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By Melanie Verran
A DAILY planner created as a parenting aid is now proving a godsend for those suffering from memory loss.
Meadowbank mother of four Pat Baker developed the I Can Do It life skills Planner last year as a fool proof way to ensure that her kids learned basic skills and could take care of themselves.
Her story appeared in the East &Bays Courier in April.
She was later approached by someone from the Brain Injury Association who thought the visual component and set-up would make it a helpful tool for people with short term memory loss.
Little did she know that she would soon be testing that theory on herself.
After undergoing surgery in April she suffered from post-surgery memory loss and found herself forgetting to do basic things like picking her kids up after school.
"It was really challenging. I had been everyone's memory. Every mum is everyone's memory," she says.
She decided to be the "guinea pig" and use the planner to tackle the problem.
The wall planner has a line of pockets corresponding to each day of the week. Users can choose from hundreds of activity cards to put in their pockets. When each task is completed, the card is taken out and placed facing inwards in the last row.
Mrs. Baker is using it to take her through each day step by step,making sure she accomplishes everything she needs to.
"I use the medication cards and the eating cards. I have no concept of time anymore.I wouldn't feel hunger because the medication kills your appetite. "People overdose because they've forgotten that they've taken and they take it again. If you have moved the card, you know that you've done it."
With this first-hand experience, she started marketing the planner to the older generation, visiting retirement villages and pitching it to organisations such as Alxheimers New Zealand.
Ethne Killpack, a resident at the EastCliffe Retirement Resort in Orakei, uses the planner to remind her to do things like put her rubbish out and catch her carpool bus. "It's really about keeping on top of yourself and not forgetting things," she says. "It's very good for the old brain actually."
The planner is being assessed by the Brain Injury Association's head of occupational therapy and copies have been sold to the Disability Resource Centre and the Puhinui Homes Trust. For more information go to www.ICanDoItLifeSkills.com |
