Rita Hayworth, Alzheimer's & a Life Worth Living . . .

The London TimesOnline has a great article Fighting Alzheimer's With a Touch of Beauty.  People who appear to be lost to the world through this devasting disease can still be reached through art, literature and music. Rita Hayworth, known as the “Love Goddess” in her heyday, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1981, at just 63 years old.

Hayworth’s behaviour could be nightmarishly difficult. She suffered from the anxiety, aggression and agitation common to Alzheimer’s, but as the disease progressed she found something that soothed her mood and gave her a focus — painting. As her mind disintegrated, she worked away at an easel in her apartment, producing beautiful, detailed likenesses of flowers. "So many people give up with this disease," says the princess [Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, Hayworth’s daughter], who is now president of Alzheimer’s Disease International, the umbrella organisation for Alzheimer’s associations around the world, “but it brought her peace of mind and helped her to relax."

“The development of new drugs to treat Alzheimer’s is helping people live a little bit longer,” says John Zeisel, founder of Hearthstone, a pioneering program caring for people with Alzheimer’s. “What we’re asking ourselves is, how do we make that life worth living?”

The article points out the we need to get away from constant questioning of people with dementia, which only adds to their confusion and sense of failure. Rather than ask if your loved one knows who you are, Zeisel says it is ...

“... better to walk in, take her by the hand and say, 'I’m your daughter and I love you.' And smile. You’ll reach the bit of the brain hard-wired to respond. If you are looking at a painting, don’t test her on whether she can remember who it is by: instead, open a conversation about the shapes and colours.”

“The development of new drugs to treat Alzheimer’s is helping people live a little bit longer,” says Zeisel. “What we’re asking ourselves is, how do we make that life worth living?”

This article is well worth reading in full.  Go here to see what more Zeisel has to say.