PWDP Ep 26: Taking Your Brain for a Test Drive
Matt sits down with Dr. John Sawyer of Ochsner Health System to discuss aspects of cognitive testing to detect what is going on with your brain.
Advice
PWDP Ep 25: Care Partner Spotlight – Yvonne
PWDP Ep 24: When Care Partnering Ends
Critical Dementia Skill #2 Understanding Ambiguous Loss
This is the second installment in the Critical Dementia Skills (CDS) series. For more information on the series, start HERE. You can also click on the CDS tags in the blog for more. If you, like so many dementia care partners, have thought that you are grieving the loss of a spouse, parent, or friend even though they are still alive, there is a good chance that you are experiencing ‘ambiguous loss.” While this is feeling is not a litmus test as to if you have it,
Critical Dementia Skill #4 Forming a Back-Up Plan
This is the fourth installment in the Critical Dementia Skills (CDS) series. For more information on the series, start HERE. You can also click on the CDS tags in the blog for more. As a Boy Scout and eventual Eagle Scout, I learned the importance of our motto, “Be Prepared.” As a scout, it felt more like making sure that you had all of the right equipment when hiking or camping. As I matured, it became clear that the equipment is only part of that motto.
Critical Dementia Skill #5 Creating Your Emotional Support Network
This is the fifth installment in the Critical Dementia Skills (CDS) series. For more information on the series, start HERE. You can also click on the CDS tags in the blog for more. We introduced the critical dementia skill of Building your Dementia Team in CDS 2.0 and now turn to another team that’s best understood as a network. All of us belong to networks of people through family, friends, work colleagues, fellow parishioners, and other activities.
Critical Dementia Skill #6 Integrating Your Catholic Faith
This is the sixth installment in the Critical Dementia Skills (CDS) series. For more information on the series, start HERE. You can also click on the CDS tags in the blog for more. This CDS article, as with all first articles (those ending in”.0″), will introduce the idea of ensuring that a care partner and their loved one stay can practice their Catholic faith and stay connected to their parish activities. Dementia is a broad term used to describe a group of chronic symptoms that may include memory impairment disrupting everyday life,
Critical Dementia Skill #9 Discussing Healthcare Wishes
This is the ninth installment in the Critical Dementia Skills (CDS) series. For more information on the series, start HERE. You can also click on the CDS tags in the blog for more. I know very few people who are comfortable discussing this particular blog topic of healthcare decisions. After all, it does involve thinking about the end of our lives, and when we cannot speak for ourselves in that moment. Yet, it is a challenge to find many more important talks to have in one’s life.
Critical Dementia Skill #12 Organizing Life
This is the 12th installment in the Critical Dementia Skills (CDS) series. For more information on the series, start HERE. You can also click on the CDS tags in the blog for more. If you think life is complicated, care partners know how much more complicated that things can get when a loved one has dementia. Care partnering can become a full-time job. Here is a sample of the things that could make the care partner journey easier if more organized: Medical –
Critical Dementia Skill #13 Advocating
This is the 13th installment in the Critical Dementia Skills (CDS) series. For more information on the series, start HERE. You can also click on the CDS tags in the blog for more. It is essential that you be able to stick up for yourself and your loved ones, which brings us to the topic of advocating. Advocating can mean different things to different people in the area of dementia. It could mean advocating for rights for persons living with dementia,
