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Summary
In this episode of CareLab, hosts Emilia Bourland and Brandy Archie talk with Emily Rinkema and Deb Emerson, co-creators of Hodie, a photo-based, rule-free card game designed for individuals with dementia. Emily and Deb share their personal caregiving experiences, the inspiration behind Hodie, and how it helps foster connection and engagement. The conversation highlights the importance of providing meaningful activities for individuals with dementia while supporting caregivers with practical tools.
Key Takeaway
- Hodie was created based on personal experiences caring for loved ones with dementia, emphasizing the need for engaging, stress-free activities.
- The game’s flexible design allows for various ways to play, such as matching, sorting, and storytelling, without requiring memory or strict rules.
- Physical interaction is crucial—handling tangible cards provides sensory engagement and reduces restlessness in dementia patients.
- Caregiving is a team effort, and secondary caregivers play a vital role in providing companionship and enrichment.
- Many people struggle with how to interact with individuals with dementia—having structured activities like Hodie can make visits more meaningful and enjoyable.
Transcript
Emilia Bourland
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Care Lab.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
or afternoon or evening or anytime you're listening, we're glad you are here. I'm also really glad that we have some really awesome guests today and I'm so excited to introduce Deb and Emily. They are both caregivers for family members who are living with dementia. And after they passed, they decided to create an activity that they wish they actually had when they were caring for their family members. So it's called Hodie and it's a photo based card game.
Emilia Bourland
Sure.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
with no rules, which is really important, and designed specifically for people who are living with dementia and those who love and care for them. They live in Vermont and they both have other full-time jobs, but Hodier is their passion and has brought them so much joy and me as well. So you're gonna get a chance to hear all about them, but I'm super glad to have them on. I'm always very inspired to have people who see a problem and
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
try to find a way to solve it, you know, and they've been in the problem themselves. And so that's how we got connected because another OT who specializes in dementia care uses the whole DA cards all the time. So there's an activity to do that doesn't have the stress of trying to like follow some rules or have some kind of form, but there's still like a thing to hold onto and to do. And so I'm so glad to have you both on the show. So thank you.
Emily Rinkema
Thanks for having us.
Deb Emerson
We're happy to be here.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, this is really exciting. This actually what y'all do at Hodier is something that's very close to my heart as someone who has worked extensively with people who have dementia and someone who had a grandmother who had Alzheimer's. Like this, I'm really, really excited to have you all and talk about your journeys in this. But first, we have to start with our icebreaker question. And I think that this question is super relevant to you both here today.
Are you ready for it?
Emily Rinkema
I think so. We'll see.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
You
Emilia Bourland
Okay, because as I told you before, have to answer first. You get no breathing room. No breathing room here on CureLab.
Emily Rinkema
I know, right. We got this. We got this.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
You see them saying yes, but shaking their heads no. So, you know.
Emily Rinkema
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
Hahaha!
Deb Emerson
It's bag of emotions.
Emilia Bourland
Okay, okay, so here's the question. Are you a rule follower or a rule breaker?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Nice.
Deb Emerson
We have talked about this, haven't we Emily? This has come up before.
Emilia Bourland
That's a good one, right?
Emily Rinkema
Who we have talked about this? I will start with that answer because the first thing that popped into my head is probably 20, 18 or 20 years ago, I got pulled over on my way home from work by a very nice police officer. I still remember his name. And he pulled me over because he said I did not do a complete stop at a stop sign.
This is 18 years ago and now every single stop sign I come to, actually stop, my hands off the wheel and count to three and then go. So I am like in some parts of my life, I don't think I'm a rule follower like in my creative pursuits, but like in day to day life, like I was so upset by that. I wrote him this long letter saying, I know I stopped because I'm a follower. Let's put that out there, I know.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
You
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
and you're real fella, that is, I should drive in your city and I'll be a little bit safer.
Emily Rinkema
Hmm.
Emily Rinkema
We only have like three stops that stop signs on name. I don't know my entire rhyme. So, Deb.
Deb Emerson
Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all, Emily. And I'm thinking of a story somewhat kind of similar where it was Bed Bath and Beyond back in the day we had a Bed Bath and Beyond store here and I was buying a wedding present for a cousin and it was a set of place settings.
