Today I want to talk to you about something very practical to help you track all of the information that comes your way as a caregiver: creating a healthcare binder. 

I KNOW this sounds simple and many of you are probably wondering why we would take the time to talk about it today. As a caregiver you receive A LOT of information, often from A LOT of different providers. As the Caregiver for your LOWD, it often falls to you to act as your LO's case manager and this can add A LOT of stress! One thing that I have seen work time and time again for caregivers is creating a system to organize all of this information and I would like to share one version of this that other caregivers have found helpful. 

Before we start digging in, please know that you can customize this in whatever way you think would work best for you! Leave some items out, add some items. Get creative for what works best for you and your LO. Once created, this is something that you can easily...

Hello Careblazers!

Welcome to the Careblazer blog, the place where I share dementia tips, strategies, and information for family members caring for a loved one with any type of dementia (such as Alzheimer's disease, Lewy Body dementia, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, etc.) Every week, I share tips and tricks to help you in your dementia caregiving journey.

Last week on my YouTube channel, I chatted with Adria Thompson. She's a speech therapist who spends much of her days solving difficult dementia behaviors. In this interview, she shares how to approach those challenging behaviors in a way that will increase the changes you'll actually understand what drives the behavior.

If you would like to check out this interview and learn all about the ways a speech and language pathologist can improve communication for you and your loved one with dementia, click here.

You can learn more about Adria at: https://www.belightcare.com 

Instagram: @belightcare

Tiktok:...

Wondering whether to bring your  loved one home for the holidays? Perhaps they are living in a care facility and family is coming over to your home for the holidays...does your loved one with dementia attend as well?

That’s what I’m answering in today’s video AND I’ll give you some general guidelines to help you make the best decision based on your situation. 

Welcome to the Careblazers blog, I’m Dr. Natali a board certified geropsychologist and every Sunday I post a new video right here. So be sure to hit that red subscribe button on your screen to stay connected and download your free careblazer survival guide here. It’s my gift to you. 

If you would rather watch a video on this topic, click here.

Let me first start out by saying you can obviously do what you want when it comes to inviting your loved one to any holiday festivities. BUT I want to talk about some real concerns you might have, such as will your loved...

It’s the holiday season and despite the music you may be hearing on TV and in stores, it might not actually be the most wonderful time of year for you...and that’s okay. 

The holidays can be extra painful for caregivers and in today’s post I want to give you some tips to help make the holiday season enjoyable for you and your loved one AND perhaps create a positive memory or two. 

Hi, I’m Natali Edmonds, a board certified geropsychologist and this is the Careblazers blog. 

Before we get started, I want to let you know that my very popular "Make Caregiving Easier Challenge" is open now for a limited time! Go to www.makecaregivingeasier.com to learn more. I believe this is the quickest and most powerful way to totally transform your caregiving experience. We get started this Friday. I hope I’ll see you there. 

Also, if you would prefer to watch a video on this topic, click here to go to my YouTube...

Have you ever wondered if dementia is reversible? That’s a great question, today I’m going to answer it. 

Hi, my name is Natali Edmonds, I’m a board certified geropsychologist and this is the Careblazers blog. Welcome. 

If you would rather watch a video on this topic, click here.

In order to answer the question about dementia being reversible, it’s important to know what dementia is. 

Dementia is a general word, an umbrella word, a category. It is not a specific diagnosis. 

For example, fruit is a general work, an umbrella word, a category. It is not a specific fruit. 

Apples, oranges, and bananas are all fruit. They are always fruit. But “fruit” is not always a banana, sometimes when someone says fruit they are referring to an apple. 

Does that make sense? Just like cancer is a category word,  it doesn’t tell you what type. You can have breast cancer, lung cancer, brain...

Do you wish that your loved one with dementia would agree to bathe or shower? Or at least not make it so challenging?

Today’s post will help!

If you would rather watch a video on this topic, click here.

A few weeks ago I posted a video on my instagram accounts with some basic bathing tips and it took off! In just a few days it had over 100,000 views and people were leaving all sorts of comments that work for them when it comes to getting their loved one to bathe. 

I’m going to share with you the tips in that short video. Also at the end of this post,   I'll share with you some of the amazing tips from fellow Careblazers left in the comments section of that instagram video. 

Hi, my name is Natali Edmonds, I’m a board certified geropsychologist and this is the Careblazers blog. Welcome!

Let’s go over some best practices for getting your loved one to agree or be more acceptable to...

Is your loved one with dementia starting to stink because they refuse to take a bath? Today I’m going to share with you some ways to increase the ways to help increase their cleanliness (and reduce the stink) without having to force them to bathe...at least not just yet.

Hi, my name is Natali Edmonds, I’m a board certified geropsychologist and this is Careblazers blog. 

If you would rather watch a video on this topic, click here.

The ultimate goal is for your loved to bathe. BUT if your loved one currently won’t bathe, refuses to bathe, or puts up a fight with bathing, then every attempt you do to force them to do that is just another situation where you associate bath time with something negative and both of you end up upset. 

Rather than trying to get someone who doesn’t want to bathe to just accepting a shower or bath without fighting (which I’m guessing isn’t working for you), I want to offer you some...

How do you respond when your loved one with dementia says, “I want to go home” when in fact they are already home? 

If you’ve ever tried to tell them that they are already home then chances are they’ve become upset, or anxious, and maybe even started to pack their bags to leave. 

What can you do in these situations to avoid making things worse and hopefully even bring some peace to your loved one. 

If you would like to watch a video on this topic, click here.

Hi, my name is Natali Edmonds, I’m a board certified geropsychologist and this is the Careblazers blog. Before we get started I want you to know that my Care Course opens for enrollment today. It’s the last time to join this year and  the last time to join at this price. Join now so you can get some help getting through the holidays and the rest of your caregiving journey without the guilt and overwhelm you are currently feeling. Click the...

Have you ever tried to understand what your loved one with dementia was saying or why they were doing a certain behavior? And did your attempt to respond end up backfiring like you or your loved one got MORE upset by your attempt to help them? Today I’m going to share with you a simple 4 step process to help you stop the arguing from happening.

You may have had the experience of your loved one saying or doing something that doesn’t make sense. The 4 step process I’ll share with you today will help you improve your communication with your loved one with dementia so that instead of arguing when your loved one says or does something that you find challenging, you can actually have a meaningful connection with them. 

If you would rather watch a video on this topic, click here.

I’m going to break down the 4 steps of communication and then give you an example of how this would look in a real life caregiving situation. 

The 4...