Halloween marks the beginning of the fall and winter holidays. I will be posting more content about holidays and dementia. Here are some simple ideas and tips for CarePartners to have a safe and sane (ok, as sane as possible) holiday.
“I really want to travel or go on vacation with my family member who has dementia. What do you think?” My response is, “It depends on a couple of things.” Did the Person Living with Dementia Enjoy Traveling? This may seem like a silly question, but it is really important. […]
Family caregivers benefit from a coordinated team approach and from clinicians who are accessible.
Care partners for persons living with dementia need a back-up plan. There needs to be someone who can temporarily or permanently care for the person living with dementia. Best to plan for the situation now, rather than scramble under difficult situations. Medical Emergencies Care partners are familiar with medical emergencies […]
“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 […]
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 […]
Pretty wallpaper, beautiful bedrooms, and a snazzy meditation room with aromatherapy and massage chairs are nice; however, if the direct-care staff are clueless about dementia care, none of these items mean anything.
People with dementia say “NO” to nearly every question or request. This is an incredible challenge for caregivers. In this blog, I explain one reason for the non-stop no’s…and offer strategies for preventing and managing the negativity. Patterns of Memory Loss and Retrieval Problems All dementias share this same common […]
Men seem to have a more difficult time with the role of care partner. There are published studies that examine the differences between men and women who are care partners. Often, the gender differences are often affected by the relationship between the care partner and the care recipient. For the […]