One of the common effects of dementia progression is the loss of the ability to regulate body temperature; it’s either too hot or too cold. For years I gave caregiver workshops on improving communication with those with dementia which were hosted by different eldercare facilities. I was in and out of scores of places and witnessed the good and bad aspects of the care the residents received

You’ve just got the medical diagnosis of early dementia and you feel someone just hit you with a sledgehammer. Now what? The doctor tells you about some medications to slow the symptoms and suggests a support group but that’s it. You and your spouse are on your own from here on. You decide there’s nothing you can do about it and its too frightening to talk about.

“Good morning, it’s time to get up Robert.” Robert opened his eyes and didn’t know where he was or how he got there. The woman standing over the bed was a stranger. She gently shakes his arm and smiling says, “Come on wake up.” He wondered, “Am I dreaming?” Robert tried to speak but came to an empty place in his mind; the words weren’t there. The

It’s early morning and Louise found herself sitting at the breakfast table. She’s very hungry yet when someone puts a plate in front of her, she didn’t recognize what it was. “What’s this?” she asks. The person who brought it replied, “Aren’t you hungry? Go ahead try and eat some” then puts the fork in her hand. Louise thinks, “What does she want me to do…What’s eat?

When you have dementia, you want to communicate but you lose not only words but commonly forget what you want to say in the middle of trying to say it. The ability to recognize and express yourself gets muddled up in fractured thoughts floating in and out of your mind. Sometimes you know what you want to say but when it comes out of your mouth the

“Loneliness does not come from having no people around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you.” Carl Jung During dementia progression it becomes increasingly difficult to express oneself. It starts with words being lost and forgetting how to finish a sentence. The person feels stupid when they attempt to talk and begin to shut down and communicate less. Often, they

When a person with dementia no longer recognizes their reflection in a mirror, they often become fearful thinking there’s a stranger in the house. I never thought I would live to the ripe old age of seventy-one and yet, here I am and still feeling young on the inside. Older people with dementia are no different. They aren’t aware of aging and perceive themselves as being younger.