Monday, December 9, 2013

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Caring for Vascular Dementia

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Caring for Vascular Dementia: VIDEO Teepa Snow explain how different types of dementia pose different challenges to caregivers. Learn how vascular dementia is differe...

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: 7 Stages of Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: 7 Stages of Alzheimer's: The seven stages of Alzheimer's are helpful in finding the words to discuss Alzheimer's. Caregivers find them particularly useful ...

Monday, December 2, 2013

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Why Bother with a Dementia Diagnosis?

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Why Bother with a Dementia Diagnosis?: VIDEO If Alzheimer's cannot be cured, why bother getting a diagnosis? Watch England's Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt explain some rea...

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Less Alzheimer's Today than 20 Years Ago

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Less Alzheimer's Today than 20 Years Ago: The authorative New England Journal of Medicine reports a positive trend, with rates of Alzheimer's and other types of dementia going ...

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Less Alzheimer's Today than 20 Years Ago

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Less Alzheimer's Today than 20 Years Ago: The authorative New England Journal of Medicine reports a positive trend, with rates of Alzheimer's and other types of dementia going ...

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: High-Contrast Tableware

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: High-Contrast Tableware: PRODUCT OF THE WEEK 60% of people with Alzheimer's have decreased visual capacity and 40% experience weight loss. A Boston University...

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Visiting People with Dementia on Holidays

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Visiting People with Dementia on Holidays: Whether celebrating at home or planning a visit, read these important tips. Help with the challenges faced by people with dementia. Make t...

Monday, September 16, 2013

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Fighting Alzheimer's Stigma

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Fighting Alzheimer's Stigma: VIDEO Dementias like Alzheimer's can be deeply stigmatizing. See how some people are fighting those stigmas to make a real differenc...

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Thought of the Week

Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly: Thought of the Week: Click the comments link to add your thoughts. Click photo to enlarge, Esc to return. Click here for more ways to share this PhotoThought...

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Art Rises Above Alzheimer's

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Art Rises Above Alzheimer's: VIDEO+ARTICLE In dementia, art is often expressed at a much higher level than other activities. People engaged in artistic activities when ...

I'm going back to painting on canvas...pronto! You should too; find an expression that takes you out of the material world into the spiritual. I'm starting with an old worn barn, a large scraggly tree topped with a sprawling display of pink roses, a composite of photos I've taken recently while on my daily 1 hour walk no more than 2 miles of my own home. One doesn't get this perspective driving a car. Go out; walk, and smell the roses!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

More time please

I wish I had more time; more time to explore new treatment, more time to write about them and things I've uncovered when coaching caregivers, and more time period. I'm 72 and wondering how much time I have left on this terrestrial ball. I love what I do, love the caregivers I meet and love learning how much progress is either being made or imagined. I wish I could work myself out of a job but it looks like Alzheimer's and related dementias are going to be around for awhile yet.
I think the focus should be on adding quality to a person's life. there are so many ways you can do this. Share what you've learned brings joy to your care recipient's life. It will encourage many.

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Aphasia in Dementia: Word Jumbles

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Aphasia in Dementia: Word Jumbles: Aphasia affects a person's ability to communicate. It affects language functions, such as speaking, understanding what others say, and...

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: What is Subjective Cognitive Decline?

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: What is Subjective Cognitive Decline?: VIDEO  + ARTICLE It may not be Alzheimer's, but what do you do when you realize your memory isn't what it used to be? Is it som...

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: 25% Drop in Dementia Offers New Optimism

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: 25% Drop in Dementia Offers New Optimism: VIDEO & IN-DEPTH ARTICLE “Dementia rates fall as public health improves” is the good news from England this week. Learn about the T...

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Too much heat

I don't know what the weather is elsewhere, but here in Boston it is staying in the 90s. I took a walk for an hour yesterday (as I promised myself I would do daily about a month or so ago) and thought of the elders sitting in low income apartments without air conditioning, waiting on helpers to show up to clean, make a meal or give a shower. I used to be in homecare services in inner Boston and remember how hot those places were.
Now as an Alzheimer coach I feel for the elder with dementia who has trouble expressing how they are feeling, suffering with the heat and perhaps their caregiver being unaware of the impact of it all on their care recipient. I wrote a column about this recently (this month actually) in the South Shore Senior News. Go to our website www.StilMee.com and click on Resource page. There click on www.SouthShoreSenior.com and read that column called Summer Behaviors and others I've submitted over the last 8 years. The editor, Greg Porell, is always gracious and prints every last one of them. Bless him.

