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
As dementia caregivers, we do both ourselves and our loved ones great harm when we focus on what is lost to dementia rather than what is kept. At DAWN, we focus on our clients’ abilities, not their disabilities. Dementia is the condition of progressive cognitive impairment, but not a condition of complete cognitive impairment—not for … Read more
How to deal with a mean dementia ‘patient’* Why is my mom so angry? Why does my husband blow up when I try to explain something?” Why does it feel like having dementia and being mean to family often go hand in hand? There is an answer—a way to avoid the anger that so often … Read more
How do we provide support for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia? We’ve developed very specific ways to help people with so many other illnesses and conditions. We give walkers to those who have hip or knee surgery, and wheelchairs and motorized scooters to people with paralysis. We train dogs to recognize the onset of seizures, … Read more
People experiencing dementia are losing the ability to use recall, which, when combined with rational thought loss, makes decision-making increasingly difficult. To make a choice, we must first bring to mind the available options. Next, we grade the options for such things as preference, availability, maybe easiness or cost—all while still retaining each possibility in … Read more