DCPutnam Consulting allows me to work in a field that I love! My 30+ years of professional experience and my family experience have given me a wealth of knowledge within the field. I have worked closely with family caregivers who have just received a diagnosis to those in great distress at the thought of placing their loved one in a memory care community. We have had very personal conversations around Hospice and end-of-life care as well. I have spent many hours training / certifying employees about the “ins and outs” of memory care, as well as providing monthly in-services to staff members in assisted living communities, adult day programs and nursing homes.
Understanding Alzheimer’s disease and the other dementias is critical. Over 6,000,000 Americans currently have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and the Alzheimer’s Association anticipates that by 2050 there will be more than 15,000,000 Americans living with this disease if we do not have access to a cure.
There are seven major areas of concentration that DCPutnam Consulting addresses:
- Family Caregiver Consultations
- Professional Healthcare Training for staff
- Facilitating Support Groups: Alzheimer’s / Dementia and Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD)
- Certification for Professional Caregivers to become Certified Dementia Practitioners
- Educating the Medical Community
- Community Education
- Distributing COMPLIMENTARY Copies of my Book – Sometimes Grandmama Doesn’t Know Me!
The content for each of these areas of concentration may overlap, but the perspective and needs do vary. A sampling of topics that are offered are:
- Clarification of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
- Identifying Forms of Dementia
- 10 Warning Signs as Identified by the Alzheimer’s Association
- Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease
- Physical Changes to the Brain
- What are ADL’s (Activities of Daily Living)
- Improving Communication Skills
- Distraction Techniques
- Routine – Routine – Routine
- Purposeful Activities
- Therapeutic Fiblets
- Understanding Challenging Behaviors
- “Living in the Moment”
- Planning for the Future
- What is the Mini-Mental Exam
- Kubler-Ross’s Five Stages of Grief
- Caregiver’s Daily Log
- Caregivers Learning to Say “No”
- Holiday Tips & Visits
- Options for Placement
- Touring Potential Facilities
- End of Life Care and Hospice