Emily Rinkema
Thank you.
Deb Emerson
And when I was walking out of the store, I realized they had not charged me for one of the place settings out of the four I bought. four. I took home, I walked out with four, I paid for three. I happened to look at the receipt and it was a winter day and it was cold and miserable and I was at my car and I turned around and went back in the store and insisted on paying for the last place setting instead of walking away and ignoring it, pretending I never looked at the receipt.
And I've had some other instances like that, so I feel like I'm I'm a rule follower. Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
But you know what, that's also just like ethical, right? Like you wanted to, that's just like good ethical behavior. Like we all hope that that's like what we would choose and what our kids would choose. So, you know, good job, way to be a good person.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
angry.
Deb Emerson
Fair enough. I try. I try.
Emily Rinkema
Deb is a good person. maybe Deb, maybe you should get employee of the month.
Emilia Bourland
All right. All right, Brandy, what about you?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Amelia, do you think I'm a real follower or a real breaker?
Emilia Bourland
I think that you and I are going to be pretty similar on this where.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
You know, it's interesting because I think it's like, I don't know, I don't think I have one way to be, I guess, because in so many ways, I follow the rule of ask for forgiveness and not for permission. Like this is like a life motto. So I'm breaking rules all the time. But on the other hand, in like structured situations, you know, I'm maybe pushing the rules to their limit, but I do follow the rules. You know, like I was a very good student and I did all the things and...
try to make sure everybody was pleased with me. And so, I don't know, I think it's both, but maybe the trigger point is if the rules don't been, I guess if the rules feel unfair or they don't work well for a lot of people and I see a way to solve a problem in that, then I'm gonna try to push at that.
Emily Rinkema
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, yeah, I feel like same for me. I think there are some rules that I follow very, very closely and ways that I have been told like, wow, you're really like, you're overdoing this here. But, you know, if it's like a legal rule or something that I consider to be like an ethical issue or those kinds of things that are like very or a safety issue or something like that, like that is a rule that I'm going to follow and I'm always going to follow it to
the letter. On the other hand, if it's more like, if I'm like, well, this rule is dumb.
Emily Rinkema
you
Emilia Bourland
then I may not be super inclined to follow that rule. Like, I'm not gonna do anything that's gonna put myself or anyone else like in jeopardy from like a health perspective or safety perspective or like legal perspective or anything like that. But there are, our world is made up of many, many rules and lots of them are stupid. And so I don't, I don't necessarily feel, I would rather find a better way.
to solve the problem that that rule was put in place for, then just blindly follow whatever that rule says the path forward is. So I think I very much live by a lot of the time, same as you, I would rather beg for forgiveness than ask for permission if I can get away with it. But, you know, depends on the situation.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Yeah.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
And as a podcast full of entrepreneurs here, I'd argue to say that when you start a new thing, you are also not necessarily following the rules. You could have just did what was already happening, but you saw a problem and tried to solve it.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Emily Rinkema
that's funny because the way Deb and I have gone about this whole business thing, we know nothing about business. We know nothing about starting a business, running a business. And so we were breaking rules all the time, just unintentionally, because we didn't know them and nothing like big and illegal or unethical, but just not knowing like what we were supposed to do next. So we would just try stuff and see what happens and then Google it and realize, we didn't actually follow what we were supposed to do there.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm
Emilia Bourland
such as the learning and the entrepreneurial journey, I think, for so many of us who don't necessarily get to this path through a traditional way through business school or something like that. I do want to segue the conversation here a little bit because I want to make sure that we are focusing in on your stories and also the value of what y'all have come up with based on your own personal experiences.
But let's kind of start at the beginning. Would each of you mind sharing, Emily and Deb, what were your caregiving experiences? Can you share a little bit about that journey with us?
Deb Emerson
Yeah, I can go first. My father-in-law had Alzheimer's. So he was living actually in Florida when he was first diagnosed with an early onset Alzheimer's more or less. And weren't particularly as close to him as you know, we became eventually. But we he has my husband, he has two sons, but one's in London.
and then my husband's here in Vermont. So, and he had, we have a lot of extended family in the South and some of them, his older brother moved him up to South Carolina at one point when he couldn't be on his own anymore. And then for the last four to five years of his life, he was moved up to Vermont and was with us in Vermont. And so we were able to.
really get to know him again and take care of him. we were not caregivers 24 seven. He wasn't in the home with us. He wasn't an assisted living facility, but we were more or less the only family geographically nearby that was regularly managing everything for him and taking care of him, visiting him, taking him out. that was the last four or five years of his life. And he was up here in Vermont where we are caring for him.
