Make Dementia Your B*tch!

The current thinking about dementia care needs to change. In today's podcast, I interview Donna Marentay. , fellow nurse and dementia educator. We discuss OUR VIEW of some hot potato topics: how a dementia diagnosis should NOT be a "no-knock warrant" into people's lives; the need for "free range" caregiving versus helicopter caregiving; and the ongoing need to update current educational content to...

Shadowing is a very challenging behavior faced by dementia caregivers. The person living with dementia has to be physically near the caregiver. Caregivers will tell you that they cannot even go to the bathroom without their loved one banging on the door or pacing right outside. Certified registered nurse practitioner Lindsey A. Robbins explains the behavior and how caregivers can best manage it. M...

In today’s episode, I have my first ever podcast guest, the amazing Daphne Johnston. Ms. Johnston is a visionary who is changing the face of dementia care through her Respite Care Model, an all-volunteer model that gives meaning and purpose to people living with dementia. This is a highly sustainable model that is a game-changer for people living with dementia and their caregivers. She is the exec...

This one is the effing bomb, people! I put all of the stuff together and give you a blueprint for handling all sorts of care refusals. But you know what? These 3 podcasts are just the tip of the iceberg!! In my Dementia Behavior MasterClass, which I deliver LIVE for 1 hour each week for 4 weeks, I pack in soooo much more content. Plus...you and I are live, so I answer YOUR questions and help YOU w...

Woohoo! Yes, awesome caregivers. Here is part 2 of my free and fantastic workshop. If you want to catch the full experience, video and all, go here: https://wp.me/p951Pg-12J My book, " Make Dementia Your B*tch! An Easy Guide to Understanding Dementia-related Behaviors " is now available on Amazon!   Order it here. Loved the podcast? Want to stay in the loop and snag information about free stu...

Happy New Year, awesome listeners! I created a free workshop for dementia caregivers. The focus is on handling care refusals and the dreaded "NO!" but I also tackle other behaviors. As an added bonus, I skipped the commercials AND you will get all 3 parts this week. So stay tuned! 3 FUCKING EPISODES IN ONE WEEK! Hell, yeah, peeps!! In this podcast, I referenced a video. Go here to see the video an...

It is frustrating when a person living with dementia won't take their medications. Learn three approaches to handle this problem.  My book, " Make Dementia Your B*tch! An Easy Guide to Understanding Dementia-related Behaviors " is now available on Amazon!   Order it here. You can confidently manage dementia behaviors so that your life and the life of your loved one with dementia become e...

This is my holiday special podcast. Yay, the holidays...family, travel, parties...and all sorts of shit that can cause dementia behaviors to skyrocket. Listen to learn some great hacks that help you to make holiday activities and traditions more dementia-friendly. There is also a great script for well-meaning (but still annoying) friends and families who think they know more about dementia caregiv...

Once you realize that the person living with dementia can no longer safely drive, how do you stop them from driving? Learn 4 approaches to stopping a person with dementia from driving: Take a break approach Physical reason for not driving approach Disable the vehicle (but you can still drive it!) Remove the vehicle My book, " Make Dementia Your B*tch! An Easy Guide to Understanding Dementia-relate...

I often hear, “It’s ok for my family member to drive, even though he has dementia (or Alzheimer’s). He doesn’t go far. He only goes to local places, like Walmart and church.” Listen as I offer some questions for you to honestly ask yourself about their driving:  1. Is the person with dementia getting lost in familiar places?  A "yes" response to this question is a definite NO, the person...

In episode 17, I talked about general ways to prevent care refusals. In this episode, I go a little deeper and talk about how to use 10 specific strategies to derail care refusals in real time. Those strategies are "entering their reality," bridging (an extension of priming), distraction, hand-over-hand, mirror-mirror, caregiver vibes, "ask for help", "apologize with praise," rewards, and rescue....

In today’s podcast, I answer the question, “How do I know if my family member living with dementia can safely make decisions?” This concern usually comes up around financial issues and living arrangements. It is important for caregivers to understand that the ability to make a decision is not an "on/off" light switch. It is more like a gradual dimmer and must be evaluated for each individual and f...

