'Simple Gifts' program awarded for its benefits to Alzheimer's patients

By Susan Lang

More than 12,000 fleecy muffs, message magnets, stress balls, picture dominoes and other simple items are helping to reduce agitation, boredom and behavior problems for 8,000 Alzheimer's patients across New York state. And they all are being made by youngsters and adults, with directions from Cornell. The items are produced as part of the Simple Gifts project, a Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) program that enlists young people into making research-based recreational products for those afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.

Cornell senior extension associate Charlotte Coffman displays products for Alzheimer's patients that were constructed by young people through the Cornell Cooperative Extension Simple Gifts project she coordinates. Nicola Kountoupes/ University Photography

"Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, irreversible brain disorder that causes memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment and loss of language skills. Yet research shows that therapeutic activities are beneficial when they stimulate sensory and motor responses and do not depend on verbal skills," said Charlotte Coffman, a senior extension associate in the Department of Textiles and Apparel at Cornell, who conducts the program.

Coffman received the National Florence Hall Award from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in September for the "outstanding program." The award acknowledged her for being "alert in recognizing new concerns and interests of families."

In 1998, two researchers, Devorah (formerly Doreen) Greenstein with Cornell's Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Linda Buettner of the Decker School of Nursing, Binghamton University, investigated what kinds of items would benefit Alzheimer's patients and drafted instructions for making these items. Coffman tested those instructions with young people and compiled the 16 most successful products into "Simple Gifts," a manual that contains patterns, how-to illustrations and explanations for product uses. Workshops across New York state, funded by the state's 4-H Foundation, gave instruction on the designs; CCE staff, nursing home directors and education coordinators offered feedback and the program was launched. It now trains CCE staff about Alzheimer's disease and how to enlist youngsters in making the products. Simple Gifts went national in 2000, when it was approved by the National 4-H Curriculum Jury and 2,500 copies of the booklet were published. In addition, Simple Gifts booths are staffed by 4-H'ers every year at the New York State Fair.

"Alzheimer's disease affects some 4 million Americans, and estimates project that approximately 14 million will be afflicted by 2050," Coffman said. More than 70 percent of people with Alzheimer's live at home, where 75 percent of their care is provided by family and friends. Half of all nursing home residents have some form of dementia.

"Persons with dementia enjoy personal attention and intergenerational activities, but social interactions are often characterized by discomfort. Functional changes prevent them from benefiting from traditional group activities," Coffman explained. "Many families and nursing homes lack the money to purchase special recreational equipment and, although some of these items can be handmade, well-meaning families and community groups lack the knowledge to design and make them. Simple Gifts is a family- and community-focused program, grounded in a therapeutic framework that helps youth and adults make productive use of their volunteer time while making, donating or using research-based recreational items."

Barbara Baker, an extension educator in Erie County, worked with an afterschool group two years ago and then took the children to a nursing home to show residents how to use the gifts. She then wrote to Coffman: "I can't tell you how much that experience taught me about the power of youth, the meaning of kindness, and how extension makes a difference in people's lives. Your curriculum was transformed into living acts of kindness -- powerful life lessons for each child -- and a shining light in the lives of the elders."

CCE has kits with sample items, patterns and a videotape that can be borrowed by agencies, nursing homes, 4-H clubs, summer camps, home- and career-skills classes, afterschool programs, faith-based organizations and nursing home and hospital volunteer groups. The 88-page "Simple Gifts" booklet costs $11.55 and can be ordered from the CCE online catalog at http://www.cce.cornell.edu/publications/catalog.html, by phone at 255-2080, fax at 255-9946 or by e-mail at resctr@cce.cornell.edu.