and pictures together can provide not only connection with your loved one, but a respite for both of you while caring for a loved one with dementia.

Music

Whether it’s music from the past or a catchy tune, it’s heartening to see a friend or loved one living with dementia respond to a piece of music, sometimes by moving or swaying to a Motown beat, other times by singing all the verses to Silent Night, remembering all the words when many of us couldn’t get past the first few lines.

While you may think of the public library as a connection to the wider world through books, it’s also a connection through music.

With a Library card, you can:

• Borrow a wide variety of music on CDs, from early classical to the latest hip hop, and everything in between.
• Borrow and stream a wide variety of music directly to your computer or mobile device through Hoopla without being on a waiting list or waiting for your branch to open.
• The library’s connection with music extends to free live concerts & performances throughout the year. See our schedule of music performances.

It’s an opportunity for an outing that doesn’t involve tickets, dressing up, or an entire evening’s commitment; time watching beautiful music made in a comfortable setting, which could make the afternoon caring for a loved one with dementia enjoyable for both of you.