Visiting a Family Member with Alzheimer's:
Sylvia’s Love
Order# RP116
interviews
20 minutes
$150 purchase; $75 rental
This program tells the story of eighty-four year old Sylvia, who didn't set out to find love in her golden years, but when she met Frank things just happened. "I just knew that I was in love, and we were thrilled to be together," Sylvia recalls. However, not long after Sylvia and Frank were married, he began forgetting things and getting lost in familiar places. "To say I even suspected Alzheimer's...no one even mentioned that word; it was just a no-no word," she recounts.
Now Frank is in the third and final stage of Alzheimer's disease, and Sylvia visits him in the nursing home four times a week. Thought Frank speaks only rarely now and it's so easy to be sad, Sylvia always greets him with a smile and sings the love songs to him they wrote together and recalls their days of romance and fun.
Though she sometimes gets looks from other residents or staff, she gives him lots of hugs, kisses and whispers of love. "They are just like you and me and they just need to be cared for and know they are loved," Sylvia explains, "just to know they are not neglected; that they are not alone, really alone." Her love and devotion is not lost on Frank either as there are brief moments when he responds to her touch and even tries to sing to Sylvia. Through the interviews and vignettes in this program, Frank and Sylvia reminds us all that every person needs love and caring.
Topics: Alzheimer's disease, caring, effective relationships, physical touch
Audience: Alzheimer's/dementia support groups, family caregivers, home health aides, and nursing staff in long-term care, assisted living and adult day care programs.