Daughter comforts Mom
Alzheimer's Care

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 content.  We find ourselves feeling safe, secure, and accepted.  Home is where we belong.  A person living with Alzheimer’s eventually does not know where home is.  At this point, when the person is asking to go home, what is it

February 7, 2019
Understanding my loved one with Alzheimer’s during the chaos of the holidays
Alzheimer's Care

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 to create moments of pleasure and enjoyment during this stressful time, it is helpful to have some understanding of what your loved one is feeling.  You, as the caregiver, are the person who affirms the feelings of safety and security

December 10, 2018
Sandra Day O’Connor Understands Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer's Care

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 care assisted living.  Understanding that her husband no longer recognized her and that as a human being still had the need for human connection and intimacy, she accepted his development of a relationship with another woman resident.  As Justice O’Connor

October 29, 2018
The Risks of Having Help at Home
Alzheimer's Care

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 not regulated and there are current laws that actually encourage the hiring of underground, very inexpensive, so-called home care providers who are being hired to care for someone in the home.  Why? Well, the answer is cost.  The agencies who

October 18, 2018

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