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Think creativity doesn’t matter? That it has to be this complicated, moody artist kind of thing? That it doesn’t apply to you? That it can’t help the world?

At its heart, creativity is about solving problems. And if you have ever known someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia, you know that one of the biggest problems that you can’t solve is their burning need and unspeakable desire to go home. If you ask her where home is, she can’t say. She doesn’t know where it is. She’ll get more agitated. She might even cuss you out or shove you, this mild-mannered woman who taught piano and loved ballroom dancing. It’s this insatiable desire that drives her to leave her apartment or assisted living facility and wander the streets, alone and confused, searching endlessly in vain, for that place, that idea, that feeling she knows is home.

I see it in the tired lines of my father’s face when the police found his wife wandering a busy street at 5am last year–he usually stayed awake all night to watch her, but this night, he was human. This night, he fell asleep.

So when I read about the simple, creative solution that the Benrath Senior Center in Germany came up with, I thought–no, wait, that’s too easy. Why didn’t someone think of this sooner? And how can we get this up and running in American nursing homes? Continue reading ‘Creative thinking for Alzheimer’s patients: the story of the fake bus stop’