Self writer Jacqueline Andriakos has an excellent article on How to Provide Quality Care for Someone You Love With Alzheimer’s with seven tips:
- Get familiar with how Alzheimer’s disease presents and progresses.
- Assess their support system, and figure out ways to build it out.
- Decide whether or not you will care for your loved one in their own home.
- If you can’t care for them in their home, look into—and vet—other care services.
- Assemble their medical team and map out what their ongoing medical care will look like.
- Track their symptoms and behaviors over time.
- Honor their independence and identity as long as you can.
Check out her article here.
“Two Kentucky women are giving baby dolls to people with Alzheimer's and dementia, helping them feel comforted and loved. Sandy Cambron and Shannon Gray Blair visit senior living facilities around the state and bring with them Pearl's Memory Babies.” Read this heartwarming story and see videos of the deliveries here.
Emily German discusses her mother Linda Larsen German’s early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis in the Washington Post article “Many Alzheimer’s patients experience ‘sundowning,’ or strong mood swings late in the day. The cause is a mystery.”
“Linda is one of millions worldwide who experience a clinical phenomenon called sundowning, typically seen in people suffering from dementia or cognitive impairment. Also known as sundown syndrome, sundowning refers to the emergence or worsening of neuropsychiatric symptoms such as agitation, aggression and disorientation in the late afternoon or early evening. Like some sort of spell has been cast, their behavior can switch from normal to highly erratic come nightfall.”
The article examines systems, statistics, the science behind the diagnosis, and recommends suggestions on how to manage care.
Stephen DiRado, a photographer, discusses his dad’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and the grant he received to document his father’s Alzheimer’s journey through the lens of a camera. “Stephen's black-and-white portraits of Gene, spanning decades, turned into a documentary project called With Dad. The project is the winner of the 2018 Bob and Diane Fund, awarded this week, which aims to support photographic work about Alzheimer's disease and dementia through a $5,000 grant.” Several of the photographs are featured and some of the most moving on the subject. You see those here.
“An experimental vaccine that could hold off Alzheimer's disease showed promising results in animal testing, according to researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
“Testing in mice showed that the vaccine safely prevents the buildup of substances in the brain associated with the fatal disease, the team reported this week in the journal Alzheimer's Research & Therapy.” You can find this article here and the abstract here.
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