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What Is Dementia?
Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a group of symptoms, including difficulties with memory and thinking and behavior changes. There are over 75 different types, with Alzheimer's being the most common.
Other types of dementia include:
- Vascular dementia
- Parkinson's related dementia
- Frontotemporal dementia
- Lewy Body Dementia
- Reversible dementia-from medications, infection, metabolic imbalance
Note: MindStart generally uses the term dementia, as MindStart products are appropriate for all types of dementia. |
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Words of Wisdom: Remembering Balance
In the book, Ten Thousand Joys & Ten Thousand Sorrows: A Couple's Journey through Alzheimer's (2010), author Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle quotes a Tibetan nun discussing balance:. "For anything to be of benefit to another person, it must also be balanced with benefit to oneself. We can get all trapped into giving too much of ourselves and lose the balance in relationships."
Are you giving too much, so much that you have lost getting anything back in return? If so, it may be time to get help so you can enjoy more relaxing moments with your loved one and/or breaks away for yourself.
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MindStart...Creating active and joyful days
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Greetings!
Welcome to this month's newletter and our new look! We love our new logo and color scheme and hope you do, too! You will see the new look on the MindStart website, as well. All great things, as we continue to strive to create active and joyful days for individuals with dementia and their caregivers. |
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Dementia Care Tips - Dementia Friendly Language
Communication becomes more difficult for the person with dementia, both talking and understanding what other people are saying. The person with dementia cannot change, so the people around them need to change to make the exchange go as well as possible. Over the next few newsletters, we will share tips for effective dementia communication.
Don't ask....Tell
Do not say "Do you remember?" or "What happened?" This puts the person on the spot. Eliminate questions and replace with comments, including cues to aide their memory.
"That lunch we had at Sarah's today was wonderful. The turkey salad was delicious."
Less Is More
Individuals with dementia operate at a slower pace. If too much information is given, they will get lost. Instead, use 1 or 2 sentences at a time, speaking slowly and facing the person you are talking to. Then give them time to respond.
"We have an appointment at the bank. We will leave in one hour."
Try out these two concepts. This is essentially learning a new language; it will take practice and patience. Also, watch this 59 year old Alzheimer's patient share how communication difficulties affect him, to help with your own understanding.
 | | While I Still Can... |
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Doing Things Together: Cooking
Cooking abilities will change as the person with dementia declines. But with adaptation, supervision, and/or assistance, people with dementia can still contribute to cooking.
Early Stage Dementia
- Easy, familiar meals for the person is best. It is okay if the person eats the same items over and over, as long as they meet their nutritional needs.
-Switch from stove preparation to microwave preparation to cold meal preparation as safety concerns arise. Consider helping by providing pre-cooked meat and written directions for preparing basic items by microwave (ex. soup, oatmeal).
-Help the person by keeping ingredients they need in stock (they may not remember it when shopping) and by overseeing the freshness of perishable items they have.
Middle Stage Dementia
- The person cannot do the whole cooking task, but can help with parts of the task when it is set-up and guided. Monitor for safety when using sharp utensils.
- Steps the person can help do: stirring, peeling, spreading, putting toppings on (i.e. cheese on pizza, nuts over cake), tearing lettuce, rolling dough or cookie balls, pouring, chopping.
Late Stage Dementia
.-The person cannot manipulate items to produce an action, at this stage. They may handle things randomly and can also respond to the feel and smell of items.
-Things to try: handle dough (add vanilla or cinnamon to the dough to add a scent) and presenting the scents of spices, chocolate, fruits, coffee, lemon.
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Until next month...
Monica Heltemes, OTR/L
MindStart
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