Episodes

My Grandma Has Dementia book has beautiful illustrations children will appreciate. Grandma has dementia can be a scary & confusing statement for kids. My Grandma had vascular dementia, and despite being an adult, it was very troubling to know how best to deal with her. To be honest, it could be a little scary at times. She wasn't the warm and loving Grandmother I knew when I was a kid. Teaching children what dementia is and how to live with someone experiencing the disease is becoming more criti...

Visits with our loved ones have been an enormous challenge in the past year (or more). Even though visits are happening more thanks to the vaccines, keeping our loved ones safe is still a high priority. My podcast guest & I discussed many ways to have safe visits during Covid and beyond.

Dementia Needs are Human Needs is an understanding that will help us all. Much of what we call “negative behaviors” in those living with Dementia are expressions of unmet needs. Someone who wanders may need more physical activity or stimulation. When someone refuses to participate in something we think they'd enjoy, do we ask why? Or, have we expected them to accept a preprogrammed activity? People living with Dementia have personal needs and they still know what they want and how they want to l...

Being one of the 16+ million Alzheimer's caregivers can be one of the longest marathons you'll ever undertake. I am unaware of anyone who has gone on this journey alone. It's entirely reasonable to need help. Getting help and taking care of yourself is critical to taking good care of your loved one.

“Accidents” Aren't Normal Aging – Learn How To Avoid Them “Accidents” Aren't Normal Aging – Learn How To Avoid Them in my conversation with Dr. Elena. Urinary incontinence in the elderly is a prevalent, bothersome and costly problem and is not necessarily a normal part of aging. Structural changes in the aging bladder and urethra may cause the elderly to develop urinary incontinence. During my conversation with Elena, I learned of the many reasons people become incontinent. I had no idea that so...

The Forget Me Knot crew will row nearly 4,000 miles of open ocean to raise funding and awareness for those who care for dementia patients Who is behind the Forget Me Knot campaign? Johnny Ball watched his Mother care for his Dad for nearly two decades. Being a part of her journey made it clear that those who support caregivers needed more help. The relentless demands of care commonly lead to depression and other mental health issues. Johnny wants to change that. The Forget Me Knot crew will row ...

We are more than our vital statistics. Sharing our knowledge and memories are part of the human experience Our brains can be the best vault for keeping knowledge and memories, but others can't access the information. Many of us joke that it would be nice if we could “download” our brains. We store vast quantities of data, stories, and memories. How would we feel if someone came up with a solution to help us share what we've locked in our minds? While there is no current option that allows comple...

At the same time, we're looking for a cure for Alzheimer's; are we ignoring a potential natural ally? At the very least, could CBD be a preventative treatment? According to researchers at California's Salk Institute, their 2017 study has found evidence that cannabinoids such as CBD could help remove dementia from brain cells. In the hope that we can avoid developing the disease, or at the very least reducing its effects, are we missing out? Why are we afraid to investigate this option? Are we ig...

Caregiving responsibilities can be challenging at any age, but compared with older peers; millennials are at a stage of life that can exacerbate the challenges. The average age of a millennial caregiver is 27. Instead of focusing on their careers, this generation of adults is attempting to live in two different worlds.

A conversation with Dr. Elena Mucci on Frailty. What it is, and how to avoid becoming frail. Frailty is an aging-related physiological decline syndrome characterized by significant vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. Awareness of frailty and associated risks for adverse health outcomes can improve care for this most vulnerable of patients. Until I spoke to my brand new guest host, Dr. Elena Mucci, I didn't know that frailty was a medical thing. Additionally, it's something that we can avoi...

Dame Cicely Saunders is the founder of Palliative care. We're talking today all about Palliative care. Palliative care focuses on improving the overall wellness of individuals with serious illnesses. It addresses both the symptoms and the stress of living with a chronic disease. It may also involve support for loved ones or caregivers. Palliate comes from pallium, the Latin word for ‘cloak.’ To palliate is to cloak, or cover-up, the symptoms of an illness without curing it. This meaning grew int...

We're doing aging wrong. Our healthcare system delivers quick interventions that act as band-aids but fail to include the entire family. Our medical model focuses on the body yet neglects the mind and soul; both are essential to our healing and comfort. Older adults are often scared and alone when they need more attention, support, and love. If you Google “How To Age Well,” there is a lot of advice about diet, exercise, wearing sunscreen, but very little advice that focuses on our entire well-be...

