This is a beautiful piece that was sent to me on my personal FaceBook. It is applicable to all of us and I felt the need to share it with you in my blog (credits below). Beautiful words of wisdom……… and so appropriate for Mother’ Day, May 11, 2014. “My dear girl, the day…
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Enhancing Communication Skills
April 29, 2014 By 11 Comments
Many of the challenging behaviors we see in Alzheimer’s and dementia patients are related to lack of proper communications skills on the part of the caregiver. Now, don’t misunderstand me, I am not trying to make the caregiver the “bad guy.” Caregivers have much on their minds and are usually very tired and stressed, so…
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FUN ACTIVITIES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY !
April 11, 2014 By Leave a Comment
What does your Mom (or Dad) still like to do? You may or may not know the answer to this question. What did she used to like to do? Putting a list together, that is readily available, will help you at different times when you need to distract your loved one. You may need to…
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THEIR TRUTH !
April 9, 2014 By Leave a Comment
What is truth? Should we look at the world through rose colored glasses and be positive or to be more precise and realistic? Or is it more important to view the world as right or wrong; “black and white” or are the shades of gray where we need to be? Perspective is critical. If you…
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FUN AND GAMES!
April 2, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Many caregivers are so caught up in the stress of daily life and the care of their loved one, that they forget that their Mom or Dad can still have fun with them. Alzheimer’s patients are still capable of laughing and thoroughly enjoying themselves if it is the right atmosphere. When playing a game or…
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THE DAY WE COULD NO LONGER PRETEND
March 30, 2014 By Leave a Comment
SHOCK ~ DISBELIEF ~ DENIAL ~ FEAR ~ ANGER ~ SPEECHLESS ~ FLABBERGASTED These are the responses loved ones and patients feel when they hear the dreaded words. “You have Alzheimer’s disease.” Not one of us ever wants to hear these words, yet thousands & thousands of people hear this phrase each year. “And so…
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CAREGIVERS – TAKING A BACK SEAT
March 17, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I’m sure you can think of many times when you have been put in a position where you felt you had been relegated to the “back seat” ~ “the end of the line” ~ “playing second fiddle.” We find ourselves in circumstances, that we have no control over, that place us in positions that we…
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ADLs – What are they?
March 3, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Activities of Daily Living ~~ These are the tasks that we all take for granted each day of our lives. They are the things that allow us to live successfully within the family structure. Things that we learned as children that enabled us to become independent and proud of who we were. As individuals’ progresses…
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Repetitive Speech & Behaviors
January 31, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Mom keeps asking me the same question over and over……Dad tells us a hundred times a day he needs to go to work (he’s been retired for 20 years)…..Dad insists on taking the car to the garage (we sold his car 3 years ago)…Mom thinks she has to cook a huge meal for our family…
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Guilt
January 31, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Ahhhh guilt. We all share some level of guilt as we deal with our loved ones’ who have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. It’s natural and to be expected. So where does this guilt come from? We can look at many sources and of course each individual caregiver’s situation is different. **I have a family of…
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