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Alzheimer's Drugs That Are Good for the Heart

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Alzheimer's Drugs That Are Good for the Heart: In 7,000 people with Alzheimer's, those taking high doses of common Alzheimer's drugs saw their rate of heart attacks drop in half...

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Two blogs

This having 2 blogs to keep up with is quite challenging. I can't figure out how to post some of the Dementia Weekly articles on my website blog www.StilMee.com so I transfer them to this one so whoever comes here for information can find some. I devour the Dementia Weekly every week (it comes on Sunday). So enjoy both.

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Will New Drugs Wash Away Alzheimer's via the Glymp...

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Will New Drugs Wash Away Alzheimer's via the Glymp...: A newly discovered system by which the brain removes waste may be a powerful new tool to treat Alzheimer’s. Called the "glymphatic sy...

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Alzheimer's Versus Dementia

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Alzheimer's Versus Dementia: VIDEO Listen to a clear explanation of the difference between Alzheimer's and dementia. Watch the Emory University Alzheimer's D...

Monday, July 8, 2013

Too much intormation

When I start talking at times, someone might blurt out TMI (too much information!). Maybe in certain circumstances (mostly socially ) one divulges too much information, but I don't think that is the case with learning about cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's disease. This blog is a case in point. Find out all you can about causes of dementia so you are not lulled into thinking it is normal aging.

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Alzheimer's Versus Dementia

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Alzheimer's Versus Dementia: VIDEO Listen to a clear explanation of the difference between Alzheimer's and dementia. Watch the Emory University Alzheimer's D...

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Digital Dementia

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Digital Dementia: VIDEO From seniors down to teens, everyone increasingly depends on digital technologies. New research reveals a startling side-effect: t...

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: 10 Tips on Money & Dementia

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: 10 Tips on Money & Dementia: Money can be a difficult subject to talk about but it's important to do so. Learn 10 money management tips for living with a dementi...

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Alzheimer's Care Costs Skyrocket

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Alzheimer's Care Costs Skyrocket: VIDEO & ARTICLE New Rand research shows 75% of dementia costs are from at-home or nursing-home care. Often reaching $70,000 a year, wa...

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

New location for my blog

My blog is available on our website www.StilMee.com. Click on blog and then enjoy some of the radio interviews and columns in the South Shore Senior News on the Publication page. See you there!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Listening is an act of love

I'm reading two books at the same time; yes, I do this a lot actually! Both are by Daniel H. Pink. One is Drive; the surprising Truth about what Motivates Us. The other is A Whole New Mind; Why Right-Brainers Will rule the World. . I bought these for two reasons. I wanted to know more about how to motivate people to look at the caregiving experience as more of a journey than a treadmill. The other was to generate new ideas in the Alzheimer coaching world to meet the challenges of the caregiver and the person with the diagnosis better.
One statement made in A Whole New Mind is the title of this blog post; listening is an act of love. Now, all my Stilmee coaches love their work. They want to help caregivers. I wonder, are we listening a lot as an act of love? Stories tell more about a person than a fact sheet ever can. Doctors who first listen to their patient will learn more than the one that interrupts the patient after about 20 seconds (yes, that is the average time a doctor listens to his patient).
I instruct caregivers to come with a list of about 5 (no more) concerns for the doctor. I was delightfully surprised the day when I went for my yearly physical and was handed a paper to write down the concerns I wanted addressed. My doctor had bought a new computer setup with a swivel chair facing me (last time she was looking at the computer affixed to the was and I sat behind her) and even invited me to share what was on the screen. She listened bless her soul. What a difference in the way I felt and the visit was shortened by far over the last time.
In nursing we are forced to check off boxes on a computer screen to 'prove' we know our patient well. All systems must be charted on every 8 hours; digestion, heart rate, urinary tract, etc. How are we getting this information? I think a lot of it is just that; checking boxes to the detriment of really knowing our patients. In my traiings in the hospital I emphasize connection. How many times do we actually connect with our patients? It is all about relationship.
Back to caregiving. People with dementia have slow processing cognitively, meaning that what is said is absorbed slower than normal and processing what they will say in return is slower. So we must wait...and listen...and listen some more. Ask the next question (make sure it is a closed-ended on that is easier to answer).
People with dementia need to be heard. That can only happen if we listen. Tell a story of a time you shared with them. State the feeling you had at that time. Then ask, did you have a similar feeling? That is a closed ended question. Then WAIT...listen and learn who that person is at that time. Caregiving is all about connection and relationship. To connect well we must listen.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Zeisel's ideas

