Rita Jablonski, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, FGSA is a nurse practitioner, researcher, tenured professor, and former family caregiver. Her research and practice involve all aspects of dementia management; she is best known for non-drug strategies to address dementia-related behaviors.
Caregivers of persons with dementia soon discover that placement does not reduce caregiver burden. Placement rearranges the challenges. Families and friends, however, mistakenly assume that once placement happens, caregiver responsibility magically dissolves away. Their assumptions often magnify the guilt and angst already flowing through the caregiver. Dealing with Guilt “Promise […]
“I Thought I Would be the One Needing Care” I’m seeing this more and more in the clinic: parents caring for adult children with dementia. The person with dementia is about 50 years of age. The diagnosis may be early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease or frontotemporal lobar degeneration (frontotemporal dementia or primary […]
Friends and family feel awkward around people with FTD. This post provides concrete helpful ways to positively interact with persons with FTD.
Sundowning refers to behaviors seen in persons with dementia that usually occur at the end of the day. Many clinicians and caregivers/care partners seem resigned that this will simply happen and that there is nothing that can be done to prevent or manage it. Which is why I hate the […]
Hallucinations refer to sights, sounds, and smells that come from inside the brain. Hallucinations are common with Lewy Body Dementia but can happen with any dementia. The person with dementia is seeing, hearing, or smelling stuff that the rest of us are not experiencing. Illusions refer to mis-seeing (misperceiving) objects […]
People with dementia are at great risk for delirium, which is a sudden uptick in confusion and other behaviors.
Learn how to get a person with Alzheimer’s dementia to shower or bathe. I provide helpful bathing strategies in this blog.
An illusion is something that can be misinterpreted by your vision or or hearing. Hallucinations, on the other hand, involve hearing, seeing, or feeling something that is not there. Delusions are false beliefs usually arising from fears.
The 10 Commandments of Dementia Caregiving
The worst thing you can do (in most cases) is to hold a “family meeting” and explain to mom or dad why everyone wants them to stop driving. If the person with dementia is unaware of their memory problems and driving issues, this approach will get you nowhere!