Testimonials
Before the MĪ Care Survey and Plan, my nonverbal client occasionally fed herself. I and other caregivers would feed her because we could not communicate what she needed to do. I was worried that doing so would cause her to lose the ability completely. Once the survey was completed and the plan made, I used a bodily-kinesthetic (a preserved strength) communication strategy, touch cueing, that reminded her of the task. This decreased her caregiver’s need to feed her, helping her maintain this skill.
My husband has difficulty expressing himself verbally. This challenge causes him a lot of frustration. The MĪ Care Survey determined that he still possesses bodily-kinesthetic strengths. Because of this, his plan suggested his caregivers engage him in movement to help him communicate when possible. To my excitement, his verbal skills often improved when he participated in bodily-kinesthetic activities, like walking and bowling. He’s been much happier and more talkative.
My mom’s caregivers were unable to identify activities that engaged her. She has difficulty communicating and cannot relay what she’d like to do. She often sat quietly, not interacting with the world around her, and I was fearful that her lack of stimulation was accelerating her decline. The MĪ Care Survey pinpointed my mom’s preserved verbal-linguistic ability. Her plan suggested that her caregivers engage her in activities that align with her strengths, such as reading. I was skeptical that, because of her dementia, she would be unable to participate. She is a very devout woman, so I gave her a bible, and to my surprise, she looked at it for ten minutes. I haven’t seen her engaged in months. She will also attentively listen when she is read to.
Myself and my mom’s caregivers struggled to find activities that engaged her, so she often spent her day watching TV. She began working with a therapist who suggested the MĪ Care Survey and Plan, saying her lack of interest in other activities may be because she has difficulty doing them, causing her to shy away from them and that the survey identifies preserved strengths and the plan would identify activities that had a high likelihood of suiting her.
The MĪ Care Survey and Plan allow me to identify group activities that suit my client’s abilities and promote participation. Thus, I spend less time trying to keep individuals engaged and manage behaviors and more time watching them thrive.
My husband, a former landscape architect who once owned a successful business, became very depressed as his mental skills declined. He gave up many of his interests because he could not excel at them like he used to. A man we hired to spend time with him suggested the MĪ Care Survey and Plan, saying that it can identify preserved abilities and suggest activities that suited him. The survey determined that he possessed visual-spatial strengths, which was not surprising, given his former occupation. However, because of his dementia, I was concerned that these abilities no longer remained. His plan suggested he participate in spatial activities, like painting. My husband was a talented painter but stopped doing it decades earlier. My concern that he would be unable to be successful deepened because it had been so long since he painted, but we figured it was worth a shot as he had very little that brought him happiness. With my and his caregiver’s support, he began painting, struggling initially, but surprisingly, he improved over time. He’s now creating art for others, and his self-worth has improved, lessening his depression.