Artificial Hydration & Nutrition in Advanced Alzheimer's
In my conversations with families of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, they often have anxiety over withholding or withdrawing artificial hydration and nutrition. What should be done when a patient refuses to eat? What does this behavior mean? This article will help illustrate the importance of education in alleviating common family fears and in helping families learn to advocate for their loved one. What happens when a patient stops receiving nutrition and hydration? In this recent article on determining hospice...Read the rest of this article »Related Articles
A Caregiver's Guide to Alzheimer's Disease
A Caregiver’s Guide to Alzheimer’s Disease: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier, authored by Roger Brumback, Patricia Callone, Connie Kudlacek, Janaan Manternach and Barbara Vasiloff, was recommended to me by Natalie Davis, who instructs activity director certification courses, and whose father died of Alzheimer’s disease a year ago. The book is divided into three sections: tips for making life easier during the progression of the disease, helpful information about Alzheimer’s and related dementias, and resources for people with Alzheimer’s...Read the rest of this article »Related Articles
Activities for Alzheimer's and Dementia Patients
Amazon.com Widgets I believe activities are crucial to well-being. In the past ten years, research has shown that activities play a large part in preventing the progression of dementia. We also know that socializing prevents loneliness, despair and suicidal thoughts. For several years I led recreational activities on weekends at a geri-psych hospital. The activities that took place on any particular weekend greatly depended on the patients in the unit at that time. All of the patients there had...Read the rest of this article »Related Articles
Sundowner’s Syndrome—Causes, Symptoms, Suggestions
“The nights are the hardest.” I’ve heard this phrase from many people I’ve known—family members who’ve lost loved ones, friends recovering from addictions. Somehow in nighttime, with its relative quiet and vivid darkness, it’s nearly impossible to hide from one’s own mind. For people in the early stages of Sundowner’s Syndrome, Alzheimer’s, and forms of dementia, nighttime can be so much more than a bit too dark and quiet. In fact, sundown may be a trigger for extreme agitation and...Read the rest of this article »Related Articles
How to Talk to an Elder with Dementia Using Validation Therapy, Redirection & Other Techniques
If you have a loved one with Alzheimer's or dementia, then you know how difficult it can be to communicate with him or her. Maybe there are good or bad days. Maybe there are certain times of the day that are better or worse. Whatever the case may be, this article will walk you through techniques that are sure to improve communication with the person you love. Put Yourself in Their Shoes Imagine, for a moment, that you are...Read the rest of this article »Related Articles
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