Dementia Caregiving: Unexpected Factors to Watch

If you’re the caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s, then you know how much patience, flexibility, and willingness to expect the unexpected that dementia caregiving takes. On any given day, the person may experience a broad array of emotions: calm, angry, agitated, fearful, giddy, melancholy. As you modify your care strategy to correspond to the person’s demeanor, you also need to juggle management of a host of challenging symptoms: wandering, repetitive…

Innovative Approaches to Communicating With Someone With Alzheimer’s

Communicating with a senior loved one struggling with all the challenges of Alzheimer’s, particularly in the middle and later stages, is often frustrating – both for you personally as well as for the person with Alzheimer’s. Brain changes impact the ability to listen, process, and respond to conversations, and it’s up to us to implement different approaches to communicating with someone with Alzheimer’s to more successfully connect with them.

Music and Dementia: The Connection That Can Help Older Adults

Nowadays, music is more available than ever before. For those who take smartphones or tablets with them everywhere they go, hundreds of thousands – if not tens of millions of tunes – are simply a few touches or finger swipes away. If you are a caregiver for a senior, your smartphone can be one of the most helpful tools in your possession to help tap into the benefits of music….

The Five Stages of Parkinson’s Disease and What to Expect

More likely to strike men, and more common than MS, ALS, and muscular dystrophy combined, Parkinson’s disease is diagnosed in as many as 7 – 10 million individuals internationally, with an additional 600,000 people in America diagnosed every year. And though each person’s experience with Parkinson’s can vary in level of severity, there are 5 main stages of Parkinson’s disease that are normally experienced by all.

More Than Denial: Anosognosia and Alzheimer’s Disease

“I do NOT have Alzheimer’s disease! There isn’t anything wrong with me!” If perhaps you’ve heard a family member with dementia frustratingly communicate this or maybe a matching sentiment, you may have believed the person was merely in denial and unwilling to accept a difficult diagnosis. The stark reality is, however, that frequently those with dementia and other conditions are experiencing anosognosia – an unawareness of their impairment. It can…