Knowledge is power in the fight against memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s and other dementias don’t just strike a person’s brain; they strike his or her whole support network. We now know the brain changes can start two or more decades before your friends’ first notice you are repeating comments and have trouble balancing your checkbook. These are pre-clinical or pre-symptomatic Alzheimer’s.
Most Alzheimer’s persons can hear fine, but by the middle stage of the disease, they only understand every fourth word. So be patient and put yourself in their world knowing they don’t fully understand what you want them to do. The disease is bigger than you are as a caregiver, define your limits and call for reinforcements, focus on what’s left and not what’s lost. Remember, you did what seemed best at the time, don’t waste energy second-guessing.
This course contains practical, problem specific, what to try and what not to try, and tips and ideas. We’re most comfortable getting messages across with words, but with dementia, you lose vocabulary and comprehension.
