Dementia’s Harsh Truths and How To Fight Back

 

Trapped inside your own body – you can’t remember things or faces or voices, you often cry or are upset – but you don’t know why; people are telling you what to do, andyou’re trying to talk but you can’t carry on a conversation or even speak a clear sentence to communicate with the people you love the most. The world around youseems different and you don’t know why.

This is how many people would describe dementia.

It’s hard to watch someone go through the stages of dementia – and one can become very emotional when one thinks of what it’s like for a senior who is trying to copewith dementia but is confused about what is happening to their body and their life, as they once knew it.

There is no cure for dementia or Alzheimer’s, the most common type of dementia. But a woman who watched a loved one go through dementia, and then went on to become a nationally renowned dementia care expert, refuses to just sit on the sidelines and let this disease take over. She has joined our team at Senior Helpers and is changing lives through a new program she created with us, called Senior Gems – it’s an education program where she assigns each stage of the disease to a gem,like a diamond or ruby, and gives step-by-step instruction so people can navigate every mood and movement of a loved one who is coping with this devastating disease.

Half of all Americans know someone with Alzheimer’s, the deadly disease that affects five million of us - more women than men.

Dementia takes a toll on everyone involved, including those caring for someone with the disease. Senior Gems is one way for all of us to learn how to help our loved one and ourselves best cope and improve communication through each stage ofthe disease.

Gem Levels:

Sapphire

Diamond

Emerald

Amber

Ruby

Pearl

Teepa helps us all realize that we shouldn’t communicate with “diamonds” the same waywe communicate with “pearls.” For example, with diamonds, caregivers should be careful to never use the phrase, “Don’t you remember?” That only frustrates them because they really don’t remember. And for pearls, caregivers should use a calm, rhythmictone of voice to best communicate with them.

 

For those with dementia, abilities fluctuate from day to day, day to night, person-to-person and minute-to-minute. This makes it challenging for a caregiver topredict what they will or will not be able to do. This is where Senior Gems comes in. It provides guidance when you’re not sure how to best communicate. As caregivers, we need to be flexible and supportive, rather than point out errors andgetting frustrated with the day to day challenges of caring for someone with dementia, and their changing abilities.

Alzheimer’s recently replaced cancer as the most feared disease among seniors. We, at Senior Helpers, don’t have the cure, but we’re proud to offer Senior Gems, a program that can help thousands of families better cope with a disease we are allstill learning about.

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