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Let us help you this holiday season! You may have family members in town interacting with your loved one for the first time in a while. Maybe Mom has declined, or Dad is more forgetful, or your spouse may not be as verbal as they used to be. You've learned a lot about dementia recently, and educating your entire family on best practices in dementia care is a lot to put on yourself. Let us help! Share some of our content with your family and loved ones so they can gain a better understanding about how to communicate living with dementia.   Finally, remember to manage your expectations. It's okay for things to be imperfect.

This time of year, we get lots of questions from family caregivers about how to approach the holidays with a loved one living with dementia. There are a few things you can do to minimize stress: plan ahead, talk to your family members, and make sure you have a clear understanding of your loved one's abilities at the current stage of their disease process. You can definitely still enjoy this holiday together. Let's talk about it.

Embracing Their Reality™️ is hardest to grasp for those folks who are uncomfortable in the grayer areas of life. This dementia communication framework teaches us that it's best to let go of black and white binaries when it comes to communicating with the cognitively impaired. Let's talk about it.

It's actually been a full year of Freebies of the Month now, but they're still going strong! Topics have ranged from "How Do Doctors Test for Dementia?" to Sundowning, and have covered so much in between. At the time of this recording, our Freebies of the Month were just getting started. We decided to release this episode to ensure all segments of our audience know about this awesome free resource we offer— along with the paid ones we have in our shop! This was recorded a while back when we still had our Family Support Group, and our Caregiver Crash Course was $55 (it is now $59). The $7 course is also available— and yes, it's still only $7!

Let's continue the conversation around accusations. These can feel like a trap to those of us who work so hard to Embrace The Reality of the people in our lives living with dementia. Don't fall into the trap! Instead, focus on solving the person's emotional problem by trying to figure out what is at the root of it. Rather than arguing, ask questions and try to guide them to calm. Rachael gives a great example as to how to do exactly that in this latest episode of the Dementia By Day Podcast.

When it comes to Embracing Their Reality™️ in dementia care, some of the most challenging and uncomfortable situations come from accusations. You might be thinking: "How can I Embrace Their Reality when they're accusing me of stealing money or cheating on them?" These two awful accusations are unfortunately two of the most common lobbed at caregivers by people living with dementia. Despite this, we still don't want to disregard the reality of the person living with dementia when they say something like this. If you argue, the person is likely to dig in their heels. You can still solve their emotional problem when they accuse you or someone else of something. Let's talk about it.

The Dementia By Day Team interviewed Dawna Duke about the keychains she's creating, which are programmed to share emergency contact information with the tap of your phone. As easily as you set up and use the "tap to pay" function on your smart phone, you can program Near-Field Communication (NFC) chips with important information like an emergency contact phone number. Dawna has taken this practical tool a step further and created keychains programmed with this information (mostly for children) to sell on Etsy as part of her business, STEMScapeCollab.  Although Dawna, who has a PhD in Education Policy, originally developed these for children like her own daughter, she sees limitless potential for NFC chips, and the Dementia By Day Team shared how this tool could impact the lives of people living with dementia and their caregivers.   Check out Dawna's keychains on the STEMScapesCollab Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/STEMSCAPESCOLLAB Follow STEMScapesCollab on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stemscapescollab/?hl=en

Rachael and Natalie of the Dementia By Day Team had a really interesting conversation with Sori Han, the inventor of and mastermind behind Shopazon! Shopazon is a unique website for people living with dementia in which they can experience "shopping" without spending any money.  In this episode, Sori shares other dementia-friendly websites and apps he is ideating and working on, and the team discusses why these types of experiences are so enriching for people living with dementia. Check out Shopazon: https://shopazon.vercel.app/shop Buy Sori a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/sorihan Check out the Reddit post about Shopazon and engage with Sori: https://www.reddit.com/r/dementia/comments/1mnzy00/made_a_fake_shopping_app_for_dementia_care_what/

We are exactly one month away from the one-year anniversary of our short film's release! In this mini podcast episode, Rachael Wonderlin talks about the inspiration behind Dementia By Day's short film, "Embracing Their Reality." She talks about why the Dementia By Day team decided to make this as narrative as possible, instead of a straightforward how-to guide. The film walks the line of storytelling and education, with a story about a father and daughter at the center. If you haven't seen the film, it's available on YouTube. We hope you watch it and that it resonates with you!

When you come across an article about a so-called study that claims X thing "cures" or "causes" dementia, ask yourself one critical question before researching any further: Is this claim measurable? In order to be scientifically valid, studies need to consistently prove that they have measured the same results over and over. A small sample set of case studies and anecdotal evidence does not add up to a valid scientific claim.  In this episode, Rachael Wonderlin gives some examples of "studies" that make claims that are not so measurable, as a reminder to listeners to stay wary of bold, psuedo-scientific claims.

We aren't big fans of "sensory" items/boxes/walls in dementia care. Even though the intention behind these programming items is great, they are often difficult to introduce and residents aren't sure how to interact with them. Listen to find out what we suggest to replace these types of activities!

These are activities that Rachael Wonderlin, founder and CEO of Dementia By Day, recommends for anyone living with dementia, but they are particularly well-suited to people with low vision. Rachael encourages you to get creative engaging your other senses and offers a couple of concrete ideas to get you started in this niche of activities.

This is what you're going to do when you're deciding to make— or not make— a change to your loved one's care. Should you make this change, especially if it's drastic? The answer is ultimately, "It depends."  It depends on the person and how much their quality of life would improve (benefit) for the inconvenience, or even trauma, it would cause (cost). Let's weigh the cost against the benefits in a specific example and talk about how there's no "right" answer. Ultimately, you can only the best you can do for your loved one, and writing out the cost and benefits in two columns can help you figure out how to move forward with the right decision for your loved one.

Even if you move your loved one to a dementia care community, you are still their caregiver, the person who is responsible for them. Though the responsibilities may shift, the "buck stops with you," as the expression goes. Let's talk about it.

What is a "sitter" and does your loved one living with dementia need one? Let's talk about it. In this episode, Rachael breaks down considerations you should make when weighing whether or not to hire a sitter for your loved one living with dementia. She discusses options that are worth trying first before resorting to hiring a sitter, and cases in which a sitter is likely the best next step for your loved one. In this bite-sized episode, Rachael also discusses what to do if your loved one lives in an assisted living community and the community suggests a sitter. Let's dive in!