A Louisiana nursing home operator is taking its residents on trips down memory lane, hoping they’ll spark them to remember their past.
CCI’s Magnolia Estates in Lafayette, LA, most recently paid a visit to Russo Park, home of the Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team. Juris East — an 86-year-old resident who suffers from advanced dementia — struggles to recall daily events. But slipping on a baseball jersey and playing catch at the ballpark awakened his inner memories.
“I think it puts them in a setting that reminds them either of growing up or life with their kids,” Kori LeCompte, director of marketing for CCI, who led the ballpark trip, told McKnight’s. “It triggered something in him and brought back the feelings and the smells and everything that goes with a trip to the stadium.”
CCI and Magnolia Estates are planning additional trips to help jog residents’ memories, including visits to the drive-in movie theater and lunch at a retro local diner. The trips have proven just as important for family members. Juris East’s son, Kobe, was overcome with emotion when he saw pictures of his dad at the ballpark, which brought back memories of his own teenage years playing at the same stadium.
“We went to ball games as kids. That’s why this is so important to us,” he said.
