Has your loved one ever remembered or was all of a sudden reminded that someone passed away?

Today, I want to talk about how you can respond in that situation. Now, this is a bit different than the situation of if your loved one with dementia asks about or wants to see someone who is dead because they can’t remember- I answered how to respond to that situation in this video. 

This video is about how to respond when they remembered the person is dead, is reminded by someone the person is dead, or perhaps someone close to them just passed away and they are hearing the news for the first time. 

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

This is a situation where you already know how to respond, but because it’s your loved one with dementia, you think it needs to be different. It doesn’t. You can respond the same exact way as you would with anyone who recently learned of a loved one passing away. If...

Welcome back Careblazer!

Has your loved one ever asked you a question that you didn’t want them to know the answer to? Or perhaps your loved one believes something that isn’t true? How do you handle these situations without upsetting your loved one and yourself?

I’m going to share an approach with you and at the end I want you to comment below how you're going to apply this strategy!

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

Okay. So as you know from my video on the 3 things to avoid doing with someone who has dementia, trying to reason, argue, or correct someone with dementia is usually not recommended. It often harms the relationship and makes it less likely that your loved one will move on from whatever they are asking or believing. If you need a recap, be sure to watch THIS VIdeo.  

So rather than trying to convince your loved one of the truth if that hasn’t been working or getting them to believe something that they...

Hi Careblazer, 

Today I have one of the most important messages I can ever give to you. It’s short, it’s sweet, it’s powerful. And I think that most of you will get the importance of this message right away. BUT I don’t just want you to “get it,” i want you to APPLY IT to your life. And at the end of the post, I’ll give you some realistic practical ways you can apply this lesson to your life. 

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

Okay, here me out on this and stick with me because this may hit you hard and it may come off strong...keep watching. 

THERE IS NO AMOUNT OF SUFFERING THAT WILL EVER CHANGE THE FACT THAT YOUR LOVED ONE HAS DEMENTIA. 

You loved one has a disease that isn’t going to go away. Yes, this disease comes with many challenges for you to face. BUT, what I’m talking about in THIS post is the additional,  unnecessary...

Hello Careblazers!

Let’s talk about activities you can do with your loved one who has dementia. I’ve done videos on this before (see here and here) but today I want to talk about this in a different way and in a way that increases the chances your loved one will actually enjoy the activity. Also, at the end, I’ll share how you can grab my free copy of dementia friendly activities that you can download and use to spark ideas. 

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

Now, we know that whatever you can do to improve your relationship with your loved one is important. One way to do that is to ensure you are engaging in pleasant events together or having your loved one engage in a pleasant event themselves- something that doesn’t involve caregiving. Activiites are a great way to do this. 

I want to share with you the idea of coming up with categories of activites. Many people when they try to think of...

Did you know that every year the Alzheimer’s Association comes out with a special report on various important issues related to alzheimer’s disease and other dementias? I’m going to share some of the takeaways from this report AND I’m going to show you how you can download your own free copy of the 2021 report if you want to take a closer look. It truly is filled with tons of eye opening and helpful information. 

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

For example, they put together this really simple graph that explains the progress of Alzheimer’s disease.

Someone starts in the preclinical states, then moves to the mild cognitive statges where there are mild symptoms that don’t interfere with everyday activities. Then they progress to the mild alzheimer’s stage where the symptoms start to interfere with some activities and then to the moderate stage where it interfere with many...

I have a question for you. How do you respond when someone asks you about your loved one? Seems like a simple enough question to the person asking it, but for you it’s way more complicated than that. 

You may not want to share with the person. You may be a bit hesitant to tell them because they may not believe what you say. You may not want to take the time to tell them because they won’t do anything to help. You might be struggling to know how much you can say while still honoring your loved one’s dignity and privacy. OR, this question might bring up a bunch of difficult emotions for you because for the last year people have been asking you about your loved one yet none of them have asked you about you and how you’re doing. 

In today’s post I want to share with you some ways you can respond when someone asks, "How’s your loved one?"

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

Before I give...

Welcome back Careblazer!

I have another short post for you today. It’s about something that I’d bet every single Careblazer in the world experiences, yet hardly anyone in the world will admit it or talk about it. I’ll give you my personal take on this and how you can start thinking about it at the end of this post. Also I have a special challenge at the end if you want to help out another Careblazer. 

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

Let's get started. I’m talking about your thoughts about caregiving. The thoughts you don’t admit out loud or that you worry make you a bad caregiver. These thoughts might sound like: 

“I wish he would die soon.” 

“She’s ruined my life.” 

“I hate this.”

“I resent having to spend my life caring for him.” 

“This isn’t fair.” 

“Sometimes I feel like I hate her.”

“I...

Welcome back Careblazer. Today’s post is going to be short and right to the point. This is something that’s come up recently with some of my Care Course members and I want to share it with all of you here because it’s super important. 

Most people who start caring for a loved one with dementia have to learn to deal with some pretty unusual or challenging behaviors that they’ve never had to deal with before. Things like seeing things that aren’t there, paranoia, fear of things happening that aren’t real, stopping someone from doing things that are dangerous and so on. I’m guessing you can probably list of several different behaviors that you’ve been trying to “solve” or figure out or stop. I’ve done many different videos on my YouTube channel on how to respond to those behaviors...what are sometimes referred to as “dementia behaviors.” You can find those videos at this link.

This video is...

Welcome back Careblazer!

You’ve probably heard there’s a new Alzheimer's drug that was recently approved. In this video I wanted to talk a little bit about what it is and why it’s created a lot of controversy in the medical field. I’m going to break this up into 3 segments- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Before I go through those 3 categories, let’s take a moment to talk about what this drug is. 

It’s called aducanumab- that’s the generic name. The brand name is called aduhelm. It was approved by the FDA on June 7th, 2021.

A company called Biogen created the medication. 

It’s given through intravenous infusion- meaning IV. 

The person will get IV infusions in the arm every 4 weeks for a minimum of 52 weeks. 

Real quick, before we go further, I just want to remind any new viewers that there is a free careblazer survival guide that you can download at the link here. 

Okay, let’s start with the...

Hey there Careblazer! Welcome back to Careblazers blog, the place where we talk about everything dementia. If you are caring for a loved one with any type of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy Body Dementia, or vascular dementia, then this is the place for you! I post on this blog every week and a video on my YouTube channel every Sunday on the topic of dementia caregiving.

This week, we've put together a special slideshow honoring Careblazers around the world for what they do. Every year, on the longest day of the year, the Alzheimer's Association honors caregivers and those living with dementia as everyday can feel like the longest day for them. The longest day of 2021 is June 20, 2021.

If you would like to watch this special tribute, click here.

Thank you to all the Careblazers who submitted photos for this video. Thank you to Mary for helping put this video together.