Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's Articles for Caregivers
Life Lessons Are Not Always Easy
This week has taken me on a journey I never wanted to take. For the first time, my mother does not know me. Read more
Legal and Financial Planning for People with Dementia
Many people are unprepared to deal with the legal and financial consequences of a serious illness such as Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. Legal and medical experts encourage people recently diagnosed with a serious illness to examine... Read more
Travel Guidelines For People With Memory Disorders
Travel poses special problems for people with dementing illnesses, for example, Alzheimer's disease, multi-infarct dementia, Parkinson's disease, Pick's disease, or injury that results in disabling intellectual impairment. Read more
Leaving your Loved One Home Alone
You will no doubt have many questions to ponder as you decide upon the prospects of leaving a loved one in the early stages of dementia home alone Read more
After the Support Group: Notes to Remember
At last night's meeting there was a lot of talk about guilt...guilt about getting angry, not wanting to spend time with a family member with dementia, especially in the face of ongoing aggressive behavior... Read more
Persevering Through Mid-Stage Alzheimer’s Disease
Caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a difficult task as each day brings unique challenges and the caregiver copes with changing levels of ability and new patterns of behavior. Read more
Talking to My Mom
My mother has Alzheimer's, a disease that affects both memory and cognitive abilities. What follows is an actual conversation I had with my mom. Read more
The Art of Caring: Finding Our Way Through Ambiguity
When I began caring for my mother with Alzheimer’s disease, I knew nothing about memory loss, Alzheimer’s behaviors or the intensity of need that caring demands. Read more
Hospitalization and Dementia: The Role of the Caregiver
Inevitable as the progression of the disease itself, hospitalization will happen to a person with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia. Read more
7 Essential Do’s and Don'ts for People Caring for Caregivers
I decided to write this article to provide some tips to the wonderful people who are caring for caregivers. My father was diagnosed with Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome, a form of dementia resulting from chronic alcohol abuse. Read more
Hearing Aids Slow Cognitive Decline
As the world population ages, the number of people living with dementia and other types of cognitive impairment continues to rise. Safe and affordable interventions to prevent or slow age-related cognitive decline are greatly needed. Read more
Helping Mom Remember: Coping with Dementia
“Am I 90 Yet? Mom asked. I heard those Unknown Objectwords many times the last year of mother’s life. My mother’s memory was fading. Nevertheless, she was still sharp in certain areas, for example; Read more
How to Tell Your Loved One It Is Alzheimer’s Disease
There are a number of takes on telling the person with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) the truth. I would propose a couple of things to keep in mind: Read more
Does Approach Matter?
If you are providing care for a loved one living with Alzheimer’s, it might seem that the word “no” has become a natural response to any question. “Ready for your shower?” “No.” “Are you hungry?” “No.” Read more
Linking the Past to the Present - The Benefits of Reminiscing
Older people often lose what has defined them: family, spouses, friends, careers, and their homes. Reminiscence is a free-flowing process of thinking or talking about one’s experiences to reflect on and recapture significant events of a lifetime. Read more
Surviving Caregiving with Dignity, Love and Kindness
This article is about how I learned to become a caregiver and what I found to be the 10 most useful things to know in caregiving—not only for myself, but also for Les. Read more
Some ABCs for Every Alzheimer's Caregiver
A: Accept that some of the hardest decisions you will ever have to make lie ahead. For example, when does nursing home care become the best or, perhaps, the only option? Read more
Nobody Ever Told Me: Lessons from a Dementia Care Partner
A 7 am call woke me. “Bob had a fall and didn’t call for help. He’s okay.” My husband resided at a memory care facility. He fell often, i.e. one of the reasons for his admittance. Read more
The Uninvited “Guest”
So help me heaven, if I don’t find humor in what is now happening in our lives, I don’t think I’ll ever get through it. It started out so subtly—my husband asking me what day it was. Read more
Four Tips to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a Loved One Living with Dementia
Valentine’s Day can create challenges for relationships in which a loved one has dementia. Because of the illness, they cannot express themselves or remember things as they did before. Read more