The folks we provide DAWN dementia specialist care to have lived at least six decades. Meaning they have cared for themselves, made independent decisions, and led their own lives well for a very long time. We understand, then, that rarely will they welcome the notion of “help.”
In addition, most have anosognosia, where the part of the brain that gives people awareness of their disability has failed or is failing. So we approach our work with the understanding that folks are not physiologically able to perceive that they need help and support.
Understanding these two realities is imperative if we are going to preserve the dignity and autonomy of people living with dementia. At Better People Care, this is our goal.
As DAWN dementia-specialist companions, we enter the lives of people living with dementia with these facts in mind. We bring care with the understanding of the cognitive skills that are lost with dementia, but also the skills that are retained. We expect, accommodate, and support the skills that are lost; we intentionally use the cognitive skills that are retained to the advantage of the person living with dementia.
This, then, is how we bring strength-based, person-centered care. This is how we bring the right type of care, in the right way, intending to be companions to those in our care.
Folks with dementia remember their life of autonomous, independent living. And because of anosognosia, most do not understand how dementia is affecting their life. As DAWN dementia-specialist companions, we understand these facts and how to bring the right kind of care and help it feel like companionship versus care. Folks do not welcome “care,” but they do welcome “companionship,” presented in the right, dementia-specialist way.
Caregiver vs. DAWN Dementia Specialist Companion…we have the privilege of getting it right.
It is an honor.
©Jill Couch