Emily Rinkema
My father had Lewy body dementia. and that was something that for probably the last eight years of his life, life he lived with, he had was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease before that. He stayed at home the entire time. have a stepmother who was his primary carer and she gave up
everything to keep him in the home. So she was 10 years younger than he was and gave up her career. Most of her friends, everything she liked to do in order to be able to keep him home and care for him full time. I lived about 30 minutes away from their house, from her house now.
And so I was the secondary caregiver, I guess. So the one who was always on call came in a couple times a week to relieve Allegra for large chunks of time. And it was actually, I've always been close to my father, but the time that I spent with him while he had dementia, particularly in the last five years of his life,
I would never have spent that much time with him if he were healthy. I mean, I know that's ridiculous, but when I think a family member is healthy, you take them for granted, right? They're always going to be there, so you cancel things, you call every once in a while. But because we sort of had this forced relationship, I got to spend a lot more time with him than I think I would have. And we were able to form a new relationship that
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mmm.
Emily Rinkema
obviously kept changing as his disease progressed and changed.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
So two questions at the same time that you hopefully can answer. One, like how did you guys meet? then as in your relationship, there's so many problems in being a caregiver for somebody who has dementia. What was it about activity that brought you to say like, look, we should develop something for this?
Emily Rinkema
Yeah, it's funny. We I used to play cards with my dad all the time. Like that was our thing ever since I was a little kid. And when after he was diagnosed with dementia, we continued to play cards. And it was something that really right up until the very end of his life we could do together. Though what it meant to play cards had to change significantly. But there was an element of that tactile like he he always remembered holding cards in his hands and loved that. So whatever game we were playing with those. So
that activity was one that sort of inspired, I think, us with our card game. But Deb and I had known each other, jump in here, Deb, if I get this wrong, we've known each other for, I don't know, 30 years, but kind of we were, we had the same friends, but we weren't friends. So we would end up at all the same parties or weddings. And we'd always be there. But and I think we were always
I was always drawn to Deb because of her humor, really. We have a very similar sense of humor at these things. But then we started to realize we had things in common. And I think that led to, it was after both of your father-in-law and my father had died, and we'd been getting a little bit closer, and then we just were talking about activities, I think, right? Were we talking about what we wish we had?
Deb Emerson
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're doing pretty well. Not bad. Good memory. Yes. So yeah, we were sort of acquaintances who really respected and liked each other and similar senses of humor and just always enjoyed seeing each other when we come across each other, but didn't only interacted. Yeah, mostly when we were at other events, we helped and happened to both be invited to. But the big thing I remember, is going to the Parkinson's Conference. So
Emily Rinkema
Thanks, yeah, pull apart a little bit there at the end.
Deb Emerson
Emily's father had Parkinson's and my husband was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson's in 2018. So when that happened, I asked if she wanted to go to a conference in Ottawa on the Davis Finney Foundation. So it's for carers, it's for patients, it's for healthcare providers. So we drove there and she stopped at every stop sign I noticed and waited on the way there.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Hmm.
Emily Rinkema
Thank
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
You're like, what are you doing?
Deb Emerson
looking back.
Emilia Bourland
Did you actually, did you set each other up for that in the beginning? I mean, that was too perfectly timed.
Deb Emerson
No
Emily Rinkema
you
Deb Emerson
I was thinking that as soon as you told that story though, I was like, oh, that's all making sense. So I think that, so we had, you know, weekend together in Ottawa 24 seven, and it was sort of, I think that's where we really connected as our own friends. And we would refer to each other as our, what do we say, our new old friend, our new old friend, Emily, my new old friend, Emily. So then again, March of 2022 after.
Emily Rinkema
Yeah, a rat, a rat.
Emily Rinkema
Yes.
