Ten Strategies for Managing Care Refusals in the Moment
Ten strategies for managing care refusals: entering their reality, bridging, distraction, hand-over-hand, mirror-mirror, vibes, ask for help, apologize with praise, rewards, and rescue.
How Do I Know if My Family Member Living with Dementia Can Safely Make Decisions?
The holidays are a time of family togetherness. Unfortunately, the holidays are also a time when families may start to notice that grandmother is having memory problems and now feel a sense of urgency to “do something.” Or, now that everyone knows that dad has been diagnosed with dementia, the […]
How Do I Handle Hallucinations?
Hallucinations refer to sights, sounds, feelings, and smells that come from inside the brain. Hallucinations are common with Lewy Body Dementia but can happen with any dementia. Learn how to handle hallucinations when they happen to people living with dementia.
Making Holidays and Traditions Dementia-Friendly
Holidays can be wonderful, exhausting, amazing, and problematic all at the same time. Add being a dementia caregiver, and things get complicated! This year may be worse, because many families could not spend time together thanks to last winter’s coronavirus surge! In this blog, I offer simple tips to make any holiday–especially this Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Yule, and Christmas–dementia friendly ( and keep you from wanting to strangle any ‘helpful’ family members!).
What to Do When People with Dementia Refuse Help and Care (Part 2 of Care Refusals)
In last week’s blog, I explained why people living with dementia refuse care. In this week’s blog, I explain what to do about it. Read on for strategies that you can use immediately to prevent care-refusal behavior and strategies to help you manage care-refusal behavior as soon as it happens.
Why People with Dementia Refuse Help–Part 1
Why do people with dementia refuse help? Learn the three main reasons in this post!!
The Power of Procedural Memory: What Tony Bennett, Salmon Patties, and Fridge Worms Have in Common
At the time of this writing, Tony Bennett gave a concert with Lady Gaga. In spite of severe memory loss, Mr. Bennett gave a flawless performance. This is an example of procedural memory. In Mr. Bennett’s case, he had sung his songs thousands of times over decades. His “library of […]
Dealing with Irritability in Persons with Dementia
Learn why people with dementia get irritable and what to do about it.
2021 Crash Course in Dementia-Centric Communication
Dementia-centric communication is the ability to interact with people who have dementia in a respectful and meaningful way. I hear, over and over again, “I don’t know what to say to a person with dementia.” “What if I do something wrong?” Fear not, I am here to help by providing […]
Five Tips for Celebrating Halloween and Fall Festivals with People Living with Dementia
Halloween can be fun, but it can also be challenging for people living with dementia. Here are five easy tips to make Halloween safe and fun for persons living with dementia!