About The DAWN Method

Founder Judy Cornish

Judy Cornish outside in the mountains

Judy Cornish is an author, founder of the Dementia & Alzheimer’s Wellbeing Network® (DAWN), creator of the DAWN Method® of dementia care, and a retired elder law attorney. Her two books (The Dementia Handbook and Dementia With Dignity) take person-centered care from theory to practice by identifying the skills not lost to dementia. Through DAWN, Judy provides education programs for families and professional caregivers, as well as staff training for agencies and facilities. Her goal is to see all who come to experience dementia be recognized for their strengths and emerging gifts rather than being silenced and sidelined.

In 2010, Judy put her career on hold and began spending time with people who were living at home with dementia, in Moscow, Idaho. Many of her new clients were living alone and without family nearby. The DAWN Method is what she learned from them—her new friends and neighbors. Through recognizing them as the experts, she learned that there are two things that are truly helpful when dementia comes into a relationship: first, to understand the ways dementia changes our ability to function; and second, to understand how that makes us feel.

Today what Judy’s friends and neighbors taught her is helping families and caregivers around the world, in places as diverse as Poland and India, Brazil and Australia, and research programs are underway.

Connect with Judy at the DAWN Method!

Judys TEDx Talk

View Judys TEDx Talk at TED.com or watch it below

YouTube video

Highlighted interviews: