People with dementia sometimes get VERY angry. And it is no fun for them, or for those of us with them. And it seems like no matter how hard we try, we struggle to help them get un-angry. We both end up frustrated and unhappy and feeling hopeless. So it goes when we don’t understand some of the frequent triggers…
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…
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…
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…
I made a big mistake with one of my companions with dementia recently. I made a decision that left them feeling uncomfortable, and insecure in my presence. It wasn’t obvious at first, but their responses later in the week made it clear that my decision had eroded trust. It’s not the first time I’ve made mistakes when providing dementia care. …
My Mom taught me hard work and duty to family. She grew up poor with seven siblings and minimal education, married at 22, and had me at 23. She showed me what sacrifice looked like when she and my dad moved our family from Taiwan to Texas to build a better life for me and my brother because we both…
My oldest daughter got married on March 13th, just four weeks ago. The day of her lovely wedding, Corona Virus was just a hint. By the time we all flew home 2 days later, the airports were eerily empty and our country was showing signs of shutting down. While on her honeymoon, she learned that the company with whom she’d…