Lacking the knowledge of how to best care for someone with Alzheimer's is common for most family caregivers. Each person is unique, and the disease affects them in their own ways. The differences in how each person reacts to their condition make it more challenging to get solid advice from other caregivers.

Letting Go With Love – Supporting the dying process for someone with dementia. How can we manage “letting go with love” when our society views death as a failure? Dying is a process we will all go through, and it is a very personal experience. Understanding how to support someone with dementia on this last journey is essential. It is difficult for us, but it is necessary. Understanding the dying process will help us help our loved ones. Letting go with love is the ultimate gift we can give. In t...

Paperwork isn't sexy – a list of documents caregivers need. Paperwork isn't sexy, In the eighties, promises of four-day workweeks and paperless offices were made thanks to the desktop computer. This promise has never happened, and despite cloud storage, paperwork is an endless chore we must all endure. As caregivers, the endless piles of paperwork are one more tedious task that we must tackle. What is essential, what can we toss – it's an infinite cycle, to be sure. My Dad had a spreadsheet of h...

Anticipatory grief has benefits of which we're not aware. Is it normal to feel grief for someone when they're still alive? We may not realize that's what we're feeling. Many people assume it's a form of depression and treat it as such. What we're feeling is actually called anticipatory grief. Millions of people deal with this feeling every day. It's not unique to those caring for someone with Alzheimer's. In this episode, I talked with Harriet Hodgson about anticipatory grief. Harriet has been a...

Caregiver Carols – a self-help book in song format Caregiver Carols A Musical Emotional Memoir is a book with a unique twist. It focuses on dealing with the emotional aspects of caregiving. In this episode, my guest is Don Wendorf, who, like most of us, tackled caregiving, knowing he could continue his psychiatry practice, manage his care team, and do it all perfectly. We know how that ends. One of Don's coping techniques is playing music. Don is not a huge fan of self-help books, so being a mus...

We never know when it's our time for death. In just over four years, or 2025, the first of over 77 million baby boomers will turn 80. Our 8th decade is when frailty becomes common; memory loss affects 25% of us, and most will need help to get through the day. Dementia and other diseases can affect personality, turning warm and friendly people argumentative, anxious, and self-centered. Dementia is not an individual tragedy. It is a family illness, rippling out in ever-widening circles that affect...

Visual Storytelling can help make complex stories easier to understand. It can deliver more impactful messages. It can make stories as relevant for readers as possible. Why would someone choose to document visually on such a difficult subject as dementia? There are as many answers to this as there are for caregivers. For some, it's a way to process what they're going through. Whether this is the caregiver's journey or how to process grief, visual Storytelling is a therapeutic process for many. I...

Is there a way to keep our brain smart as we age? Our brains continue to grow when we challenge them. What exactly should we be looking at in terms of strenuous brain exercise?

Creativity is a lifeline for me. Does having a creative mind help you avoid Alzheimer's? Some research has shown that musicians' brains are more resilient because of the additional neural networks formed while learning their craft. Are there other art forms that may provide this same resilience for those who are not musically inclined? Thankfully, there may be. Writing, painting, drawing, sculpting, and dancing are options that may improve our cognitive health. An art kit, specially designed for...

In the first place, is it even possible to find a way to achieve cruising through caregiving? We all know that being a family caregiver is no vacation. Together with my guest on this podcast episode, we talk about reducing the challenges we face, even if only slightly.

Most of us don't sign up for caregiving. It happens because of a crisis or slowly takes over more of our day-to-day lives. Eventually, much of our caregiving comes to an end, and then what? When caregiving has been your primary life purpose for years, what do you do when that's gone? Moving on isn't always easy. Even when we think we're ready for the change, we can feel lost when it happens. During this unique time in our world, moving on is even more challenging. How do we move on in a world th...

Your brain has a superpower – do you know how to activate it? Do you want to take charge of your brain? Keep your mind healthy and strong for the remainder of your life? Are you aware of how things and people in your life influence your neurological health? There are ways to take charge of the meaning of your life and tune in to an extraordinary life. My guest for this episode is Dr. Phillipe Douyon. He is a neurologist, an author, an app designer, and a course developer. He's here to teach us a...