Cards of Kindness and Another Virtual Concordia Initiative Concert!

This October, members of Chords for a Cause began their project Cards of Kindness, writing heartfelt digital and handwritten cards to send to nursing and memory care homes around the united States. This project was made to raise awareness during National Alzheimer’s Month, a campaign by the National Alzheimer’s Foundation every November to raise awareness and challenge the stigma that surrounds the degenerative disorder.

Along with the cards, we also held a concert, with compilations of dances and pieces played by musicians from 12 states in the US. Our goal was to not only provide a sense of joy and entertainment for those with the disorder, but to raise awareness for the situation and loneliness they are feeling during this quarantine. The digital cards were emailed to several facilities and handwritten ones will be delivered to those in the Houston area. 

A recent quote from the Politico magazine states, “Industry advocates also want to deploy rapid point-of-care testing to enable families to visit their loved ones in nursing homes. Those visits have been severely restricted to prevent the virus from spreading, but the social isolation and stress can quickly worsen cognitive decline.”

Having no one to visit them doesn’t just make them unhappy, it worsens their health. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, experts estimated roughly 4,500 deaths due to dementia per week, but recently, statistics have shown a 25% increase in deaths of those with the disorder, and professionals aren’t sure what is causing the surplus 1000 deaths each week.

A widely researched theory is that the elders may feel so isolated alone in their quiet rooms that the degenerative nature of these disorders is affecting them more strongly. If this is true, the power of technology and art can help. We are launching our Cards of Kindness project to provide those in nursing homes with entertainment and a sense of community.