Hallucinations refer to sights, sounds, feelings, and smells that come from inside the brain. Hallucinations are common with Lewy Body Dementia but can happen with any dementia. The person with dementia is seeing, hearing, or smelling stuff that the rest of us are not experiencing. Hallucinations can also happen when people living with dementia experience delirium. Delirium occurs when people livi...

Holidays can be wonderful, exhausting, amazing, and problematic all at the same time. Add being a dementia caregiver, and things get complicated! This year may be worse, because many families could not spend time together thanks to last winter's coronavirus surge! In this podcast,  I offer 5 simple tips to make any holiday--especially this Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Yule, and Christmas--dementia...

Care refusal is a real pain in the ass. It makes caregiving that much harder. Learn how to hack procedural memories and avoid triggering care refusals using your own appearance and the environment. Other techniques include short 1-step commands, gestures/pantomimes, encouraging self-care (and how to actually do this!), schedules and routines, avoiding elderspeak, chaining, vibes, dementia time tra...

In last week’s podcast, I talked about ways to help a person living with dementia maintain their abilities to do activities. In today’s podcast, I will talk why people with dementia refuse help, even though we can clearly see they need it! There are three main, general drivers of care-refusal behavior: Lack of awareness, the “automatic no” and refusals based on fear. In today’s podcast, I will exp...

Well-meaning family and formal caregivers sometimes start to "overdo" for persons living with dementia. "I don't want her to get hurt" or "I don't want him to feel embarrassed" or "It is just so much easier if I do (fill in the blank)." What people do not realize is that once a person with dementia forgets how to do an activity or task, he or she is rarely able to relearn it. There just aren't eno...

Irritability is a problem that usually first appears in the mild stage of dementia. It can be subtle at first. The person living with dementia does not want to go to social events. Or, he or she wants to leave right in the middle of event. You, the caregiver, are constantly being snapped at. "You talk too much." "You ask too many questions." The reason for this irritability is loss of neurons. Lea...

Dementia-centric communication is the ability to interact with people who have dementia in a respectful and meaningful way. I hear, over and over again, “I don’t know what to say to a person with dementia.” “What if I do something wrong?” Fear not, I am here to help by providing some key points to guide you. The over-riding thing to keep in mind is that our communication patterns respect the digni...

The title of this episode says it all. There are so many scammers selling supplements and other garbage that will not cure dementia, but desperate caregivers are easy prey. Learn about reversible causes of memory problems, including delirium, medications, thyroid problems, and depression. I also tackle the topic of gum disease and dementia. #Alzheimers #dementia #vascular #caregiving Have a dement...

Pee and poop accidents, also known as urinary and fecal incontinence, suck for both the dementia caregiver and the person living with dementia. Join Dr. Rita Jablonski and learn easy life hacks to prevent pee and poop accidents when caring for someone with dementia.  Have a dementia question? Want to hear it answered on a future podcast? Email me: info@makedementiayourbitch.com. Looking for a...

In today's podcast, I help a listener whose mother-in-law keeps urinating in the laundry room trashcan. Do you have a question or problem that you would like me to answer? Contact me at info@makedementiayourbitch.com . I would love to hear from you! And don't forget to like and subscribe on your favorite platform so that other carers can find this podcast. I appreciate my awesome listeners!! Have...

People living with dementia can have trouble doing simple things like controlling their bowel movements. In this episode, I discuss how procedural memories and apraxia can cause accidents. I also explain how to prevent accidental bowel movements and feces smearing. I also talk about copraphagia (eating feces) and how to avoid this behavior.  Do you have a question or problem that you would li...

People with dementia (Alzheimer's, Lewy Body, vascular, FTD) may refuse care or ask to "go home." Learn how to enter the reality of a person living with dementia. This technique is just one of several strategies that you can use to kindly and gently respond to care refusals or requests to go home. Have a dementia question? Want to hear it answered on a future podcast? Email me: info@makedementiayo...

It depends on the dementia. People with behavioral-variant FTD will remember they have dementia but spend a great deal of time telling you the diagnosis is wrong. People with other dementias may recall the diagnosis in the mild stages. As dementia worsens, people living with dementia may forget that they have the disease. This creates situations where presenting reality may cause nothing but argum...