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Holidays shouldn’t stop just because of a dementia diagnosis! We have put together some tips and ideas to help everyone have a positive and joy-filled experience.

Many people have been to a café, and most are relatively familiar with the term memory – but have you heard of a memory café? Far from a restaurant that makes you memorize a long list of menu items, memory cafés are primarily social gatherings where individuals with memory impairment and their caregivers can join together in a safe, supportive environment, share conversation over a cup of coffee, or participate in fun, simple activities with the group. It’s an opportunity to meet with others for support, companionship, and fun - learn more!

"Home care" and "Home health" are often used interchangeably, leading to confusion among families seeking the most appropriate support for their loved ones. While both services aim to enhance the well-being and independence of individuals in their homes, they differ significantly in their scope, focus, and requirements. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for making informed decisions that align with the specific needs of the individual. Read on to learn more!

The holiday season is a time of new and old traditions, and sharing in the joy and togetherness of spending time with friends and family. But for families whose loved ones are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia, the holidays can be stressful and overwhelming; and for family care partners, often difficult to remember the joy that holidays can bring. We have put together some tips to help you experience this holiday season even with some new challenges.

Caring for a loved one with dementia poses many challenges for families and caregivers. People with dementia from conditions such as Alzheimer’s and related diseases have a progressive biological brain disorder that makes it more and more difficult for them to remember things, think clearly, communicate with others, and take care of themselves. In addition, dementia can cause mood swings and even change a person’s personality and behavior. We will look at practical strategies and medications (if needed) for dealing with the troubling behavior problems and communication difficulties often encountered when caring for a person with dementia.

We Danced is a loving and thoughtfully written tribute to the author’s wife and their years together. The details of her journey with frontotemporal dementia and the author’s experiences as a care partner are presented in a manner that is truly illustrative of his devotion to her. The ways in which they continued to celebrate life after her diagnosis and the tips shared are valuable and beautiful insights for those living with dementia and their care partners.

The financial costs of long term care and long term caregiving are enormous. The Alzheimer’s Association shares that a person with Alzheimer’s lives four to eight years after diagnosis on average, but can live as long as 20 years - and you want to provide quality care for your loved one during this time! Explore some of your options for this important aspect of caregiving.

Our grief as caregivers can be so overwhelming. We may question ourselves “each day it feels like I am in persistent mourning, yet no death has occurred. I have lost loved ones to death before, so why now are my feelings as a dementia care partner so overwhelming?” Each day we may feel as if we are on a carousel of emotions - grief, loss, sadness, anger, joy, acceptance; a mixture of hope and despair, round and round we go. We must recognize the psychological impact of the ambiguous loss which accompanies our walk with our care person on this journey with dementia in order to begin to manage our unresolved grief.

It seems as though everyone makes New Year’s resolutions – eat healthy, clean out the house, exercise more, the list could go on and on. And despite our best intentions, these resolutions are usually out the window before we’ve even turned the calendar over to February. However, resolutions can be a great way to start off the New Year when you can keep them! Here are 5 resolutions for care partners that you can actually keep!

The caregiving journey will have you experiencing many highs and lows. We’ll discuss the variety of emotions that are often felt by caregivers and tips on going along for the ride.

We all have that “hard to shop for” person in our family. You lean towards buying socks or gloves but choosing the perfect gift can be difficult or even impossible! What makes it even harder? If your loved one also has dementia. Here are some gift ideas for someone who has dementia, including options for those at the beginning to the end stages of the journey. Great gifts can provide the individual to have more autonomy and independence, or just simple joys and ways to relax. We hope these will be helpful!

Dementia care is not one size fits all. Each person, each stage, and each family is unique. Come and learn about multiple care options to plan and evaluate what is right for your family.

Although LGBTQ+ older adults have clearly seen monumental change across their lifetimes and are often strong, determined, and resilient, many still struggle with complex feelings due to current and past experiences. When we take proactive steps to seek understanding, foster connection, and build trust slowly, we can make a huge impact on others and can create a world where LGBTQ+ individuals with dementia and their caregivers can feel safe and supported.

If you’ve had a loved one prone to wandering, you know how stressful this topic can be. The caregiver has to decide how much “freedom” a person with Alzheimer’s disease should have. At some point the person’s need to be safe will outweigh their diminished ability to decide where they want to go and when. Here are a few tips to ease wandering concerns.

With winter weather comes many things – a pretty dusting of snow, hot chocolate with marshmallows, and lots (and lots!) of indoor time. Freezing temperatures can easily make you go stir crazy, especially when trying to also care for and entertain a loved one with dementia. It’s easy to just default to watching TV all day, but by varying the types of activities you engage in, it really can still be the great indoors for everyone!

Receiving a diagnosis of dementia, or having a loved one diagnosed, can cause a range of emotions, from shock to relief. But what happens next? We’ve put together a checklist of things for you, your family, and support team to consider over the next few months (or more!) as you navigate your journey.

Sharing her own experience caring for her mom, join us for a presentation with author, Loretta Woodward Veney. She offers practical tips, tools and activities for lifting care partners’ spirits and uncovering their joy through the toughest challenges of caregiving and launching into the new year.