Deb Emerson
my father-in-law and your father passed, I remember getting a call from you and saying, you know, I have this idea, like, you know, don't you think there's a, you know, there's just not enough things to do, there's not enough tools in the toolkit for people that have ones with dementia and you know, what is there, maybe there's something we can do about it. And I, you know, I'm thinking, we're just gonna have some coffee and have a nice chat and it'd be good to catch up. I think you had just been in New York for something. I'm like, I'll hear about her trip in New York city and it'll be great.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm.
Deb Emerson
And by the time we left that coffee date, we had ordered a prototype set of cards. then, yeah, yeah, she doesn't mess around.
Emilia Bourland
Wow.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
That's fast!
Emily Rinkema
I don't. I don't. When I've decided on something, I don't want to think about it anymore. I'm like, let's just do it. Let's get the first step done, see what happens.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
You
Emilia Bourland
Love that.
Deb Emerson
Yeah, and the card playing with your dad clearly was a huge piece of it. And then another piece of the fact that it's photo based, my father-in-law, the first couple of years we were able to take him out all the time from the facility. But as Alzheimer's progressed, it was just more difficult and it really wasn't possible. It wasn't safe. So we would have to spend time with him in the facility.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm.
Deb Emerson
And we were just out of things to do. Like, well, how are we cannot find ways to engage with him. We don't want to watch another Golden Girls episode as lovely as they are. so we're, I mean, come on. So, you know.
Emilia Bourland
Blanche.
Deb Emerson
But one thing we started doing was bringing photo albums in and they were our family photo albums. And he did not necessarily remember who was in the photos. He didn't remember the stories of the photos. He wasn't getting the names right. But he was so engaged in looking through that photo album. It really brought out something in him. And we would just have conversations about the photos and what he was seeing. And he was making up stories. And he was just in a it just became this huge sort of moment of brightness in what was often like a really difficult time.
So we really started talking about what we wanted to do. It'd be something that was really visually attractive, that was visually stimulating to people as well. So sort of that's where the photograph piece kind of came in, as well as the card piece with your father and the playing cards and the rules, knowing that we needed to keep it flexible, you know, having no rules, but making it, you know, something that would not really and not depend on memory, you know, because clearly that's a challenge.
Emily Rinkema
Yeah.
Deb Emerson
So make it your own game, meet them where they are.
Emilia Bourland
There are like three things that y'all have honed in on here that I think resonate so deeply like with me personally as a person who had a loved one with dementia, but also like as a clinician and as someone who teaches about dementia care regularly. And that is first in both of your stories, you both independently brought up the fact that even though your loved one had dementia,
it actually presented an opportunity for you to rekindle and re-explore and connection and relationship with that person. That it actually created that opportunity for you. And I think that that is an incredibly powerful thing to think about. The second thing is that you also honed in on the fact that you have to have something to do. People with dementia don't...
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
want to sit around and be bored and do nothing. They're still human beings. They want to participate. They want to be active. And so like, how can we do that? And then the third thing, which just like so hits the nail on the head in terms of providing a great experience for everyone, is not requiring anything or having expectations of the person that you are trying to engage with. asking them to tell, asking them to remember
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
or asking them to tell a story or correct things or remember rules or anything like that, but just to purely be there in that moment and engage with them. And that's what I think is so powerful and really like clever about what y'all have done with the game is you've made it really easy for other people where, for many people, is not a nap. None of those things are natural to do in that caregiving relationship, but you've created
this tool that actually makes that easier for people to do. Would you talk a little bit more about how the game actually works?
Emily Rinkema
Yeah, so we have, would say the calling it a game, and we do call it a game, we say a game without rules, I think is, it's more of an activity that I think the flexibility, so when we designed what the cards were gonna look like and the type of cards we were going to have, we wanted to ensure that it was really versatile, right? So we have two of every photograph.
Deb Emerson
So, yeah.
