February 5, 2018
Although Ellie’s disease has continued to progress she continues to go to her day program daily, taking a bus with her friend Charles. This is a regular part of her day and an activity that helps to keep Ellie in motion. Any change in her schedule, big or small, can set her into a tailspin. It is not uncommon for her to become upset at a change in her sch...
January 26, 2018
Consistency, Consistency
Ellie’s personal assistant has been working inconsistent days over the past three months due to personal issues. This is extremely confusing to Ellie and she can become frustrated over it. When she is unsure of her schedule the following day Ellie will often lose sleep, or call her daughters repeatedly with questions.
Tip: People su...
January 25, 2018
An excellent article discussing the dilemma of genetic testing. I like the idea that individuals with positive generic testing can communicate and discuss strategies for health management and treatment. One site discussed. was the website ApoE4.info
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/17/opinion/sunday/What-if-You-Knew-Alzheimers-Was-Coming-for-You...
December 19, 2017
Elle has been acting increasingly more child like. She came home from the Senior Center telling my sister and I that she and her 92 year old boyfriend Charles are putting their coats and her purse on chairs to prevent people they don’t particularly like from sitting at their table. Elle claims they don’t appreciate the complainers sitting with them, or pe...
December 4, 2017
Recently Elle has started following my sister and I around when we are at her house. This can be good because it means she is out of her chair and getting exercise. However she has a habit of keeping very close behind us with her walker as we move around the house, which isn’t very safe. One day I was organizing her closet and she would not stop hovering...
November 10, 2017
In the past month Elle has begun repeating the same statement or question over and over again. One of her grandsons recently installed a voice-controlled speaker that comes with Alexa integration. This has been a tremendous help. Elle can now ask Alexa to play her favorite artists music and this calms her and decreases the repetitive questions and stateme...
October 30, 2017
Teaching Now Living # 12
Accusations- Elle is constantly accusing my sister and I of taking anything she can’t find around the house. For example, if she is looking for a notepad that she likely misplaced she will exclaim, “You girls need to leave my things alone and stop taking them.”
When we searched for the missing notepad it was located on her bedside t...
October 23, 2017
Elle now wants to read every piece of mail that enters her mailbox including all of the junk mail.
Usually, I would go through the mail to pay her bills and throw out whatever wasn’t necessary. Elle now becomes upset if anyone throws something away will even go through the recycled mail to ensure nothing important was overlooked.
Tip: At this point it is ti...
October 19, 2017
Join at the us at the Home Care Association of New York State Symposium -Quality and Technoligy Symposium on November 16, 2017 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Suffern, New York
athttps://hca-nys.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2017-Quality-and-Technology-Symposium-Brochure.pdf
October 9, 2017
STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNICATING WITH SOMEONE WITH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE – PART 2
7. Non-Verbal Communication
Tone of voice, facial expressions, touch and gestures are effective and important parts of communicating with your loved one.
Tone of Voice
Listen to your own tone of voice; it speaks volumes. The person with memory loss maintains the ability to understand...
