Creating Connections
Benefits of watching Zinnia together:
- The care partner gets to know a resident better.
- The resident regains a connection with who they are/ who they have been.
- Provides new opportunities for communication between staff and resident.
Selecting What to Watch:
- Best of all is when the resident can self-select or assist in the selection of the videos. Scroll through the All Day Mix or Interests channel allowing the resident to look at images while care partner (or resident) reads titles aloud.
- Consider whether a channel other than All Day Mix or Interests would be a better match for the resident by optionally reading aloud channel names and soliciting resident feedback.
- For a resident who is not able to participate in the selection process, care partner selects a video that matches the resident’s known or suspected interests.
- Note that this might also be tested with visiting family members, and by allowing multiple residents to watch together.
Watching Videos:
- Make sure that the video image is large enough/close enough for the resident to see.
- Play the video at normal speed or optionally slow down to match viewer capacity.
- Pause the video from time to time to ask the resident relevant questions that promote a self-to-subject matter conversation.
- If the resident becomes agitated, sleepy or disengaged, try a different video.
I watched the "Just Fun" video with one of our residents (that I had known for 5 years+) and learned that she had a dog! Something I hadn't known for all these years and it got me thinking that these videos are a great way to get to know our residents better.
Deborah L
Registered Nurse in Long-Term Care
The videos serve as great conversation starters.
Eugenia Welch
President / CEO at Alzheimer's San Diego
What a blessing and a gift this TV station is. You can watch things together…and you don’t have to focus on a relationship the person doesn’t remember.
Teepa Snow
Positive Approach to Care
Set the tone | Provide ease and calm | Reduce agitation
Benefits of watching Zinnia together:
- In individual or small group settings, mood shifts from anxious to calm.
- Playing a mood-lifting video like Just for Fun prior to a scheduled individual or group activity sets a happier tone resulting in an enhanced or more successful activity.
Selecting which videos to watch:
- The Nature channel includes many videos with soothing imagery, music and sound effects.
- If the care partner knows the resident’s likes and dislikes, a sense of ease can come from watching a video about a beloved topic.
- The Just for Fun videos are intended specifically to lift the mood and create a more playful, happy tone.
Watching Videos:
- Make sure that the video image is large enough/close enough for the resident to see.
- Play the video at normal speed or optionally slow down to match viewer capacity.
- Care partners have reported success using Nature videos to keep a small group engaged while they continue gathering residents for an activity. The care partner can relax knowing that the content will not suddenly shift from soothing to triggering.
- Care partners have found Nature videos to be helpful as a background element in the dining hall or other common areas.
Zinnia TV brings to me calm, mind body and spirit. I leave it playing in the background as I go about my day.
Bonnie Erickson
Board President & Founder of the National Council of Dementia Minds
Without Zinnia TV I don’t know how I would have made it through times of crisis.
Carolyn Lukert
PAC Consultant and Support Mentor, Positive Approach to Care
Zinnia TV is super helpful. My client becomes distracted really easily. The nature videos, like waterfalls, trees, birds--they’re really engaging for her. She’s curious about what we’re watching, and often sighs, or says things like, ‘Such beauty!’
Encourage Participation in Healthful Activities and ADLs
Benefits of watching Zinnia together:
- Routine care tasks are normalized, resulting in greater compliance.
- Anxiety around some personal care tasks and other activities of daily living is lessened.
- Less stress for residents results in less stress for care partners.
Selecting which videos to watch:
The Activities of Daily Living channel includes videos that promote a better quality of life by reducing agitation around, and compliance with ADLs. Select videos based on the activity that is to be supported.
Watching Videos:
- For one-on-one care tasks like getting dressed, toileting, and drinking water, allow the resident to watch the video before beginning an activity to help them feel comfortable with the care that is about to take place.
- For group tasks like eating a meal it can be helpful to play the video both in advance and during a meal to set expectations and eliminate anxiety around why we are gathering in the dining hall, for instance.
- If residents are paying too much attention to the video and not eating, consider switching to a less active video from the Nature channel or turning off the video.
- Some videos are intended to be watched by the resident as they perform the activity. Drink Water, for example, or Eat With Me [under development] or Let’s Brush our Teeth [currently being tested].
Playing the Breakfast video has been a game changer at our community. The other caregivers and I see how much calmer everyone is when they know why they’re in the dining hall. This is the way it’s supposed to be.
Lavinia
Professional care partner in a memory care community
Each time the woman in the video lifted her cup of tea and took a sip, our resident did the same!
Research team member
Testing Zinnia TV in memory care
Support cognitive stimulation with Quizzes
Benefits of watching Zinnia together:
- Failure-free format ensures success
- Pausing to discuss correct response elicits feedback and group discussion
- Residents can demonstrate proficiency with familiar topics
Selecting which videos to watch:
Each quiz question is accompanied by an image to help residents select from one of 3 multiple choice responses. ‘Incorrect’ responses slowly fade from view. Once the answer is revealed, a fun fact is shared.Choose a category, or have residents make that choice. Consider ahead of time which quizzes could be included in themed programming.
Watching Videos:
- Repeat out loud the name of the quiz that will be watched.
- Invite ‘me-to-topic’ connections before playing the quiz.
- Pause when the responses appear on the screen to encourage discussion about which is the correct answer.
- Offer clues if needed – What does the picture tell us?
- Celebrate correct answers!
Promote daily social interaction with Today in History
Benefits of watching Zinnia together:
- Reminiscence therapy as residents recall and discuss past events
- Care staff learns from and about residents
- Residents familiar with historical events are bolstered by a sense of being the expert in the room
Selecting which videos to watch:
Videos correspond to each day of the year. Build a routine that includes watching today’s video. On resident birthdays you might choose to watch the video corresponding to their special day.
Watching Videos:
- First, ask whether any of the residents can think of something eventful that took place on this day in history.
- For each today-in-history topic pause and encourage reminiscence. Who recalls this event?
- Look for additional me-to-topic connections. If today is the birthday of a famous singer, for instance, you might ask who is familiar with their music. Can anyone name some of their songs?
- For residents with low verbal skills you might simply focus on the picture that accompanies today’s fact. You might also turn off the volume, pause the screen, and read the information at a pace more accessible to the residents.
