Welcome back, Careblazer. How would you like to get to the bottom of any difficult dementia behavior? I thought you might like that. 

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

Now in a lot of my content, I’ve shared practical strategies and tips for responding to difficult dementia behaviors. Basically, how you can respond to difficult behaviors after they’ve occurred so they don’t get worse. I’m linking a playlist I’ve put together with some of those videos below so you can get a refresher if you need it. 

But today, I want to talk about getting to the bottom of the behavior. Rather than trying to stop the behavior, it’s about trying to figure out what’s causing it so it doesn’t happen again. In this way, rather than constantly responding to every behavior as they happen, you have the chance to get ahead of the behavior and possibly prevent it from happening all together....

Welcome back Careblazer. Today, I want to share 3 simple things every Careblazer (and human for that matter) can start doing today to feel better without needing any extra time money or hired help. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and life doesn’t seem to be getting any better over time, PLEASE take note and promise yourself to start doing these 3 things. Literally, you have nothing to lose but so much greater potential to gain. about something that relates more to you in your caregiving journey. If you can practice these 3 things intentionally and consistently in 2021, you will be amazed at how you can feel and how you can approach the world in this coming year. 

 And you won’t want to miss me tell you my response to the common excuses of “it won’t work” or “it’s too hard.” I’ll share that at the very end. 

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

Okay, the 1st thing to start...

Welcome back Careblazer. We are into the 2nd week of 2021! Before we get any further, how would you like the most popular Careblazer lessons of 2020 broken down to the biggest takeaways in about 10 minutes? I hope you’ll bring these into the 2021 for more peaceful and meaningful interactions with your loved one. 

Let’s start with the 3rd most popular video of 2020. This video shared 5 SIMPLE ways to improve difficult dementia behaviors. The key word here being simple. After watching this video, Christine said it was the “best advice ever!” Well I’m glad it was helpful to her and I’d love for it to be helpful to you.

Here are the 5 simple ways to improve difficult dementia behaviors: 

• #1 Be mindful of your facial expressions. Your non-verbals, especially your facial expressions matter more than what you are saying. If there is anything you take away from this video, it’s this. Be mindful of your facial expressions. You can be...

Do you want to avoid the constant arguments and make it more likely that your loved one will accept your help without a fight?

This post and this video will give you an approach that you can use whenever possible to help make that more likely. 

Here’s the thing, so many of you talk to me about how your loved one resists your care. Or when you try to change their behavior, they get upset with you or deny they did anything in the first place.  And unless you start to change your approach, this type of behavior will likely only get worse, making your position as a Careblazer more and more difficult. Let’s not let that happen. 

I’ve worked with thousands of family members over the years and one of my ultimate goals is to give you the strategies and approaches that makes caregiving easier and smoother rather than what tends to happen - which is putting a strain on the relationship and making the caregiving situation harder. 

Today’s...

Well hey there. This is the very last Careblazer blog post of 2020, so in this video I wanted to share something that I think every Careblazer, and human being for that matter, should know. I hope  it's something you can keep in mind and bring with you into 2021. I want to talk about something that causes so much emotional pain and suffering and I want to help give you a way to lower that pain. 

So many dementia caregivers tell me about how much grief they feel watching their loved one slip away in front of your eyes.

They tell me about the fatigue and sleepless nights as a result trying to calm their loved one down in the middle of the night.

They talk to me about the guilt of not being able to keep their loved ones at home, or the frustration of not having any other family members who are willing to help out.

There are no shortage of reasons that contribute to you feeling the pain of those situations. 

BUT, the thing that adds so much more pain on top of...

Is your loved one doing something that drives you crazy or that you wish would change? Have all of your attempts to change them failed? No matter what you’ve tried it hasn’t seemed to help? Today I’m going to share something to help you feel less stressed and frustrated when nothing you’ve tried to help your loved one’s behavior seems to be working By listening to this strategy, practicing it, and applying it to your life, you are going to feel much better no matter what your loved one is doing.

My name is Natali Edmonds. I’m a board certified geropsychologist and the information and strategies I share on this channel have helped thousands of people caring for a loved one with dementia. I hope it helps you too. Be sure to hit the red subscribe button on your screen to help increase the chances that other caregivers can find this channel. 

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

Alright, so let’s...

Hello there, Careblazer. Today I want to talk about a topic I recently discussed in one of my question and answer sessions. This came from a member of my care course who is caring for her mom with Alzheimer’s disease. 

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

She asked :

“I don't know how much to "push" her to do things that I think she's still able to do.  I want to keep her mind and body engaged, with activity and exercise.  She's lost so much strength lately and has such a hard time standing up - but she gets very resistant to doing things that are good for her cuz they are "hard" or not easy.”

This is such a good question and I want to share some of my response to her with all of you because I suspect there are many of you in a situation where you think your loved one is capable of doing more and want to keep them as active as possible to keep their strength. 

Before I dive into that, I just want to say...

Welcome back to the place where we talk about everything about dementia. Today I want to share some ideas for how you can have a good conversation with your loved one with dementia.

How are your conversations with your loved one with dementia?

When’s the last time you had a fun, good conversation with your loved one that didn’t involve questions about what to do or eat for the day? 

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

Many times in dementia, conversations can seem difficult. Your loved one may repeat the same things over and over. They may not do well at keeping a conversation going. You may not have much different to say to them day after day. Good conversations aren’t something that many people tell me they have with their loved one. Now, in the past, I did a video on tips for talking to someone with dementia, but today, I want to share some conversation starters for you to try with your loved one. I’m going...

In today’s video, I interview Lauren Dykovitz. She is the creator of the blog Life, Love, and Alzheimer's and is the author of the book, Learning to Weather the Storm: A Story of Life, Love, and Alzheimer's.

Lauren shares her raw and honest experience of having a mom diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. She shares how she put her life on hold, her experience with guilt for doing anything she enjoys, and thoughts of wishing her mom's journey would end. Anyone caring for a loved one with dementia will relate to Lauren's journey.

To watch the interview, click here. 

I apologize for the sound and video quality. I hope that you don't allow my tech difficulties to stop you from taking away all the value Lauren offers in this video.

Here is a link to her book*: https://amzn.to/33pjaa5

Here is a link to Lauren's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeloveandalzheimers/

Here is a link to Lauren's FB page: https://www.facebook.com/lifeloveandalzheimers

Download your...

Careblazer, welcome back.

We are in the midst of the holiday season and I want to share with you some of my thoughts to help make this season as calm and enjoyable while caring for your loved one with dementia. 

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

Caring for someone with dementia around the holidays doesn’t have to mean that you give up everything you once enjoyed about the holidays, or that you have to dread the holidays. But it does likely mean that you will have to adjust your expectations and do some planning to help meet the needs of both you and your loved one. 

If you haven’t already, be sure to download the Careblazer survival guide. It’s filled with helpful information to get you through the holiday season with the least amount of stress possible. Download it here.

Alright, here are 5 tips to help you through this holiday season.

First, Adjust and adapt traditions. 

So much...