Patients Learn the Art of Making Memories

For more than a decade, the Alzheimer’s Assn. of Orange County has been helping seniors with the disease reconnect themselves to their past through art.

The program, Memories in the Making, uses artistic expression--painting, sculpting, collage making and drawing--to help patients remember their past and help relieve stress.

Alzheimer’s patients typically suffer from profound memory loss, disorientation and speech difficulty. There is no cure.

The program was created by association board member Selly Jenny, whose mother died of the disease 14 years ago.

Jenny, a painter, created the program to improve the quality of life for patients. After a couple of years she launched a calendar highlighting some of the best work that was produced. The calendar, produced in Orange County and distributed nationally and internationally, helps to raise the public’s awareness of the disease.

This year, two of the calendar paintings came from a former patient, a Korean man, at Coastal Communities Hospital in Santa Ana. He died of the disease last year. Names of the artists are not released.

“He came in and was just totally depressed,” said Maureen Kochen, director of the hospital’s Golden Years program. “His wife had long ago passed away. He realized that his memory was going, and he had injured his foot and could no longer walk.”

One picture was of himself with his walking stick; the other, a picture of the house where he and his wife had lived in their homeland.

“The picture spoke so much of him and how much he had lost,” Kochen said. “But by being able to do these things, it showed him what he could accomplish.”

Most patients stay for only short periods, typically two weeks, said Kochen. Through art projects, the staff is quickly able to begin building up the patient’s memory.

“Art is such a phenomenal way to reach [patients],” Kochen said. “It’s such a common bond for all of us. Some [patients] do it every day and some just finish one project, but it just absolutely draws them in. The picture is a key to see into the tremendous contributions they’ve made throughout their lives.”

Calendars can be ordered by contacting the Alzheimer’s Assn. of Orange County at (714) 283-1111.

Chris Ceballos can be reached at (714) 966-7440.