This blog post focuses on how a consistent routine and environment can benefit people with dementia and their caregivers on many levels. It is the sixth installment of a seven-part series on common sense caregiving for people with dementia. The series features seven principles that can improve quality of life for caregivers and their loved ones. […]

This blog post focuses on how people with dementia and their caregivers can stay engaged mentally, physically and socially. It is the fifth installment of a seven-part series on common sense caregiving for people with dementia. The series features seven principles that can improve quality of life for caregivers and their loved ones. R-E-S-P-E-C-T is […]

This blog post focuses on ways to “prepare for care.” It is the fourth installment of a seven-part series on common sense caregiving for people with dementia. The series features seven principles that can improve quality of life for caregivers and their loved ones. R-E-S-P-E-C-T is a helpful mnemonic (memory device) for remembering these tried […]

This blog post focuses on ways caregivers can enhance the safety of someone with dementia and others. It is the third installment of a seven-part series on common sense dementia care. The series features seven principles that can improve quality of life for caregivers and their loved ones. R-E-S-P-E-C-T is a helpful mnemonic (memory device) […]

This blog post focuses on how caregivers can (and should) enlist help in caring for someone with dementia. It is the second installment of a seven-part series on common sense dementia care. The series features seven principles that can improve quality of life for caregivers and their loved ones. R-E-S-P-E-C-T is a helpful mnemonic (memory […]

This article is the kickoff in a seven-part series on common sense dementia care. This series will discuss principles which can improve quality of life, not only for people with dementia, but for their caregivers as well. Respect is the first topic in this series. R-E-S-P-E-C-T is also a helpful mnemonic (memory device) for remembering all […]

As summer draws to a close, kids will come in from playing Pokémon Go and head back to school. Others of us will marvel at the impressive ability of the young brain to quickly learn, remember and shift gears. We might even be a little jealous. Because several aspects of memory worsen with normal aging, […]

Dementia is a general term referring to the gradual worsening of a person’s cognitive, behavioral and functional abilities, usually over multiple years. A specific dementia diagnosis can guide treatment and prognosis (the expected course of a disease). Dementia subtypes allow for more precise understanding than the global term but don’t convey as much information as […]

No one ever wants to hear the word “stroke” or “it appears you may have had a stroke.” These are scary words, especially if you are the daughter of a loved one who had the “possible” stroke while out of state visiting their sister. That is exactly how my family’s stroke “journey” began. My mother […]

It was a phone call I wish I hadn’t received. A woman, whom I did not know, said she was a nurse and had accompanied my brother Richard to a hospital emergency room in St. Louis. He was currently being evaluated by the E.R. staff with a CT scan. She sounded very anxious and stated […]