Making Reborn Dolls For The Alzheimer and Dementia Market
Reborn doll therapy has been used in recent times with great success in the treatment of Alzheimer and Dementia patients around the world. It can have such a positive effect that the patient’s psychotropic drug dependency can be reduced.
At Ashcroft Care Home based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK, they have reported that reborn doll therapy has cut the number of patients using psychotropic drugs from 92 per cent at the start of 2008 to 28 percent.
Reborn dolls in particular seem to have the best effect with these patients, as they are so much more lifelike than traditional dolls. The dementia area is a large market that is reasonably untapped for reborn doll artists. In my research I visited a website that showed the most touching photographs of Alzheimer’s patients holding their dolls. They appeared happy and calm.
The reborn dolls seem to alleviate the agitation or distress suffered by the dementia patient. They help to reduce withdrawal and help overcome communication difficulties between the carer and the patient. This research on reborn doll therapy was recently presented at a British Psychological Society Conference.
Reborn doll therapy seems to work extremely well with female patients as it takes them back to a time when they were housewives and highly productive. Due to effects of dementia many of these patients still believe they are young, so when they adopt a reborn doll, it brings back happy memories of parenthood. Having a doll can reawaken positive memories of being useful and needed; being loved and of loving.
Doll Therapy is best introduced in the early to middle stages of Alzheimer’s. In the early stages the patient may know the reborn doll is not real but will enjoy the pleasures of naming it and constantly changing it’s clothes. Women in the middle stages of the disease are likely to communicate with the doll; they may sing to it, talk to it, rock and cuddle it. They start to become extremely attached to their doll and keep it with them for many hours of the day.
Introducing a doll in the late stages of Alzheimer’s is not quite as effective as in the early stages. By introducing it earlier the patient becomes used to the doll and they will be used to getting comfort from it.
Reborn dolls however, are not a cure and the sufferer will not suddenly transform back to their former self because of a reborn doll but it is the comfort the patient feels that is the real benefit of reborn doll therapy.
“I have worked with people with Alzheimer’s disease for 12 years and if you ever witnessed one of my residents singing, cooing, interacting with the life-like doll, you would know that it does work. Many of our ladies were homemakers and their number one priorities were family. It was a time in their life when they were useful and had a sense of purpose. Giving someone a “doll” brings them back to that safe and secure time in their life. We must join them on their journey, not ours!!!” (A quote from a discussion forum for Alzheimer’s patients).
If you are touched by the above story and feel this may be your niche for making reborn dolls, we suggest you first visit your local nursing homes to get a better idea of what is needed. Nursing homes do not always have the finances to buy full priced reborn dolls so you may need to get in touch with the family members of patients. This is possible if the nursing home believes in your work and the positive effect your dolls have on the patients.
Take some evidence to the homes with you about the positive effects of reborn dolls on Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients.
This is a very rewarding market to be in. Your reborn dolls are not only going to a good home but are helping people in the last years of their life to feel more contented and comfortable.
We wish you luck.
Fran and Nicola
Fran and Nicola share many other great Internet Marketing Strategies in their Reborn Doll Web Business Book – http://www.reborndollsforfunandprofit.com
About the Author
Nicola and her partner Fran run an internet publishing company bringing hobbiest globally the tools need to get their products to the market place.