Emily Rinkema
so that you can do some sort of matching activity with it, but we didn't want to limit it to matching. We thought about sorting and organizing. So when my father and I, at times when we would be playing with a regular deck of cards, sometimes the game we would play, we would always call it gin rummy because that was our thing, but sometimes it was sorting the red cards and the black cards. Sometimes he would be able to sort face cards. So sorting was something we wanted to do.
when we chose photographs, we had to be really intentional about choosing photographs that could be sorted in different ways. So for instance, in our bird set, we made sure we had different colors of birds or different colors on birds so that it could be sorted by color. But we also made sure we had a set of birds that are flying, birds that are perched, birds that are in the water. And then we have
a little bit more sophisticated level of birds of prey, songbirds. So depending on really somebody's knowledge about birds, someone's experience, and sort of where they are with their dementia that day, they can sort and organize in a lot of different ways from simple to more complex. Deb, I miss what other kind of activities did we suggest?
Deb Emerson
Yeah, and I mean, other thing it can really we have suggested activities in each card set. So again, we say there's no rules, but we want to give some people some places to start with. And Emily's mentioning some of those. And then you can do other things that can be like an I spy.
what do you see in the card? Tell me about the card. sort of like, you know, observe and wonder. Like, tell me what you're seeing and tell a story about it. So encouraging that storytelling as well. And we pick themes. So Emily mentioned the bird theme. So each card set has a theme. So we have car show and birds. And we're trying to pick, you know, a theme that would appeal to, although dementia can certainly impact people of any age.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm.
Deb Emerson
know, the vast majority are gonna be older adults. And so we're picking, you know, themes that would be appealing to that demographic. So starting with the birds and then adding the cars. There's a little nod to Emily and her father and the car show theme as well, because that was something, that was a passion that they shared. So that makes it very, even more personal, which is great. And I know my father-in-law, never a birder in his life, but when he was in the last facility he was in, we put a bird feeder out front, outside the window.
And he was obsessed with watching the birds come in and feed. And he would try to name them and make up stories about them. So that was always very meaningful to me as well.
Emily Rinkema
One of the things, another thing that was important to us in designing the cards is that they wouldn't be language based so that that would not be a limitation. And so that was important for a lot of reasons, whether we didn't want something that was based in the English language that would limit, you know, cross cultural communication as well between a caregiver and the person that they're caring for.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mmm.
Emily Rinkema
And then also language can really get in the way. That was something I know that was really frustrating for my father when he, you know, would struggle with the words on a page or, and so we wanted, so we removed all language from the front of the cards, tried to keep the photos really simple and crisp as well. So that was something that was important to us. Just so visually it's not confusing, which can get really frustrating.
Deb Emerson
and up.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
think.
Emilia Bourland
Are you sure you're not OTs? Because this is just like so, I mean, really, really just so well thought out and designed. Sorry, Brandy, go ahead.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Listen.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
You know, we have all these OT speak words that describe what you're saying, you but you're like, you created a system in which it's accessible to generally everybody and you've removed the barriers, which makes it so much easier to engage. And I think there's like two things, Amelia brought out the things that y'all have said and highlighted. I want to bring out two things that you're not saying that I think are really important. And so like the first one is that this is an activity that has
Emilia Bourland
Yeah.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
a physical thing. Like in theory you could like pull up some pictures of birds on a phone and just like show it to them and say tell me a story about this. What do you think about this? You you could do that but like the importance of being able to hold something in your hand because there's such need and desire at some points in the dementia process. They want to put your hands on something and do something right? Like our bodies are made to move and even when you get to a point where you're not cognitively
aware of the fact that you want to do a thing, you're still trying to do a thing. So this puts something in your hand so you can do something productive and not like open locks and pour things out that don't need to pour it out or whatever that be like maladaptive this in my mind. I and take out stuff. Exactly. Exactly. So I think that's like such a strong point too. Yes, exactly.
Emilia Bourland
go through your roommate's jewelry box, things like that. Yeah.
Emily Rinkema
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
Take your bra off and run it down the hallway.
Emily Rinkema
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
you
Deb Emerson
And that was one of the things. So we did prototype testing with area facilities and agencies on aging. we just started with it in April. We started in March of 2022. In April, we just started going around, driving around physically to facilities and dropping off cards with a feedback form.
for the activities directors. And so we went through a few iterations. There were a few different prototypes, but that's some of the feedback they gave us really helped in terms of the tactile nature of the card, certainly having something physical, having a little bit of, what's the word I'm looking for? It's not glossy. not, you know, it's not texture to it. Thank you, Emily. And that they were rounded corners, so they're not sharp. So they're not, and they're durable. So they can, I have some cards right here, but they,
Emily Rinkema
Having a little texture.
