Newspaper articles on the Author: Susan Brhel

February 18, 2007

Although her fingers are shaky and her eyesight has been better, Helen Ondrako glued a decoration onto a strip of cardboard paper to make a pretty bookmark on Thursday. "There," said the Susquehanna Nursing Home resident, completing the pretty design. "I like to stay occupied."

She does, too. When she isn't doing a craft activity, having a visit with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, or playing her favorite card game, Crazy Eights, she visits other people living in the nursing home. "I get around in this wheelchair, I don't stay put."

Next to her, Jean Hunt nodded in agreement. She, too, completed a homemade bookmark of her own design, using materials piled around the table, from stickers to cut-out magazine pictures to rubber stamps. "I like to read," said the 77-year-old, who used to volunteer at the Broome County Public Library in Binghamton.

Keeping busy isn't just entertaining these nursing home residents, it is keeping them well, said Susan Brhel, author of "Therapeutic Activities & Successful Aging," two books designed for family and professional caregivers. "What happens as we age is we change," Brhel said. "Our bodies change and our cognitive processes change."

After working with young children, the disabled and older people, she noticed how often activities were dismissed, or how often people did activities and exercises without understanding the actual benefits to cognition and health. "Even what seem like mild activities really have a powerful impact on lives," she said.

A simple activity, like making a bookmark, can give an older person a sense of productivity, a feeling of pride, as well as stimulate cognitive, physical and social skills.

After the six women on the fourth floor of the nursing home completed their bookmarks, they were given a choice: Keep them or donate them to the nursing home library for readers there. "That is so important, too, the sense that they still have choices in life, which can lend a feeling of control and a pride in having done something useful," Brhel said.

For Barb Capogrossi, another resident who participated in the craft activity, it was plain fun. "I like to do something different than just sitting," she said. "Anything I can do to occupy the time."

A few years ago, Brhel, 45, a Binghamton mother of three whose background is in human services, noted that with an influx of baby boomers entering the older adult population and with medical advancements increasing longevity, quality of life issues are becoming ever more important. Studies, she said, indicate that active older people "experience higher life expectancy and enjoy more fulfilling lives."

For example, in a large-scale study commissioned by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 160 residents in 40 nursing homes were interviewed in 1992 and asked about what quality of life meant to them. The residents overwhelmingly listed meaningful activities as a key factor that contributed to their positive self-image, and they reported that they felt no sense of purpose without them. Residents also said they like to take part in activities that "amount to something," not just something to "keep busy." Those included religious activities or ones where they could contribute to the nursing home in some manner, such as delivering mail or helping to set up activities for others.

The objective of Brhel's books, she said "is to help coordinate recreation as an inclusive part of care for older adults."

Her goal is to educate families and elder care workers on the benefits of recreational activities and she offers more than 35 examples in the areas of games, physical activities, expressive and relaxation activities. From soap making to creating storytelling collages to potting plants, keeping elder people occupied in meaningful, fun activities can make a difference in their quality of life, she said.

Kathy Lockwood, activity leader at Susquehanna Nursing Home, said there is no doubt in her mind that staying busy is key. "From balloon volleyball to Bingo to a Valentine's Sweethearts' Tea and music performance," keeping older adults engaged and active is linked to well-being, she said. "I am not a doctor, but I really do believe that this can help people fend off depression."

An activity like the bookmark craft can "hone fine motor skills and fight dementia by keeping people more alert," Lockwood says.

The six women, who rubber stamped, glued and signed their masterpieces, also happily made their choices. Some donated them to the library, others wanted to give them to a beloved relative or friend.

"It is really important to me to reach out to families and professionals and offer information and resources for seniors," Brhel said. "We can help older adults experience growth and give them a sense of fulfillment rather than letting them focus on their loss of skills and independence. If people can reasonably expect to live to 90, it is important that we support them to ensure the last decades of their lives are ones that stimulate them mentally, physically and socially."