Gary Joseph LeBlanc says, “I was born a caregiver.” Who prepares for this role? Few of us, including me. I became a caregiver before I realized I was caregiving. Few options remained, so my husband and I agreed to move my father who was living with dementia from his Wisconsin home of 45 [...]
This 7-minute video, Person-Centered Matters: Making Life Better for Someone Living with Dementia, was originally released in December 2014 as a 16-minute video. I was surprised to learn about it only recently. Thanks to the Dementia Action Alliance, an organization, dedicated to helping people with[...]
Author Ronda Parsons serves as her mother-in-law’s devoted caregiver in Creating Joy & Meaning for the Dementia Patient. Nan’s mind is slowly slipping away due to dementia and Ronda discovers ways to bring purpose and joy to her life. The Parsons family moves Nan into a nearby assisted living co[...]
Jan Ford – Frontotemporal Lobe Dementia is Only the Beginning Jan Ford is proof that a diagnosis of frontotemporal lobe dementia (FTD) is not the end of the world. After 22 years in a relationship, she finally got married! Like most people who are diagnosed with dementia, Jan’s life was full. [...]
Can we train our brains in such a way that disrupts what we’ve learned to be true? For example, can you FORGET how to ride a bike? The answer is, Yes. One engineer, trained his brain to master the Backwards Brain Bicycle and then persuaded his five-year old to do the same. Welders at a shop r[...]
Change of Pace at Zzyzx Along the 15 freeway from Los Angeles to Las Vegas is a road called Zzyzx. The Zzyzx exit is just south of Baker – home of the world’s tallest thermometer. My husband and I drove many times between our home in the high desert of Southern California and his parents[...]
Caregiver Self-Care Guest article by Sharon Salzberg One of the ironies of being a caregiver for someone in our family or working in the helping professions is that we often don’t receive the help and support we need for ourselves. As we open up to others we find that it is not unusual to experience[...]
How to Hire Help Successfully through Craigslist Guest Article by Sharona Hoffman, PhD When I tell people that we hired a live-in aide for my father through Craigslist, they are surprised and skeptical. But it’s true, we had a successful experience with a young man who responded to our Craig[...]
Joe Potocny is a FUNNY guy and he lives with Alzheimer’s and FTD. Suspicions of Alzheimer’s Joe had suspicions that he might have Alzheimer’s. Years later, in 2004, he received the diagnosis of younger onset Alzheimer’s at age 60. Then the strange symptoms began. They weren’t entirely co[...]
Guest article by Lawrence Friedhoff, MD, PhD My work in Alzheimer’s disease therapeutics began about 20 years ago. After completing my medical training, I was interested in exploring another side of medicine—how new drugs are developed. Attitudes toward dementia have changed drastically over the pas[...]
My father, Martin Avadian, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at age 86 by a geriatric assessment team shortly before a cowboy invited him to participate in a clinical drug study. A cowboy? Who was this man donning a loose denim shirt unbuttoned at the collar, tight-fitting jeans with a belt accen[...]
If You Suspect Nursing Home Abuse, Collect These Pieces of Evidence Guest article by Sarah Blanchard People are not usually aware of nursing home abuse until it affects their family, directly. Each year, thousands of people living in care facilities are abused. A two-page National Center on Elder Ab[...]
