As a caregiver, providing care to a loved one with dementia can be a demanding experience. While it is natural to feel anxious or lonely, successful caregivers choose to focus on the positives of their situation and adopt a proactive approach. Let's talk about some traits of successful caregivers and how they can help transform one's caregiving experience.

It is important to acknowledge that many caregivers face negative side effects. For instance, the average dementia caregiver is at a higher risk of mortality and experiences anxiety, loneliness, and sleep difficulties. In fact, research shows that the average dementia caregiver has a 68% higher mortality rate compared to non-caregivers. Additionally, 64% of them experience anxiety, 40% of them experience loneliness and over 60% have trouble with sleep. However, successful caregiver's approach decreases their risks of all of these things. Though they may experience some of these emotions, they tend to have more...

Today, I want to share one of the most powerful and simplest things any caregiver can start doing immediately to increase how successful they are in responding to their loved one.

Every human brain has something called the negativity bias. That means that it's much easier for us to notice the negative things over the positive things. As a result, you will notice your loved one's difficult, agitated, distressed, and challenging behaviors, more than any other behavior.

That's natural.

You can be the best caregiver in the world, and you will still notice all the things that your loved one does that gets under your skin much easier than anything they do that is lovely or wonderful.

When we understand this information, we are then able to take steps to balance out the negativity bias.

Successful Careblazers do this well. They spend just as much time, if not more, noticing the moments when things are going well than they do talking about and noticing the moments when things are not going...

Are you open to the idea of making a change in your caregiving journey? Are you willing to ask yourself some questions that can lead you to solutions and new approaches? Today I’m going to discuss the importance of being open to new possibilities when it comes to caregiving, and how to train your brain to be more receptive to change.

Our human brains are designed to keep us safe and comfortable, even if that means staying in a situation that is causing us stress and discomfort. As a caregiver, it can be challenging to imagine doing something different, especially when you feel overwhelmed and burnt out. However, it's essential to recognize that staying the same won't help, and that change is possible.

One way to start making changes is by asking yourself a series of questions when you hear someone mention something that could be helpful. Instead of dismissing the idea immediately, try to think about how you could apply it to your situation. What part of what they're saying...

What do NFL coaches, brain surgeons, and criminal defense lawyers have in common?

In this post, I'll answer this question and how it relates to a common question caregivers ask that prevents them from getting the support and information they are so desperately looking for when it comes to dementia caregiving,

This is another episode in a series on controversial and unpopular opinions in dementia caregiving.

I don't think it's okay for us to shy away from the hard topics that I see daily when working with caregivers and that you probably see an experience on a daily.

If you prefer to watch a video instead, click HERE.

There is a common question I hear frequently that I believe holds caregivers back.

I'm sharing it with you today in hopes that it will help you receive the help and support that could be available to you.

So, let's answer the question at the beginning of this post. What does an NFL coach, a brain surgeon and a criminal defense lawyer have in common? They have never...