I watched this PBS airing of John Zeisel's talk on his views of Alzheimer's patients abilities. It seemed a bit optimistic to me, but some other views paint quite a pessimistic view of their abilities. I'm talking with my friend and colleague Lynn Serper tomorrow to get her view. She has a methodology she uses with persons with cognitive disorders and claims to 'hold up' the progression of the disease for months to years. Her method is called The Serper Method. Now her middle name is Lazarus and she has earned the right to that name. Google her name or method and read about her story into dementia.
Tomorrow I am also going through a Virtual Dementia Tour (see the video I posted on my blog a few entries ago. Having it described by others who have gone through this tour I wonder what my views on its authentically representing what the person with Alzheimer's experiences. The Tour is designed to give the participant the sights, sounds, feelings (frustration, anger, annoyance) of a person with Alzhiemer's or a related dementia. I will let you know what I feel after this 'tour' into dementia and after talking with Lynn. My interest is in running a support group for diagnosed early stage dementia people, but I need to know how to do this the best way. I'll write more; stay tuned!

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Dr. Zeisel Succeeds with Alzheimer's Therapy

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Dr. Zeisel Succeeds with Alzheimer's Therapy: VIDEO Dr. John Zeisel wrote, " I'm Still Here: A New Philosopy of Alzheimer's Care". Watch ABC Chronicle discuss his u...

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Memory Coaching

We are beginning to get calls to coach the person diagnosed with MCI or early stage Alzheimer's. I began to think about what that person needs. He needs a safe place to connect with another trusted person who can validate feelings about the diagnosis, listen to the story,hear its impact of their self image, instill hope and teach strategies to increase the sense of independence and empowerment. The person must learn to toleratie fear and cope with the losses associated with the diagnosis. These losses may be loss of a dream, loss in anticipated independence, loss of a role (in work, in relationship), maybe even loss of friends and family. I would call this Memory Coaching. It is about time we helped the person diagnosed with a cognitive disorder learn about their condition, what changes to expect or anticipate and what simple strategies can help him work with others. If one gets a diagnosis of cancer or heart disease that person is inundated with information about his condition. When my husband had an emergency stent put in his main coronary artery, there was no lack of information both in writing in the form of a rather large detailed folder, and by one staff member after another teaching him about his medication, his activity level limitations (or not; he played racquetball 2 weeks later and returned to working the day after his operation).
So why is it that the person who receives a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or early stage Alzhiemer's is merely given prescriptions, and little, usually nothing, more; no education, no helpful resources, sometimes not even the phone number of the Alzheimer's Association. Then after the diagnosis is given it is as if he is no longer a person. The medical personnel talks to the partner (wife, husband or child) as if the person with the disease no longer existed. I had one client whose doctor began the follow up visit with a cursury greeting to him and began talking to his wife. "How is it going? What can he still do?" He reached over, tapped the doctor on the chest, and said, "Hey you, I'm the one with the disease, not her! Talk to me." Good for him to do this. Too bad others don't as well.

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Vote for "Connecting to Combat Alzheimer's"

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Vote for "Connecting to Combat Alzheimer's": 50,000 volunteers (with and without Alzheimer’s) are needed to participate in hundreds of clinical trials. People with Alzheimer’s, their f...

Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center has may research projects going on. I'm in 2 of them. I like doing that. Call 617-414-1078 or JoinADC@bu.edu. Find out more at www.bu.edu/alzresearch.

Monday, February 18, 2013

They need a voice!

