Too often the senior housing industry invites and encourages seniors to move into a senior housing community where they will be pampered and entertained to death. This is a story of something very different.
The Los Angeles based photojournalist JonathanAlcorn watched as his father deteriorated and ultimately died from Alzheimer’s and he wanted to do something about it. The fruit of this desire was an amazing initiative called โSilverado Life: A Thousand Wordsโ. Here is how it worked: The Set-up Jonathan gathered 4 other professional photographers and descended on each of the five Silverado Memory Care Assisted Living communities in the Los Angeles area. They spent one to three days at each community working with the residents asking them to capture the beauty of life, from their perspective.
The idea was, that the very best photos from each of the communities would be showcased in a special gala event at ThePerfectExposureGallery and the photos would be auctioned off to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. It took about 5 weeks to host photography days at each of the communities. At the end of the process Jonathan curated the results by selecting 50 amazing photos that were mounted and framed for the September 27, 2012 event. The gala was attended by the professional photographers, including the new โprofessionalsโ who live at the five Silverado communities, their family members, area healthcare professionals, local media and the general public, At the end of the evening almost all the photos were sold raising a total of $6,000 for the Alzheimerโs Association. What Makes This So Cool
- It is a testament to the families, public and staff, reminding them that despite the loss of cognitive abilities affected individuals are still people with a life worth living.
- The focus was on what the residents can do, not on what they canโt do.
- It allowed family members to see their mom or dad, aunt or uncle, or their grandparent as people and not something or someone to be pitied or afraid of.
- The process of taking the photos and exhibiting photos were โhere and nowโ experiences for individuals that have largely been written off.
- The residents loved the experience of taking photos . . . and of being creative.
- The residents loved seeing their personal works on display.
- Because the event raised $6,000 for the Alzheimerโs Association, the residents and their families knew they were still contributing to society making it the perfect kind of senior event.
Ultimately what this event said to family, friends and the public was that being in a senior community, having Alzheimerโs, being in the last years of their life was not a โlong goodbyeโ but was rather a โhello, I am in a new, different and valuable phase of my lifeโ. Here is a link to some additional photos Finally, if you have a great story about how you did an activity that engaged your residents and gave back to the community, we would be interested in talking to you about telling the story here. Steve Moran
How sweet, so beneficial in so many ways and rewarding for the new “professional” photographers! I have many photos on my computer that were taken by residents using my simple little camera with a lot of storage. I am only licensed to care for 2 residents in my home but we live rural and have mustangs, long horn cattle, beautiful sunsets and photo ops at every turn. I now have the idea of adding a theme to what they photograph, for as long as they can remember it. It is fun to just see what, given a simple camera, 5 acres of property to roam, a lot of animals, a resident will find photo worthy on their own!
Hi Jacqui
Thanks for telling your story. It would be neat for you to share a photo or two.
Steve
Thank you Steve for publishing this story, the project was unbelievably rewarding for every one involved. Best regards-Jonathan
From LinkedIn Groups
Group: ALFA – Assisted Living Federation of America
Discussion: What amazing events are you doing?
Great coverage, Steve. Silverado did an awesome job with this campaign to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s Disease!
Posted by Jaclyn Allmon
Jonathan it was amazing. I just wish I had room to share all the photos you displayed and that were taken at the gala. Thank you so much for giving your time, your energy and your reputation to this spectacular campaign.
From LinkedIn Groups
Group: CCRC’s – Continuing Care Retirement Communities
Discussion: What amazing events are you doing?
Creative project for these photographers, nice to see collaborations like this. Guilty of being a part of ‘entertaining ’em to death…’, I perform for seniors and on occasion for the Alzheimerโs unit of a care facility. What amazes me, is that when singing songs from the 1920s-1940s, songs that some residence may not have heard in 50 or 60 years and they still know the words. Its kind of funny because Iโm reading the lyrics while performing and struggle with reading and keeping eye contact when all I really have to is just listen ebcause often theyโll know the words better that I do.
Posted by Just Harry Solo Performer
Thanks for entertaining like that. It is really amazing how music reaches deep inside each of us
From LinkedIn Groups
Group: Long Term Care Group
Discussion: What amazing events are you doing?
That is a wonderful story,and a great way to give back.
Posted by Sandy Sather
From LinkedIn Groups
Group: Boomers: Aging Beats The Alternative
Discussion: What amazing events are you doing?
I love this story and the all the pictures shown! What a great idea and gift for all. Pictures like this would make a wonderful wall calendar. There still are people who use these ๐
Posted by Rhonda Caudell RN, CCM, CGCM
From LinkedIn Groups
Group: Senior Housing Forum (www.seniorhousingforum.net)
Discussion: What amazing events are you doing?
Very inspiring activity for the participants and caregivers.
Posted by Leah Nelson
From LinkedIn Groups
Group: Senior Living, the way it ought to be…, Consulting and more
Discussion: What amazing events are you doing?
This is a wonderful story and testament to his father and others with Alzheimer
Posted by Helene Cohen
From LinkedIn Groups
Group: Boomers: Aging Beats The Alternative
Discussion: What amazing events are you doing?
I moved my Dad into aSilverado facility in Orange County, CA and I can tell you they are the best. He got his life back. The average assisted living does not provide adequate stimulation for dementia sufferers.
Posted by Lorie Eber
From LinkedIn Groups
Group: Senior Housing Forum (www.seniorhousingforum.net)
Discussion: What amazing events are you doing?
A wonderful idea, and positive experience for everyone involved.
Posted by Sue Horowitz
From LinkedIn Groups
Group: Senior Housing Forum (www.seniorhousingforum.net)
Discussion: What amazing events are you doing?
Love this article and the positive spin!
We started Dementia Chats which is a webinar series where I interview and have a discussion with people with memory loss. It’s free and open to anyone who wants to learn from those with dementia. We have had some very interesting conversations, learned tips, and heard from them what it is really like to have the disease the frustrations and the gifts. People can join the conversation through the chat box. Here is a link to learn more if you want to join us
http://alzheimersspeaks.com/shifting-your-dementia-care-culture
Also feel free to join the International Collaborative Resource Directory for Dementia It’s only $100 a year for businesses to be listed in the directory plus you are able to share articles, videos, books and so much more for free to raise your business profile and help those looking for information and resources on Dementia and Caregiving
http://alzheimersspeaks.com just click on the resource directory…. this is new and it’s all about being collaborative and working together to push our knowledge and resources
Posted by Lori La Bey
From LinkedIn Groups
Group: Memory Care Professionals
Discussion: What amazing events are you doing?
Steve, great story. For 11 years, I have been my Daddy’s caregiver, in the severe stage of Alzheimer’s. Caregiving is something near and dear to my heart.
Posted by Cynthia Gilley
From LinkedIn Groups
Group: Assisted Living Professional Network
Discussion: What amazing events are you doing?
I work for Bella Vista Senior Living in Mesa, AZ. We do all kinds of fun things. For Halloween we had a Haunted Rose Garden outside and a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater put on by our staff, a talent show…we’ve done game shows like Let’s Make A Deal and The Not-So-Newlywed Game. our boss is awesome and let’s us get very creative and we have an amazing response from our residents.
Posted by Laura Twilley