Baby Doll Therapy

Boy, it sure has been a while since I made a post huh? Don't worry, I've just been a little extra busy this past... 7 months? With all the classes and licensing applications plus having a life outside work kinda makes time fly faster than I imagined. Although I have been saying pretty much EVERY class I have "oh man, I gotta make another post on here!" So here we are...

A topic that came up in my last couple initial classes is Baby Doll Therapy, especially after we watch the Woody's Song video on dementia day, so let's talk about it!

What is baby Doll Therapy? Well, its a way of providing comfort, engagement and quality of life for seniors with dementia. You may have been in a memory care unit and noticed dolls in the activity room, or a senior hugging one sitting in their chair. Seems a little childish no? While it may look that way, take a minute to observe the senior, how are they? Do they have behaviors like yelling or pacing or asking repetitive questions at the time? Do they seem calm and content? Most likely, they are calm and content hanging out with their baby doll. They may be rocking that doll, talking to it, or just simply sitting with it their lap. It may actually help stop some of those unwanted behaviors like yelling or pacing, etc.

It is important to keep in mind the KIND of baby dolls we are using for this purpose. Would a Barbie doll work? How about one of those cute cabbage patch kids? No? No, of course not. The doll has to look REALISTIC so that it can provide therapeutic value.

There are many options out there these days and as always, all pictures in my posts are links, so feel free to check them out.

Lets talk about how to approach using Baby Doll therapy. How do you know if a resident would benefit from it?

I don't recommend just handing a resident a doll and see how it goes, rather, make it THEIR choice. Place the doll somewhere the resident would easily see it and let them approach. See how they react and interact with it, and gently ask the senior about it in a calm and natural way, like "Hello Mrs. Smith, I see you have someone with you there, who is that?" They may tell you its their baby, they might say its just a doll. If they tell you its their baby, we have possibly just found a great therapeutic activity for Mrs. Smith! Ask what the baby's name is, ask if Mrs. Smith and her baby would like to join you for whatever activity you have in mind.

Now that we know this is her baby, we can use this in the future if Mrs. Smith starts having any behaviors. Ask her if she wants to spend time with the baby, or if she would like the baby to join us for (fill in the blank here, whatever you want her to join you in, like coming to lunch, going out to get some fresh air in the backyard, etc.) If you are working in a long term care facility, make sure that family members are aware that their loved one is using a baby doll, and always always ALWAYS care plan it in their record.

Speaking of families... Sometimes family members may feel like if their loved one has been given a baby doll we are treating that resident like a child. Please explain why Mrs. Smith now has a baby doll with her, document what behaviors she has and how the baby doll helps, and let the family members know how much Mrs. Smith loves having the doll with her. You can also ask families if they would like to provide a doll for their loved one and see if the resident would take that instead of the one you have given her.

So.. baby dolls work great on our females with dementia, what about the gentlemen? Why don't they react the same way? Well, traditionally men would typically work and provide for the family and home, while ladies would take care of children and keep house. So is there anything similar that would work on the gentlemen?

How about.... pets! I would say that quite a few people have had pets either growing up or as adults, and those that have, typically have a big heart for them. I have used pet therapy in every building I have worked in, because it works! Well, we may not be able to have a facility pet, and therapy pet groups can't come as much as we would like, so we have to figure out another alternative. Have you heard of Perfect Petzzz? They're adorable sleeping cats and dogs (and one facility even had a sea lion made!) that we can use just like the baby doll therapy, but for those who don't care for the dolls. The link to the left will lead you to the Perfect Petzz store and you can select a couple options, pick a dog and a cat, and see what works for your senior. Ask Mr. Jones if he wouldn't mind watching Buddy for a few minutes while you go get something done, "shhh, he's sleeping", and see if Mr. Jones will stay put and not exhibit the unwanted behavior.

There are so many options of different sleeping pets, that if you find your senior enjoys having the sweet sleeping pet with them all the time, ask their family to get one that looks similar to the pet they used to have. The link to the right, makes custom pets based on a picture you provide. The more the stuffed animal looks like a pet that the senior used to have, the more therapeutic value it will hold to them specifically. It is on the more expensive side, so if you are working in a facility, recommend this to the family to have made for their loved one.

Keep in mind that sometimes your resident will react differently than usual, so just go with the flow. I had a resident in a memory care who had Snowflake, very much like the picture on your left. Most of the time she would sit with Snowflake either in her lap or on the table in front of her, pet the kitty and be happy and content. When staff would walk by ask and how Snowflake is doing, Mrs. Smith would usually reply with "oh shes being so good today." Some days, however, Mrs. Smith would have a moment of clarity and tell us "are you stupid? Can't you see this is a toy!" We would just laugh it off and say something like "well of course, I knew that."

Give the Baby Doll Therapy and Pet Therapy a try, see what works for your residents, and feel free to share your stories in the comments.

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