Foster Stubbs of McKnights Home Care wrote this article!
As her mother’s caregiver, Angela Fairhurst, 63, of Los Angeles faced a significant communication barrier that made her job much more difficult. Her mother, who originally was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, later was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. This confusion took a toll not only on her mother but on Fairhurst herself.
“We went through seven medications and seven different hospitalizations, but she was home for four years before the first care home environment,” Fairhurst told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse. “I was going every other day. I’d leave; I’d cry. I never cried in front of her, but you’d hear her [as] a shadow of her former self. It was just so awful, so draining and dreadful. You feel so helpless.”
Little did Fairhurst know that these trials and tribulations would ultimately lead to a breakthrough. It started with a simple trip to the toy store.
“I bought a bucket and it had different shapes [inside]: a circle, a triangle, [etc.],” said Fairhurst. “[My mother ] was really curious about the bucket and what might be inside. So that prompted me to start looking for things in the world that could possibly go in the bucket to stimulate her, because she was so curious. It was the start of something. My god, here’s something she’s actually interested in!”
New invention for dementia patients
This experience would lead Fairhurst launching Geri-Gadgets: bright, multicolored sensory tools designed for people with dementia and cognitive issues like Fairhurst’s mother. Released in January 2020, the pieces are made of silicone so they do not retain heat or cold or emit any odor. There are currently three sets with a variety of different shapes available: The Fidget Gidget Bucket, the Flower Bucket and the Shapes Bucket. A television producer with credits that include Grammy Awards and over a 1,000 hours of music variety television with artists including Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Faith Hill and more, Fairhurst says the creation process was no different than her previous line of work.
“I always say that the role as a producer is a problem solver,” Fairhurst, who now serves as the chief executive officer of Geri-Gadgets, said. “You may not know the answer to everything but know how to find out, who to ask and how to figure it out. So Geri-Gadgets were about solving a problem.”
Fairhurst says the blocks can help break down communication barriers through free play and provide important mental and physical stimulation for dementia patients, especially for older adults living at home. Patience and understanding from the caregiver are crucial to fully bridging that gap.
“Engagement is just like a window,” Fairhurst said. “It’s like opening a dark curtain to a window and now you’re seeing the light. Everybody makes it so complicated, but if you just [have] patience for the patient and the time that it takes to learn who someone is, there’s always an opportunity for that happiness or finding something that’s going to spawn creativity or even the slightest little glimmer of hope and happiness.”
Not just ‘toys’
Geri-Gadgets might look like children’s toys, but Fairhurst is quick to point out that patients with dementia should not be infantilized. Rather, they should be treated with respect and dignity like other people.
“That human being is still there and they should be respected and not treated like a baby,” Fairhurst said. “They don’t turn into a child just because they don’t have the cognitive abilities that they [once] did. Geri-Gadgets are about respecting that and understanding that when you meet somebody where they are, you can still have moments of joy and happiness and just sweetness, even if they can’t communicate like they did. They’re reachable.”
Fairhurst’s mother died in December 2017, but her legacy lives on through every tiny, painstaking aspect of a bucket of Geri-Gadgets.
“Every little detail matters,” Fairhurst said. “You can’t shortcut someone’s health; you can’t shortcut somebody’s peace of mind or happiness. The legacy is for my mom. I get to talk about her every day, I get to think about her and she can be remembered this way.”
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