Emilia Bourland
Mm.
Emily Rinkema
Yeah.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Yes!
Deb Emerson
Yeah, so they're very durable and they're also not a traditional playing card size. So they're square, they're four by four square, which they were easier for people to handle. The box is really sturdy. It's a thick box. It's sturdy. can be, and it's also, you can take it off and put it on. It's easier, easy to maneuver and you can throw it in your pocket. You can throw it in a nightstand. It's easy to carry around. So just anything we're thinking of, like when we would go visit,
what worked for us and what works for other folks when we're talking to the activities directors and putting them in the hands of our friends and family tested them. had friends, unfortunately, Emily, you touched on this, that you had a family member with dementia. We don't meet anybody who doesn't have a family member who's impacted by dementia. there's a never ending audience for this, which is really sad, but it's the truth. And so that's one thing that's been amazing is
Emilia Bourland
Of of course.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Yes.
Deb Emerson
every show we go to or every, you know, we've sold at local markets and everyone we talk to, the stories that come out of their loved ones living with dementia, it's just endless. And Emily just wrote a great blog about it actually on our website. Because when we're at a market, a holiday market, and you know, someone's selling doll clothes next to us, it's great. But the stories and the people that come to us and are like crying in our booth because they're just telling us their stories and they're just,
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
He
Deb Emerson
letting it all out and connecting with us on that level. It's really, it's incredible. It's really amazing.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Yeah, that's so true. That's yeah, so true. Like my grandmother had dementia and she lived with us, my mom with the primary caregiver when I was like a teenager slash college age. so watching her provide care to my grandmother and see that transition completely impacted one, my life, but also like my career choice, you know? And so yeah, you're right. There's nobody that I know that can't point to somebody in their life who has dementia. And that's why I think
The other thing that you're not saying that I think is really important is that both of you, I feel like, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, kind of try to downplay your caregiving role because you weren't caring for your person in your own house. And you're intentional to say they're at the assisted living facility, or they're here at their own house, but I came and did stuff, right? And I think that's super important because it brings out a couple of things. One,
Emily Rinkema
Thank
Yeah.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
It can be really hard if you are the primary caregiver to even think about doing stuff because you're doing so many other things every day and you're managing this all the time. And that's why it's so important to have more people on the team who are providing care in other ways, right? Not only so that somebody can leave and go do something else, but also so that other things can be happening and like y'all both and we're in charge of having fun and like.
Emily Rinkema
you
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
having activity and engaging so they're not just sitting there like bumps on a log, right? And like that was a super important part of their lives. And then you also mentioned how it was important part of your life too. And so I just wanted to like elevate that because I think sometimes people downplay how important additional roles are in the care of somebody else.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, and if we had more people playing additional roles, how much easier and more enriched would everyone's life be?
Deb Emerson
Well, I really-
Emily Rinkema
you
Deb Emerson
Right, and I appreciate all of what you're saying. It's absolutely true. And I was just thinking, Emily, when you've talked about how visitors would stop coming, your dad's friends would stop visiting because they didn't know what to do. They didn't know how to interact with him. And so that was a big part of this too, is like, can, even though we're caregivers as well, carers, what can we help other people that are coming? Will it encourage other people to come if we can provide them?
Emily Rinkema
Thank you.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Yes.
Yes.
Deb Emerson
something to do. And I've heard that from family members, when we first started this is, I have an uncle who had a friend who had diagnosed with dementia. And he was like, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do with them. Like I go over there and we can't really have the conversations we used to have. And I was like, well, I have something for you. And they started going over with the cards and it was great. And also you're talking about, think, Brandy, you touched on people.
Emily Rinkema
Mm-hmm.
Emily Rinkema
Yeah.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm.
Deb Emerson
just being able to touch the cards and use them and play with them. And we've heard from some family members who have given the cards to their loved ones, who was one woman that she said it was the gentleman told us it was his wife who had Alzheimer's. It was the first time in I don't know how long a year that she was able to just sit at the table without him having to kind of hover and help her and walk her through something. And she was just touching the cards and stacking them and matching them and placing them and just, you know,
just working with them and he had a break. He got a break from respite, which is also incredibly important as we all know, to have that break.
