Blog – Page 4 – Alternatives in Alzheimer's Care

Bettering Your Service Outcomes Through Dementia Education

The investment of educating professional healthcare providers will improve the results of the services you deliver to your clients living with dementia. The Workforce Development Workgroup researched and wrote Workforce Gaps in Dementia Education and Training in 2017, as part of the National Research Summit: Building Evidence for Services and Supports on Dementia Care, supports this. The number of people

May 21, 2019 No Comments

Are You Prepared When Your Loved One Gets Lost?

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the statistic is that 6 in 10 people who live with Alzheimer’s or other dementia, will wander from the safety of their familiar home environment. In my experience, the risk is closer to 8 in 10 people. A common factor in not preparing, is the caregiver rejecting the idea that his or her loved one

April 28, 2019 No Comments

Reality Orientation… Good or Bad?

When researching reality orientation therapy, there is plenty out there to support that there is benefit to the therapy. Reality orientation is providing the person living with dementia reminders, tools, and constant correction to reorient to the reality that we live in. If it’s Wednesday, and the person living with dementia believes it is Sunday, reality orientation would include correcting

March 7, 2019 No Comments

Home Is Where The Heart Is

“I want to go home” is a very common statement expressed by a person living with Alzheimer’s or other dementia usually voiced later in the disease process. We need to first understand the reason behind the statement. Finding out the “why” will allow us to better know how to respond. Home is where most of us are most comfortable and

February 7, 2019 No Comments

Bathing… The Ultimate Battle

How can you change the inevitable protest of bathing? Personal and professional caregivers for those living with dementia report their biggest challenge is assisting the person with bathing. A daughter once came to me with tears in her eyes stating, “I can’t do this anymore.” She went on to explain the difficulty she experiences when attempting to assist her mother

January 13, 2019 No Comments

Understanding my loved one with Alzheimer’s during the chaos of the holidays

The holiday season is a difficult time for many people, especially, if you are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease. The usual stressors include, financial hardships, family engagement with challenging dynamics, triggers of significant loss, travel complexities, meeting our family expectations and traditions, etc. These stressors are significantly heightened for your loved one with Alzheimer’s. In order

December 10, 2018 No Comments

Sandra Day O’Connor Understands Alzheimer’s

Sandra Day O’Connor, our first female Supreme Court Justice has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She was the caregiver to her husband for years, who lived with Alzheimer’s. If anyone understood the disease process, she did. She’s become an example for me to honor in my trainings as she experienced what it was like to place her husband in memory

October 29, 2018 No Comments

The Risks of Having Help at Home

I read this article, A stranger in the house, and what I read should concern everyone. We can assume that most everyone would choose to remain living in their own home as opposed to living in a nursing care facility. However, in order to do that, we must rely on those who provide services in the home. Home care is

October 18, 2018 No Comments