Happy New Year to all caregivers

Are you a caregiver?

I would like to wish you the best for the year to come.

There have been a lot of advances in Alzheimer's and dementia treatment
I hope that will bring improvement to your loved one.

Just as you enjoyed Thanksgiving with your loved one, click here to read the beginning of these posts

Also read this article calling for all to honor caregivers

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks and keep up the good work

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Music Therapy & Memory Sharing

Activities Directors, other healthcare professionals and caregivers, this may be of interest to you
Dementia often robs spouses of quality time together but an innovative University of Queensland project hopes to find ways to reclaim it.

Dr Felicity Baker, from UQ's School of Music, has received a $70,000 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award to investigate how music therapy might improve partner satisfaction by providing opportunities for the sharing of memories associated with certain songs.

The UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards have been run for 10 years and are an initiative of UQ to recognise outstanding performance and leadership potential in early career researchers.

"One of the biggest problems of couples living together where one person has dementia is that there's a....read the whole article

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New developments in memory support research

Citizen.com
By KATHERINE THORNDIKE, RN
Forestview Manor Assisted Living

There have been exciting developments in the scientific research to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.

At the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease held this year in Chicago, researchers from 60 countries shared groundbreaking information and resources on the cause, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's and related disorders.

New medications show a promise of halting or slowing the progression of dementia. It is hoped that the most encouraging of these medications, aptly called Rember, will be available in 2012.

It has been shown that people with better......read the whole article

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Don't "Misunderestimate" People With Dementia

Caring.com
by Paula Spencer, Caring.com senior editor
One of the strange truisms about Alzheimer's and other dementias is that it tends to be easier to see what's not there rather than what is. After all, it's a disease of loss: memory loss, most noticeably, but also loss of the ability to reason, to drive, to recognize where you are, to manage finances, to go shopping without buying a tenth jar of unneeded mayonnaise.

Witnessing all this can lead family members and friends to underestimate the person with the disorder. I know I'm guilty of that. You see that they can't do this and they can't do that, and pretty soon you're neglecting to give them credit for much of anything. And while it's purely unintentional, it can be hurtful to both of you.

Caring.com Recommends a To-Do List What To Do When You First Learn a Loved One Has Alzheimer's
How to respond when a loved one is diagnosed with Alzheimer's: 16 practical steps for managing care, in both early and late stages of Alzheimer's........Read the whole post

More dementia information is available here

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Caregivers get no holiday, though friends, family help

USA Today
By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY
Something about Carol Blackwell is reminiscent of the main character from this year's film Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Not because she solves her and everyone else's relationship problems in 24 hours. But like Miss Guinevere Pettigrew, Carol focuses intently on the present and in subtle, loving ways makes everyone around her feel all right at the end of the day.
Carol's husband, Bob, 66, a retired CIA executive, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease two years ago. After the initial shock, Carol says, she had no other choice than to keep a firm grip on reality. That meant pursuing health solutions for Bob and keeping family happiness and security thriving.


IN DEPTH: Video, plus what you need to know about Alzheimer's
BETTER LIFE: No carbs, no memory?
BLACKWELL'S BLOG: Personal account of living with the early stages of Alzheimer's

That doesn't mean it always has been...read the whole article

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Caregiving May Lengthen Life

Washington Post
By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay News) -- Much has been reported about the stress and burden of caregiving, but a new study suggests there may be a flip side to taking care of someone you love as they age -- a decreased risk of death.

"We found that caregivers who spent an average of 14 or more hours a week caregiving lived longer and reduced their risk of dying by about half," said study author Stephanie Brown, an assistant professor in internal medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She added that even after they controlled the data to account for things such as age or previous illness, "there was about a.....read the whole article

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Holiday tips to handle dementia

The Advocate
Every 71 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive, fatal brain disorder that causes serious memory problems as well as loss of other physical and mental abilities.

Thousands of people in the Baton Rouge area are affected by the disease, and more than 83,000 people in Louisiana will develop Alzheimer’s by 2010. Caregivers often care for their loved ones with Alzheimer’s for an average of eight to 20 years, during which personal demands increase and stress levels progressively rise. That’s why we are always on the move to find a cure and have developed an array of services and support systems to help caregivers and their families along their journey now, until we achieve our vision of a world without Alzheimer’s.

For most families, holidays are filled with opportunities for togetherness, sharing, laughter and memories. But holidays can also be filled with stress, disappointment and sadness. Here are some tips to help you and your family make the most of your time together:

Adjust expectations......read the whole letter

Click below for more good ementia tips
dementia today
Alzheimer's activities