ornamental strawberry blossoms and leaves with dew | the DAWN Method

There is a Roadmap for Living with Dementia

How you can support someone living with dementia In 2017 the New York Times ran three articles on Alzheimer’s and dementia. The central piece, “Fraying at the Edges: Her Fight to Live with Alzheimer’s” is a lengthy word and video essay about a woman’s experiences in being diagnosed with MCI and then Alzheimer’s, and beginning … Read more

plum tree buds | the DAWN Method

What is it like to have dementia?

Manifesto for Dementia with Dignity  This is a manifesto for my book, Dementia With Dignity. It explains what it is like to experience dementia. It’s important that we keep in mind that dementia is a condition, one that is progressive and that we cannot cure with medications. Please take some time to consider each statement … Read more

apple blossoms | the DAWN Method

The Cost of Dementia Care is Bankrupting Us

According to the Genworth Cost of Care Survey, 70 percent of Americans over the age of 65 will require some form of long-term care services during their lives. Twenty percent of them will need institutional care for more than five years. The cost of dementia care and long-term care In 2021, the average cost for assisted … Read more

misty forest path carpeted with red leaves | the DAWN Method

Why DAWN Focuses on the Loss of Rational Thought

Dementia came into my life as it does for many of us—when someone we love gets it. For me, it was a neighbor who had Alzheimer’s and was becoming too forgetful to manage entirely on her own. Her children lived elsewhere and would have to move her into a care facility unless they could find … Read more

pie cherries on a tree | the DAWN Method

Dementia and the Telephone

How can we more successfully talk on the phone with someone who has dementia? We baby boomers are a very mobile generation. Not many of us live in the same city or town we grew up in, so many of us are trying to stay in touch with aging parents who live far away. We … Read more