Film on Memory a “must see” for anyone who works in long-term care sector -- World Premiere at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto , ONT – Canadian documentary filmmaker Allan King's latest actuality drama about eight ordinary seniors who share their humor, anger and fear about losing their memory is a powerful “teaching tool” for the long-term care sector and virtually anyone who interacts with aging adults.

Filmed over several months at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care last fall and winter, “Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and company” has its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13.

“Dementia is such a frightening, dehumanizing and unfair label,” says Nancy Webb, Baycrest's vice-president of Public Affairs. “Allan King's film deconstructs that crippling label to reveal through the words of eight feisty residents in our nursing home that cognitive change does not mean we lose our identity, our feelings or our desire to feel connected to others.”

“This film is about seeing the whole person behind the pathology. Once we can make that leap in perspective, it completely changes the way we communicate and interact with that person and the way they respond to us,” adds Dr. Michael Gordon, vice-president of Medical Services at Baycrest and co-author of Parenting Your Parents: Support Strategies for Meeting the Challenge of Aging in the Family (2nd Edition) .

Project background
Allan King approached Baycrest in the spring of 2004 to make a film on “memory” with residents who live in the Apotex Centre, Jewish Home for the Aged and The Louis and Leah Posluns Centre for Stroke and Cognition. With the support of staff, clients and their families, Baycrest agreed to the project. Baycrest recognized early on that the film could be a compelling “teaching” resource for nurses and other healthcare professionals who work in long-term care, and for volunteers who provide friendly visiting to elders in institutions.

King agreed to create a companion teaching DVD of the film. Expected to be available later this year or early 2006 from Allan King Associates Ltd., the teaching DVD will include a bonus audio track with insights contributed by three experts on communicating with people who have cognitive impairment. The experts include psychologist Dr. Guy Proulx and senior social worker Ruth Goodman of Baycrest, and Steven R. Sabat, professor of Psychology at Georgetown University in Washington .

“The film goes a long way to revealing the utterly human side of people with Alzheimer's Disease or other cognitive disorders, as well as the importance of treating such people as people!” says Sabat, author of The Experience of Alzheimer's Disease: Life Through a Tangled Veil, and the soon to be released Dementia: Mind, Meaning, and the Person (2006).

Press and Industry Screenings
“Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and company”
Varsity 7
Sept. 12 at 5:15 p.m.
Sept. 16 at 5:30 p.m.

* Press must contact the Toronto International Film Festival for accreditation to attend these screenings. The festival website is: www.e.bell.ca/filmfest/2005/home asp. Click on “media centre” to apply for accreditation.

Public Screenings at Toronto International Film Festival
Sept. 13, 7:00 p.m., Cumberland 3
Sept. 15, 9:00 a.m., Cumberland 3

As a result of the film, Baycrest has undertaken two important initiatives with the aim of improving the wellbeing of elderly clients who live in long-term care facilities.

Baycrest's Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit is planning a research study to evaluate the effects of a volunteer friendly visiting program on the lives of cognitively-impaired residents who live in institutions. One of Baycrest's volunteer friendly visitors, Bev Zwaigen, became a central character in the film as she interacted with Max, Claire, Ida and the other residents. Her ability to connect with and encourage them to share their range of feelings, and to make them feel socially connected and valued, was exceptional. Zwaigen approached Baycrest after the filming wrapped to ask if it would consider doing a scientific study to measure the effects of volunteers like herself on residents' wellbeing. Baycrest enthusiastically support s her idea and Zwaigen will play a key role in recruiting and training volunteers to participate in the study.
Baycrest has revised and will soon re-publish its 1996 guidebook, Visiting with Elders . It's a handy resource filled with inspiring ideas and practical strategies for having a meaningful visit with an elderly relative who has a cognitive impairment. The guidebook will assist family members who may be struggling with what can be difficult and emotional visits with a frail loved one, and healthcare professionals who need a refresher on improving communication with clients. Visiting with Elders (2nd Edition) will launch on Baycrest's website in later September ( http://www.baycrest.org/ ). Hard copies may be available at a later date.