As a dementia specialist and advocate for folks living with dementia and their families, I’d like to propose we take a different perspective. Every person who receives health care from a licensed provider will receive a diagnosis. And with that diagnosis comes a code, a combination of letters and numbers, to simply classify the diagnosis so that the person’s medical…
I don’t have dementia. But I have the privilege of spending a lot of time with people who do. And if they had the ability to articulate their thoughts and feelings, my observation is they would tell us this: “Expect me to forget. In other words, please don’t react with disappointment or frustration or worry when I forget that I…
This is my beautiful friend Carol. I have had the honor of being her friend for just a bit more than a year. She is a remarkable woman. A survivor, a Mom, a nurse, a musician. A friend and a partner. A protector and provider for animals in need of care. She loves to tell me the story of being…
“Grapes of Wrath” “Les Miserables” “Pirates of the Caribbean” Chances are that even before you watch the trailers for these movies, you already had in your mind an image of the setting, the stage, the background for each movie. When you hear the words “aging well”, most of us have a mental image of what that process looks like. We…
Here’s a quick list of ideas to make the dementia journey easier, to give care partners more tools at their disposal to make it through the process. Follow “thedawnmethod” on Instagram. Every day, there are a couple of posts that give very helpful tidbits of information to bring light to the dementia journey. If you are new on the dementia…
It’s no fun when our friends with dementia get upset and we aren’t able to help. No fun for them especially, and no fun for us. They might get upset because they’ve heard a loud noise, or because their toenails are too long and painful and someone puts on their shoes, or because they all of a sudden can no…
Dire Straits. Many will remember the British rock band by that name that became popular in the late 1970’s. Others will be familiar with the term “dire straits” and know not only that it means “extreme distress”, but also know what it feels like to be in dire straits. That level of distress is often what it takes for most…
On a hot Summer night in Lincoln, Nebraska, when the darkness had made the heat more bearable, I went for a run. I was thirteen years old, and it was the first time I had ever run for the point of running. My Dad was headed out for one of his usual runs that night, and he invited me along. …
When I have the privilege of teaching folks about dementia, the goal is for them to learn about dementia so they can help their loved ones living with dementia. But that’s only half of the goal. The other half of the goal is so that the people on the team (care team, family team, etc.) of a person living with…
Giving someone a dose of their own medicine has its roots in the notion of revenge. Turns out, though, that the process often has a deeper purpose: that of determining whether the offending person is capable of developing greater empathy for you, as seen in Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-the-self/201901/should-you-give-someone-taste-their-own-medicine. When we have the privilege of using and sharing the DAWN method…
