In September, more than 70 co-workers from all Country Meadows campuses participated in a day-long training seminar presented by Stories Love Music and Loretta Veney Inspires with LEGO® Serious Play®. The session was the first of the organizations’ LEGO Love Music Tour, which has been organized with grant funding received from the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.
The goals: Empower participants to explore the feelings and emotions they have about their role as a caregiver and equip them with tools that they can take back and practice with their residents.
The takeaway: Play is powerful and can be life-changing for co-workers and residents.
During the two-part training, the morning session explored the power of music and asked the participants to reflect on how they got to where they are today – not only physically at Country Meadows, but what feelings, joys or even struggles have led to their mental or emotional state. By acknowledging the humanity of being a caregiver, they gave themselves permission to participate, let their guard down and immerse themselves in the experience.
In listening to original songs performed by Ilyana, founder of Stories Love Music, and her husband James, the co-workers reflected on the thoughts and feelings that were brought up by the melodies and the lyrics. The second part of the training, led by Loretta, brought LEGO blocks into the equation when participants were instructed to build fidget-style toys and scenes that represent those thoughts and feelings.
“This training is important for caregivers to go through themselves because then they are equipped to work through the same exercises with their residents. They have tried it, they can share it,” described Ilyana.
While music and LEGO can be an outlet of self-care for the co-workers, when strategically implemented into a resident’s care plan, they can create “wow” experiences for residents, explains Loretta.
“We challenge caregivers to never underestimate the abilities or emotions of the residents we work with,” described Loretta. “There is no right or wrong way to play with LEGO. Nothing is ever broken and everybody can come and play.”
Loretta’s passion in sharing the power of LEGO comes from when she supported her own mother through a dementia diagnosis. LEGOs were beloved toys in her childhood home and something she, her siblings and her mother would build together. When she noticed the disease impacting her mother in profound ways, Loretta turned to a foundational element of their relationship and reintroduced playing with LEGOs into their visits. Her mother’s response was enlightening. She was engaged, communicative and remembered when LEGO blocks were in her hands. The power of play allowed her to keep a promise to her mom – to make sure she experienced joy every day.
These tools and lessons were too profound to keep to herself. As a LEGO Serious Play facilitator, her classes teach family members how they can still play with their loved ones and caregivers, on how they can make meaningful connections with the residents in their care.
“This is not a replacement for the art and music therapists – we value them and they are doing great work,” commented Ilyana. “Our hope is that these tools can be a resource because caregiving is a 24/7 job – whether it is a family member doing the caregiving or a Personal Care Aid in a senior living community—they can become innovative artists to use their imaginations during the hardest times.”
The music and LEGO tools can be utilized as engagement activities in every level of care. The facilitators even shared an example of tables set up in breakrooms for co-workers to visit to decompress during a shift.
“This is going to help tremendously in what I do, said Scott Henninger, Dynamic Living Associate at Country Meadows of Bethlehem. “We talk to residents about what they did in their lives, and many aren’t ready to discuss it with us. Learning today that even if we put LEGOs in front of them and let them build something that reminds them of what they did in the past, they may open up a bit more and we could have more communication and be able to connect better.”
“Self-care is a big part of caregiving,” added Jessica Dunkle, Connections Dynamic Living Coordinator at Country Meadows of Hershey. “This training was an emotional exploration of the self while also learning how to better serve and be in the moment with our residents through play and music medications. It was a great experience!”
To learn more about the Stories Love LEGO tour, visit https://storieslovemusic.org/loretta-veney-inspires/.
