Care Facilities and Nursing Homes Use PuzzledMinds Puzzles to Benefit People with Alzheimer's Disease

PuzzledMinds puzzles have been found to be useful for activities and therapy for people suffering from early and mid stages of the disease. PuzzledMinds (www.puzzledminds.com) is one of the few companies that has developed activity products specifically designed to promote cognitive functioning for people with Alzheimer's disease.

YARMOUTH, ME (PRWEB) June 18, 2004 --- For Patricia Thompson, founder of PuzzledMinds, the idea to develop puzzles for people with Alzheimers disease came when she was rushing out the door of her home in Maine to see her father in New Jersey, who was in the middle stages of the debilitating disease.

"I wanted to bring a puzzle that we could do together, something that would be stimulating, but not frustrating," said Thompson. "When I looked at what we had at home, I had to choose between childrens puzzles with cartoon characters on them that had the right sized pieces, or 500-piece puzzles with small pieces and very complex pictures." She chose instead, to bring neither.

After nearly two years of research and development, last fall PuzzledMinds introduced high quality, six and 12 piece wooden puzzles that feature graphics chosen especially to help stimulate people with Alzheimers and related forms of dementia.

Assisted living and nursing home facilities that specialize in caring for people with Alzheimers disease have found PuzzledMinds puzzles to be helpful as an individual or group activity.

"We have a number of residents who will not attend group activities," said Tesa Brown, RN, director of nursing and Ft. Sanders Sevier Nursing Home. "The activity director has been taking PuzzledMinds puzzles to those people and working with them individually.

"The photos and graphics are beautiful and very appropriate for older adults, and the wooden knobs make the pieces easier for the residents to manipulate. Some of them will actually put the pieces together, while other will look at them, and hold them. They are great for both visual and tactile stimulation."

Thompson's father died in early 2003, shortly before the prototypes of the puzzles were completed. But his death merely reinforced Thompsons desire to market the puzzles.

According to the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc., approximately 4.5 million Americans have the disease, which is characterized by gradual loss of brain cells. Yet despite these numbers, PuzzledMinds is one of the few companies that has developed activity products specifically designed to promote cognitive functioning for people with Alzheimer's disease.

More information, including order forms, is available on the PuzzledMinds web site, www.puzzledminds.com, or by calling 800-876-5950.

About PuzzledMinds, LLC

PuzzledMinds, LLC is based in Yarmouth, Maine and develops and markets puzzles and other activity products for people with Alzheimer's Disease and other cognitive disabilities. The company was launched in 2003. The puzzles are the company's first product line, and were designed in Maine and are being produced in Mexico.

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