Alzheimer's Information — Gifts for Alzheimer's

Now that spring has finally arrived and the weather is warming up, outdoor activities like picnics, nature walks, swimming, and just spending the day out and about are in season. If you're caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's, it can still be very possible and rewarding to plan trips and public activities that you will both enjoy. This article on Dementia Challengers gives wonderful suggestions for places you can visit with your loved one and things you (and your family) can do together that will ease the stress and anxiety that often accompanies dementia. Read more: Dementia Challengers: Days Out At...

Our blog today takes a look at a very informative and helpful article written by Marie Marley, award-winning author of Come Back Early Today: A Memoir of Love, Alzheimer's and Joy. In this article, Marley shares advice and different methods of helping to convince a loved one that full-time care at a nursing facility is the best thing for them. Many times, especially in mid to late stages of Alzheimer's when social withdrawal and the desire for physical isolation is prevalent, patients tend to want to remain on their own in their own homes for as long as possible, and are...

"Promoting skills to cope with Alzheimer’s is increasingly important", says nationally known Alzheimer's disease expert Teepa Snow. In this Q&A with the Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, FL, Snow talks a bit about her Positive Approach method for both patients and their families to help them cope with Alzheimer's disease. Snow explains that "people with Alzheimer’s are trying to deal with what they have lost. We need to take a step back and realize they aren’t crazy. Our job is to figure out the reason why they are doing what they do, then modify or change things to make the...

The New York Memory Center put together a short film in early 2013 illustrating how important staying active and engaged in social care is for Alzheimer's and dementia patients. Participating in the arts, such as music, painting, dancing, and yoga, can slow the effects of memory loss and possibly prove more effective in certain patients than available medications for Alzheimer's. The film focuses on Ola Hightower, whose dementia most significantly affects her short-term memory, and her daughter and caregiver, Allyson Hightower. Allyson notes the positive mood and behavioral changes in her mother after she began regularly attending her memory center. "I can...

In an article from Alzheimer's Reading Room, Elaine Pereira recounts how sudden and significant changes in her 16-year old cat's behavior led her to believe pets can exhibit symptoms of dementia in ways very similar to people. She first noticed the difference in her cat, Snoopy, when he began to howl loudly and unceasingly for seemingly no reason at all. After doing some online research about cat howling, Pereira discovered that the cause was cat senility, which is essentially a kind of dementia in pets. “Cats, just like people, can suffer from a form of mental confusion, or cognitive dysfunction,...