We are hearing more from people diagnosed with memory loss or those worried about noticed memory loss that they want to be heard; to talk about the challenges of memory loss. Can you blame them? Memory is what makes us learn from past experiences, lets us reminisce about past pleasurable events, helps us socially to remember people we've met before. Think about what you'd feel like if right now was all there seemed to be for you and that scared you.
People facing life's tough challenges get through the trauma by telling their story. There are groups for those mourning a loss, those trying to give up substances, those caring for people with various disabilities (Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Major mental illness). People experiencing memory loss need to as well. To that end, we at Stilmee are seeking to start support groups for people with memory loss. One has begun in an independent living resident by our StilMee coach Janet Williams. The group is called Matters of the Mind. She runs a group as well for caregivers called Matters of the Heart. Her first memory loss group meeting brought 17 elders. So, there is a need. StilMee will meet that need.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Diagnosing Dementia: Alzheimer's May Really Be Min...

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Diagnosing Dementia: Alzheimer's May Really Be Min...: What causes memory problems? Scientists say the most common cause is plaque building up in the brain, which leads to Alzheimer's. Now, new ...

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: SAGE Pen & Paper Alzheimer's Test

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: SAGE Pen & Paper Alzheimer's Test: VIDEO+ARTICLE Problems with memory or thinking? Check out this simple, written exam. The written test, developed by Douglas Scharre, MD of...

Amazing test! And so simple and short!!

I'm Still Here

Watch the previous posted video and relish in what the person with Alzheimer's can STILL do. I hope our upcoming discussion/support group here is as successful.
I'm afraid clinicians don't take the time to find out what their client with Alzheimer's thinks. We need to listen, listen, and listen some more so we can learn from them what it is like to have this disease.

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Support Group Changes People with Dementia

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Support Group Changes People with Dementia: VIDEO In this video, "Voice of Dementia", see real people in a dementia support-group talk about their lives, their diagnosis and the impo...

Monday, January 28, 2013

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Diagnosing Lewy Body Dementia is Tricky But Vital

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Diagnosing Lewy Body Dementia is Tricky But Vital: 80% of people with Lewy Body Dementia said they were originally misdiagnosed with a type of dementia such as Alzheimer's. Find out how LBD...

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Am I Doing My Best?

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Am I Doing My Best?: VIDEO Nursing homes pose one of dementia’s greatest quandaries for caregivers. There are so many pros-and-cons, it is such a huge life d...

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Experience 12 Minutes in Alzheimer's on the New Vi...

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Experience 12 Minutes in Alzheimer's on the New Vi...: VIDEO & ARTICLE What is a loved one with dementia going through? For years, a 12-minute virtual Alzheimer's tour has helped care professio...

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: 7 Stages of Alzheimer's

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: 7 Stages of Alzheimer's: The seven stages of Alzheimer's are helpful in finding the words to discuss Alzheimer's. Caregivers find them particularly useful in suppo...

I have an issue with calling these the 7 stages of Alzheimer's when the first few are not Alzheimer's at all. It should be called 7 stages of memory concerns.

Trauma Informed Care in Alzheimer's Disease

I am looking for resources, research studies etc that talk about the impact of a life of trauma on a diagnosis of Alzheimer's. Having studied TIC some, I am aware of the way the brain changes due to trauma through life; i.e. things that act as triggers to signal danger go right to the hind brain where emotiion is generated. The person often cannot even remember the trauma but feels fear nontheless. The trigger evokes behavior designed to protect the person from perceived harm. I'm wondering if, since the memory retained to death in Alzheimer's is the emotional memory, would past traumas resurface and change the way Alzheimer's is expressed.
I had one client who had gone through concentration camps in WW II, had seemingly resolved the experience in that it was in its place in his mind but not bothersome. When he got Alzheimer's he became obsessed with the experience, relived it daily, and often saw his wife as a perpetrator of harm.

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: NIH Highlights U.S. Progress Towards Curing Alzhei...

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: NIH Highlights U.S. Progress Towards Curing Alzhei...: VIDEO & ARTICLE A new online report from the National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) highlights recent progress in NIH-supported Alzheimer...

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: How a Doctor Should Explain an Alzheimer's Diagnos...

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: How a Doctor Should Explain an Alzheimer's Diagnos...: VIDEO An Alzheimer's diagnosis is hard to get and hard to give. Watch Doctor Chodosh approach this difficult challenge with skilled experi...

