Dementia

After the Diagnosis, the Get-Togethers
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After the Diagnosis, the Get-Togethers

Three years ago, Kennard Lehmann walked out of a neurologist’s office in Sacramento, Calif., newly diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, a prescription in hand and absolutely no idea where to turn for help.

The doctor hadn’t given him a list of resources or discussed how Mr. Lehmann might go about finding them. Knowing nothing about Alzheimer’s, his wife swiped a magazine she had been reading in the doctor’s office to take home and read.

Thus began a journey all too familiar to people with Alzheimer’s — one that Mr. Lehmann, 75, describes as “being put in a box.”

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Tennessee Takes on Antipsychotic Drug Reduction

Last week, the first of three multi-day events took place in Nashville, TN, focusing on the reduction of anti-psychotic drugs (see Chris Perna’s recent post for the details).  This collaboration between The Eden Alternative and the Tennessee Department of Health, Division of Health Care Facilities has the potential to make an important impact in Tennessee, [...]

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Eden Alternative Delivers Major Dementia Training Initiative in Tennessee

A press release issued today by the Tennessee Department of Health states that the Office of Health Care Facilities has secured a CMP grant totaling more than $370,000 to provide training for 749 people including nursing home direct care staff members, state surveyors and managers, State Long-Term Care Ombudsmen and members of the Tennessee Advancing Excellence [...]

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Sexuality and the Resident with Dementia

By Barbara Speedling, Quality of Life Specialist In a recent article concerning the sexual abuse of one nursing home resident by another, the failure of the staff to fully recognize the responsibility to supervise and protect residents from harm leads to a tragic outcome.  Not only does the victim suffer irreparable damage, but the perpetrator [...]

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Visit Nashville this December!

Set amid the gentle hills and farmlands of central Tennessee, sprawling Nashville attracts millions of visitors each year. The majority come to immerse themselves in music, whether at mainstream showcases like the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry, or in the smaller clubs and honky-tonks found not only downtown but also [...]

Dementia care expert Teepa Snow
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Dementia Kills Speech But Leaves Rhythm, Dance and Expletives Intact

While attending The Green House Project annual conference in Grand Rapids earlier this month I had the pleasure of recording dementia expert Teepa Snow in a keynote session explaining and humanizing the changes to the brain caused by advanced dementia. Learning these insights into how the brain operates brought together several threads ChangingAging has been following regarding the way we think about and treat people living with dementia.