Care for Caregivers

It’s a Wednesday morning in the Assisted Living Community that I managed. There’s nothing exceptionally challenging on my agenda on this day and “God is in his heaven and all appears to be right with the world.” As I head down to one of our main activity rooms, I’m called into one of the suites by one of my residents. […]

Recently, I was invited to work with a family on behalf of their father who had a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s dementia. Two sons and a daughter were all on board with wanting and needing to know more about what dad was going through, would be going through and what they would need to do to be prepared. After our introductions, […]

“Hope. The feeling that you have that the feeling that you have, will go away.” Depending how particular people deal with things in a crisis, these can be some very anxious days we are in. I’d even venture to say that even the coolest amongst us are concerned about how the Covid-19 virus could impact their family and their community. […]

I do a great deal of lecturing and training to a number of individuals from all walks of life. Many are informal, at home, caregivers while others may be professional caregivers like Nurses and yes, doctors, as well as those who simply want to learn more about Alzheimer’s disease “just in case.” I’m aware that many may already have a […]

As is my custom this time of year, I make it a point to remind everyone that is in the Alzheimer’s caregiving role how important it is to be prepared for the Holidays. The truth be told, the things I’m going to be sharing with you today you can use year around whenever a big gathering is on the agenda. […]

It was Thomas Jefferson that said, “slavery is like having a wolf by the ears; you don’t like it much but you don’t dare let go.” Experience has taught me that there are many of you out there that feel the same way about care giving. There are over 40 million unpaid caregivers in this country and as I have […]

Every year, the Alzheimer’s Association releases a report on the impact of Alzheimer’s dementia in this country. As you would expect, the information it contains is compelling . As I work regularly with formal and informal caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s and other dementia, I was drawn to the section of the report that deals with them specifically. Although I […]

Like the subjects covered on a t.v. or radio talk show, many of the topics I write about in these articles are issue driven. This installment is no exception as the recent stories of local elderly drivers going the wrong way on entry ramps to the Interstate suggested it was time to revisit the topic of giving up the car […]

Through the graciousness of my local book store I was recently invited, along with one other author, to do a talk about my book at the local library. We were allowed to take questions and I was asked by one of the attendees if I thought she was on the “road to dementia.” Apparently she was having those occasional and […]

I make it a point to subscribe to online reports and newsletters and to check the Alzheimer’s Association’s site, alz.org, to stay on top of what’s happening in all aspects of this field of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. As many know, the culprits that are doing the most damage to your brain, if you have Alzheimer’s disease, are “plaques” that […]