Havreite creates communication cards for elderly

A local business instructor, inspired by her volunteer work with the elderly, has put her academics into practice by creating a product designed to help people engage in more meaningful conversations.

Barb Zuck, creator of Heart to Heart Conversations: A to Z Activity Cards and member of the business faculty at Montana State University-Northern, has for years visited with and played therapeutic harp music for residents at various care centers and assisted living facilities. She said the one thing she's noticed through the years is how much the residents want to talk with people.

"I think what I've learned is I'm a pretty good listener to older people and can give them the time of day," she said.

But she knows these conversations can be difficult at certain times and for some people. This is where her activity cards come into play.

Each box contains 26 cards with conversation prompts that correlate with the letters of the alphabet. The front of each card, which is folded to 8.5 inches by 5.5 inches, has a word, and the card opens up to a series of conversation prompts centered around the word or its first letter.

"I focused on an inspirational word, and then I carried that inspirational word over to one of the questions. So 'Abundance. What is abundant in your life?' and then another question that focuses with the letter A," she said, "... and then on the back I decided to include a scripture. And, again, I used a scripture with that word."

The cards are also adorned with Zuck's original artwork, featuring colorful flowers and animals reminiscent of those enjoyed by residents on the grounds of an assisted living facility where she regularly volunteers to play therapeutic harp music.

Zuck said the idea for the project came about last winter when she mentioned to a friend in conversation that she wanted make a set of simple devotional cards for her mother who is in a care facility in Bozeman. The friend, a pastor, suggested that she make the cards more of an activity.

By April, she said, she had a clear direction for her activity cards and in June she took that idea to Pam Wagner, who owns Junction 7, a graphic design and shipping business based in Red Lodge. Wagner, whom Zuck described as an invaluable asset, who also helped as marketing consultant and project manager, and one of her graphic designers helped her finalize her idea. The cards were printed at Ultra Graphics in Billings, and with the specially designed boxes at hand, Junction 7 will handle packaging and shipping the card sets.

The boxes, which Zuck had designed so the cards will stand upright to make them easier to sort through, are the only part of the project made outside of Montana, she said adding that applying for and receiving the Made in Montana certification was a point of pride for her. And while her product more than meets the 50% made-in-Montana criteria, she is still searching to find a company that can make and print the boxes, to make the product 100% Montana made.

The cards, Zuck said, are printed on heavy card stock with large lettering and UV protection so they are durable and user friendly for her target market.

"Even though these cards can be used with people of any age, my target market was really people living in an assisted living facility or a hospital (or hospice)," she said, or anyone interacting with people in these facilities

She said that she has made some direct marketing sales with a handful of facilities and organizations already and has a website at https://atozactivitycards.com .

"I'm hoping that this serves a bigger purpose," she added. "I think, even with COVID, because some family members and friends can't visit as much, I even think a CNA or a nursing staff could take this and offer just a little bit of a conversation with a resident. It's just a tool to get a conversation started."

Because the prompts guide conversations to more personal reminiscences and deeper topics, her hope is also that family members can work on making a more lasting legacy by writing down or recording the stories their family members tell.

"I just think we should have more interesting conversations with each other, whether with an elderly person or a younger person," she said.

She said it's important for faculty to keep current in their discipline and this project has helped her clarify some of what she teaches her students as well.

"To do a project like this from start to finish I was really immersed in many of the things that we teach. That was a really good feeling for me because it's sometimes pretty easy to read about in a book but a little bit harder to put into practice," she said.

She also firmly believes in the importance of employers allowing their employees to practice creative thinking to help a business be more competitive. And she said this experience drove that home because she set out with an idea, applied creativity and made it in into a viable business concept then followed through on the mechanics of finding designers, a printing company, make decisions about packaging and marketing as well as filing for a patent, a business license and Made in Montana certification.

"I think what excites me the most about this project is that I really do believe that this concept of creativity can help a person in so many ways, whether it's painting creativity or music or just any thing that involves the creative process. I think it's just really good for the soul and I also think from a business standpoint it can really make a business more competitive," she said.

Zuck has plans for two more A to Z products - the second set a similar though more light-hearted one for children that focuses on action and creativity, which she is already working on, and the third set about exploring Montana made more compact to take when traveling and hiking. She hopes to have the second activity card set ready by March, in time for the annual Made in Montana trade show.

"I'm not going to quit my daytime job," she said jokingly. "But I really hope that this is a tool that could be useful to a resident or a family member or a hospice volunteer. I would be tickled pink."