Make Dementia Your B*tch!
Hear easy-to-understand reasons why people living with dementia behave the way they do. Discover ways to prevent and manage common (and not-so-common) dementia behaviors that occur in Alzheimer's, Lewy Body, Parkinson's Disease, vascular, frontotemporal, and other dementias! While I’m an expert in dementia behaviors, I’m new to podcasting; please be patient as I grow! I’m a certified adult nurse practitioner and funded researcher with 50+publications in the areas of dementia and caregiving. Theme music:Closer by Staticinverona (www.tribeofnoise.com).
Episodes
In episode 17, I talked about general ways to prevent care refusals. In this episode, I go a little deeper and talk about how to use 10 specific strategies to derail care refusals in real time. Those strategies are "entering their reality," bridging (an extension of priming), distraction, hand-over-hand, mirror-mirror, caregiver vibes, "ask for help", "apologize with praise," rewards, and rescue.
In today’s podcast, I answer the question, “How do I know if my family member living with dementia can safely make decisions?” This concern usually comes up around financial issues and living arrangements. It is important for caregivers to understand that the ability to make a decision is not an "on/off" light switch. It is more like a gradual dimmer and must be evaluated for each individual and for each circumstance.
The a...
Hallucinations refer to sights, sounds, feelings, and smells that come from inside the brain. Hallucinations are common with Lewy Body Dementia but can happen with any dementia. The person with dementia is seeing, hearing, or smelling stuff that the rest of us are not experiencing. Hallucinations can also happen when people living with dementia experience delirium. Delirium occurs when people living with dementia suddenly become mo...
Holidays can be wonderful, exhausting, amazing, and problematic all at the same time. Add being a dementia caregiver, and things get complicated! This year may be worse, because many families could not spend time together thanks to last winter's coronavirus surge! In this podcast, I offer 5 simple tips to make any holiday--especially this Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Yule, and Christmas--dementia friendly (and keep you from wanting ...
Care refusal is a real pain in the ass. It makes caregiving that much harder. Learn how to hack procedural memories and avoid triggering care refusals using your own appearance and the environment. Other techniques include short 1-step commands, gestures/pantomimes, encouraging self-care (and how to actually do this!), schedules and routines, avoiding elderspeak, chaining, vibes, dementia time travel, and entering their reality. I ...
In last week’s podcast, I talked about ways to help a person living with dementia maintain their abilities to do activities. In today’s podcast, I will talk why people with dementia refuse help, even though we can clearly see they need it!
There are three main, general drivers of care-refusal behavior: Lack of awareness, the “automatic no” and refusals based on fear. In today’s podcast, I will explain those three causes. In next we...
Well-meaning family and formal caregivers sometimes start to "overdo" for persons living with dementia. "I don't want her to get hurt" or "I don't want him to feel embarrassed" or "It is just so much easier if I do (fill in the blank)." What people do not realize is that once a person with dementia forgets how to do an activity or task, he or she is rarely able to relearn it. There just aren&...
Irritability is a problem that usually first appears in the mild stage of dementia. It can be subtle at first. The person living with dementia does not want to go to social events. Or, he or she wants to leave right in the middle of event. You, the caregiver, are constantly being snapped at. "You talk too much." "You ask too many questions." The reason for this irritability is loss of neurons. Learn how to adjust yo...
Dementia-centric communication is the ability to interact with people who have dementia in a respectful and meaningful way. I hear, over and over again, “I don’t know what to say to a person with dementia.” “What if I do something wrong?” Fear not, I am here to help by providing some key points to guide you. The over-riding thing to keep in mind is that our communication patterns respect the dignity and personhood of the person wit...
The title of this episode says it all. There are so many scammers selling supplements and other garbage that will not cure dementia, but desperate caregivers are easy prey. Learn about reversible causes of memory problems, including delirium, medications, thyroid problems, and depression. I also tackle the topic of gum disease and dementia. #Alzheimers #dementia #vascular #caregiving
Have a dementia question? Want to hear it answer...
Pee and poop accidents, also known as urinary and fecal incontinence, suck for both the dementia caregiver and the person living with dementia. Join Dr. Rita Jablonski and learn easy life hacks to prevent pee and poop accidents when caring for someone with dementia.
Have a dementia question? Want to hear it answered on a future podcast? Email me: info@makedementiayourbitch.com.
In today's podcast, I help a listener whose mother-in-law keeps urinating in the laundry room trashcan. Do you have a question or problem that you would like me to answer? Contact me at info@makedementiayourbitch.com. I would love to hear from you! And don't forget to like and subscribe on your favorite platform so that other carers can find this podcast. I appreciate my awesome listeners!!
Have a dementia question? Wan...
People living with dementia can have trouble doing simple things like controlling their bowel movements. In this episode, I discuss how procedural memories and apraxia can cause accidents. I also explain how to prevent accidental bowel movements and feces smearing. I also talk about copraphagia (eating feces) and how to avoid this behavior.
Do you have a question or problem that you would like me to answer? Contact me at info@...
People with dementia (Alzheimer's, Lewy Body, vascular, FTD) may refuse care or ask to "go home." Learn how to enter the reality of a person living with dementia. This technique is just one of several strategies that you can use to kindly and gently respond to care refusals or requests to go home.
Have a dementia question? Want to hear it answered on a future podcast? Email me: info@makedementiayourbitch.com.
It depends on the dementia. People with behavioral-variant FTD will remember they have dementia but spend a great deal of time telling you the diagnosis is wrong. People with other dementias may recall the diagnosis in the mild stages. As dementia worsens, people living with dementia may forget that they have the disease. This creates situations where presenting reality may cause nothing but arguments and bad feelings. Learn more a...
People living with dementia are prone to dehydration. Dehydration is a major risk for bladder infections. Dehydration can also make people feel dizzy and fall. Here are ideas for getting a person living with dementia to drink more water!
Have a dementia question? Want to hear it answered on a future podcast? Email me: info@makedementiayourbitch.com.
Looking for a community? I have my own Facebook page for dementia caregiv...
People with dementia who get bladder infections do not always have the same signs as people who do not have dementia. One of the first signs that something is wrong is a sudden jump in irritability. The confusion becomes suddenly worse! Learn the early signs of a bladder infection, how to best communicate with health care providers (many of whom are clueless about dementia and bladder infections), and ways to prevent bladder infect...
Learn why people with Alzheimer's and other dementias lose their short-term memory and ask the same question over and over. I also explain why it takes longer for people with dementia to retrieve memories, why they come up with "tall tales," and why their meaning of time changes!
Have a dementia question? Want to hear it answered on a future podcast? Email me: info@makedementiayourbitch.com.
People living with dementia may behave in ways that seem strange to us. Neurodegeneration (the parts of the brain that is being damaged by the type of dementia), personality, values, and cohort all interact together. You can use this knowledge to "tweak" general approaches to behavior so that these strategies work with your loved one.
Have a dementia question? Want to hear it answered on a future podcast? Email me: info@...
People living with dementia generally move through 4-5 stages: mild behavioral impairment, mild cognitive impairment, mild dementia, moderate dementia, and severe dementia. Several factors affect duration and movement through these stages.
Have a dementia question? Want to hear it answered on a future podcast? Email me: info@makedementiayourbitch.com.
Looking for a community? I have my own Facebook page for dementia caregivers...
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