Emily Rinkema
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
So I think that honestly, like, we could go on and on and I could get really nerdy talking about all of the details of why what y'all have created is so valuable and fantastic. But I think that what listeners might like better is to find out where they can actually get the game. So can you tell us where can people find this?
Emily Rinkema
you
Emily Rinkema
Well, first on Ask Sammy, you can get them in. Wonderful resource. Thank you. And then direct through our website as well. So we do have both sets there. As well as we do sell t-shirts. I know if you can see, they say play without rules, ODA. And the proceeds for the t-shirts go to the care, peer to peer caregiving.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
By the way, Sammy, you know it.
Emilia Bourland
you
Deb Emerson
Well done, Emily.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
yeah.
Emily Rinkema
which is a new kind of pilot program through the University of Vermont family, Deb, help me out here, center, UVM memory center. Yeah, and what they do is they pair up experienced dementia caregivers with new dementia caregivers. It's they do a mentorship program. So that has started within the last couple of years.
Deb Emerson
Museum Memory Center, yeah, peer to peer mentoring program.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Nice.
Emilia Bourland
That's wonderful.
Emily Rinkema
So anyway, the proceeds for our t-shirts go to that organization. It's really an amazing, you spoke a moment ago about the importance of for people who are primary caregivers having that secondary and even tertiary group around them that can support. And I think that's what this group really does is to help give that support to that primary carer. And then local, have, there's a handful of...
local bookstores. So if you're in the Vermont area, Phoenix books or Flying Pigs, but
Deb Emerson
Yankee Bookshop. I think we're in about 12 different retail outlets around the country. So outside of Vermont, which was really exciting. We've noticed what we've heard, they're generally toy stores or bookshops. And the toy store angle is interesting because what we had heard from the owners of the stores is that they don't have enough products aimed at other populations outside of kids.
Emily Rinkema
Mm-hmm.
Emily Rinkema
Mm-hmm.
Deb Emerson
in terms of tradition and games and activities. So they were very excited to see that something that was aimed at a different population, you know, and so that was really exciting. we're also in a couple of hospital gift shops. So that's another area we've taken a look at and reached out to.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Mmm.
Emily Rinkema
Mm-hmm.
Deb Emerson
And then we do have some online presence beyond our website. We have Amazon, we have MyTea, which is a local Vermont, a local Burlington, Vermont area website that's sort of local Amazon. So they're a startup. It's really exciting to be part of that. And then we're on the SNS Worldwide site as well. And so, which is great, because they are actually dedicated. They have a whole section dedicated to activities directors for assisted living and memory care.
Emily Rinkema
Thank
Deb Emerson
facilities, so specific dementia related products. a little bit. Yeah, clearly.
Emily Rinkema
But Ask Sammy is the best place to go to get them.
Emilia Bourland
Hahaha!
Emily Rinkema
How am I doing? How am doing? That's right. I get some extra letters next to my name. Exactly.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
You're doing great. Doing great. I appreciate it so much. Every episode. Come on every episode, please.
Emilia Bourland
Brandi wants you on every episode.
Deb Emerson
What a rule follower.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
my gosh. Well, I'm really appreciate y'all taking the time to be here and also just like the effort that you took to create something that's so useful to so many people. And thank you for sharing your story with everybody and where they can find Jodié cards. And if they have questions or want to connect with you directly, what's the best way they can connect?
Deb Emerson
Yeah, we have through our website, clearly we have a contact us page and then we have an email people where we love getting emails. Is it Emily? Emily cards, early, E E R L Y cards at gmail.com. So that's a combination of Emerson and Emily that took us about four seconds to come up with. But it's one of my favorite things. It's also the name of our actual LLC. So it's our company name.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L
Beautiful If you guys have made it to the end of this episode, we appreciate you Please make sure that you are downloading our episode share with a friend Subscribing on wherever place that you are watching or listening to this on That way you can know when our next episode comes out which will be next Friday. So thanks and That's it. Bye
Emilia Bourland
We'll see you next time. Bye.
Deb Emerson
Thank you so much.
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