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Read on

I hope you all can read each of the articles in this week's Dementia Weekly. Lots of great information. We need all the information we can gather about managing this disease Alzheimer's.
On another note, my e-book is available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon amoung several others. Go on line and peruse it. The more hits it gets whether you buy it or not, the more foreign agents are interested in picking it up on their website. The book is New Trends in Alzheimer Care; Finding the Spirit Within by Strategic Publishing. They are a great outfit to work with; all on line! If you read it, please let me know your thoughts. I had trouble getting it out there as it is personal and my thoughts and behaviors were sometimes surprising to me.
Bev

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Thought of the Week

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: Thought of the Week: Click photo to enlarge, Esc to return. For gifts using this photo-thought, click here.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Some thoughts today about loss

I've had a lot of time on my hands ( a rarity ) since my time at work has been cut way down. The first week I wandered about not knowing what to do with myself. I took up one book after another trying to get some ideas about what new service for my company Stilmee would be helpful and/or what new direction I wanted to go in.
I think it is a grieving process, not unlike any grieving of something lost. I felt sadness at not seeing the staff and the patients, felt confused and 'neither afoot or horseback' as the old saying goes, strung up between two opposites and out of control.
I've been here before. Once, just as I'd built a fanancially stable family therapy practice, I was first waylaid with injuries from a motor cycle accident (I visited my clients on a red Honda in those days), then found out the company I worked for closed for good. I was left without a job, unable to work due to injuries, a feeling of sadness and guilt at not serving the many families I had been counseling, and nothing to do in the near future but to heal. Healing from an injury is work in itself and took up a great deal of my energy. But there was no special meaning such as what I got in my work.
Anyway, without going into the details, that eventually gave me opportunity to start over and learn how much I enjoyed teaching families. That led to my eventually opening up my business to teach families grieving the loss of the person who was due to a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and helping them enjoy the person who is. I wrote a book about those families challenges.
Last night at the support group I facilitate this theme of grieving was explored. There was the grief of the diagnosis, then the fear about what the future holds, then later grieving the loss of the person and the caregiving role. Most in the group had given up a lot; work, career, normal life, to become a caregiver. We wondered what we'd be once the role of caregiver was done. There were no answers last night. No one knew.

Monday, January 7, 2013

What is she feeling....experiencing?

After rereading John Zeisel's book I'm Still Here, I am committed to making a difference for the person with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia by giving a platform for them to speak about their 'new life' with Alzheimer's. My last 2 blogs addressed the stigma that must be disspelled in order to hear them.
For 13 years my company StilMee Alzheimer coaching has served family caregivers to help ease the caregiving journey. Thirteen years ago the person with the disease was thought to be unable to grasp the meaning of what was happening to them. The fact of the diagnosis was generally hidden, or minimized by families, giving little room to hearing what the person with the disease was experiencing. Over the years I and my wonderful coaches have learned that the journey is a partnership with the caregiver, empowering the care recipient to take charge of his life to the extent safely possible. We've designed many ways to do that and caregivers have found success.
A new trend, and not soon enough, is to give meaning to life with Alzheimer's. Zeisel addresses this in his book as hopefully I was able to accomplish in my book Matters of the Mind...and the Heart and my soon to be released E-book,  New trends in Alzheimer Care; Finding the Spirit Within. We are hearing from people with the disease more and more that they want a place to discuss what life with Alzheimer's is for them.
This platform is necessary to start disspelling the myths and stigma of many diseases, not just Alzheimer's. People with mental illness are gravely misunderstood as are those with autism and other 'thinking' disorders that change behavior. Much of the behavior I see in mental health work is an attempt to get back control of life. We need to strive to see the person first; to appreciate the strengths, the successes, in order to help the person recover. The recovery model says people can find satisfaction and meaning in life with a disease that may be limiting but doesn't count them out.

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: New Year's Resolution: Be A Stigma Buster

Dementia Weekly | Alzheimer's Weekly: New Year's Resolution: Be A Stigma Buster: VIDEO & ARTICLE Learn about The Alzheimer's Society of Canada's campaign to bust the stigma of dementia. Discover six easy ways you can ...