Tips for helping our loved ones with dementia participate in giving gifts The DAWN method is an approach that teaches caregivers to look for the emotional needs that lead to behaviors for people who have dementia. We teach caregivers to first recognize and meet their loved ones’ security needs, so they can feel safe even … Read more
On the road with dementia—getting there in one piece. The holiday season is stressful at the best of times, but traveling with someone with dementia to visit family or friends over the holidays can quickly become an ordeal. Whether you plan to drive to the next town or fly across the nation, take some time … Read more
Why do we expect them to know us? So often I talk with people who are upset because a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s no longer recognizes them or other family members. Most of us find this painful. If it’s our spouse with dementia who doesn’t recognize us it can be even more difficult … Read more
Supporting a Sense of Self in Dementia Unless we balance our loved one experiencing dementia’s need for autonomy and dignity with their need for safety, we cannot help them preserve a sense of self. In his book Being Mortal, Atul Gawande points out that in this country we seem to confuse prolonging life with preserving … Read more
Listen to past audio and video interviews with Judy Cornish about dementia and Alzheimer’s care as well as the DAWN Method. Past dementia & Alzheimer’s audio interviews with Judy Cornish All Things Seniors podcast with Rafiq Punjani—Listen to Judy’s interview with Rafiq Punjani on All Things Seniors. Judy and Rafiq discuss what she meant by … Read more
We have created the dehumanizing stigma that accompanies dementia by choosing to persist in using a model to explain dementia that is not only flawed but illogical. Stigma is fueled by fear, and fear grows where there is no understanding. Only through changing the way we approach dementia—by giving up the model that is failing … Read more