Dementia care

The image shows a gray desktop with a window in the background. In front is a spiral bound calendar standing upright showing a front page that in read says: Life is short. Do stuff that matters.

New Year’s Resolutions for Caregivers

It’s human to want a fresh start. Even though I know that December 31 of one year is rarely that different from January 1...

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Are People with Advanced Dementia Aware of Their Surroundings?

Even among medical experts, you will find differing opinions on how much someone with advanced dementia of any type understands. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in...

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Kitchen Safety Concerns for People with Dementia

Sharing a kitchen with another cook can be trying for some people. Sharing a kitchen with a person who has dementia can be more...

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Christmas Is Here: Our Best Is Good Enough

The decisions caregivers must make during the Christmas holidays are fraught with opportunities to make mistakes in judgment. Chief among them is how much...

We see a blurred outdoor background with trees. In the forground, a woman with long blonde hair learns her head to one side on her upheld hand. She's looking away from the camera with a sad expression. Her eyes appear blue and she's wearing red lipstick, with the blue of her shirt barely visible in the image.

How to Cope With Alzheimer’s Caregiver Burnout

You watch your once mentally sharp loved one decline before your eyes. Their uncontrollable behaviors, mood swings, outbursts, confusion, and memory loss are heartbreaking....

This image shows a large common room with big windows looking out to a snowy yard. There's a brown faux-leather couch on the right, a rustic coffee table in the center and a brown recliner somewhat visible on the left.

How to Convince Your Parent to Move to Assisted Living

Conventional wisdom says that we all want to stay in our own homes for as long as we can. That is likely how most...

This black and white image has a slightly blurred outdoor background. In the foreground, we see an older man looking directly at the camera. He is balding but has wavy hair sticking out on the sides above his ears and wears a beard. Hair and beard are white. HIs skin is wrinkled and he wears a bemused expression. His shirt is a non-descript collared variety.

Caregivers Coping with the Stigma of Dementia

People stare. Most are not unkind, they are just curious. Yet when someone “different” from the norm becomes part of their environment, they often...

Siblings in Denial About a Parent’s Declining Health

Nearly all family caregivers with siblings have experienced some version of sibling denial regarding their aging parents. Whether it stems from a subconscious need...

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Caregiving During the Holidays: Have a Realistic, Positive Approach

There’s an image of holiday perfection that our culture encourages. Starting with Thanksgiving, we are inundated with images of families happily enjoying each other’s...