Dementia Dimensions

Dementia Resource Center Blog for At Home Caregivers

Tom Harner

  • Ask Mimi

How do you protect your feelings when your parent with dementia lashes out? I feel as though my mother is resentful that I am continuing with my daily life now that she’s limited. Her comments are mean and I am left distraught and sad. -Eliza

Dear Eliza: This is a hard part of being a caregiver. Being criticized or otherwise subjected to cruelty is never pleasant, but it’s especially hard to take from someone you love and are trying to care for.
  • Caregiver Perspective, Engagement, Joy Plan

Caregivers Are Key to Unlocking Joy

The 40th President of the United States, the late Ronald Reagan, lived with Alzheimer’s disease over the final decade of his life.
  • Ask Mimi

My husband is in a really good memory care, but he always says he wants to stop by our house. Everyone says this is a really bad idea and creates a mess. Now he’s angry and calling me to say that I want him to die in memory care. Any suggestions?

“Everyone” isn’t always right. You know your husband better than anyone. Do you think it will “create a mess”? A visit home can go badly, no doubt.
  • Emotional, Physical

Dementia Caregiver Tips for More Pleasant Meal Times

Maintaining good nutrition and positive eating habits while navigating through the stages of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias can be a struggle. Caregivers may face a number of challenges, including loss of appetite, loss of taste, and changing food preferences as well as the possible need to integrate special diets when necessary.
  • Ask Mimi, Emotional, Physical

How does one find respite care? I won’t put my wife in nursing home but I really need a break.- Doug S.

Caregiving is an enormous job, and you do need breaks.  See below for some local (Rochester, New York area) resources for respite care.
  • Engagement, Joy Plan

The Connection between Norman Rockwell, His Work, and Dementia

“The view of life I communicate in my pictures excludes the sordid and the ugly. I paint life as I would like it to be.”  Norman Rockwell painted the American dream and-- for decades—he did it better than anyone else.
  • Ask Mimi

My aunt was diagnosed with stage 5 dementia a couple of months ago. Her mood changes day by day—one day, she cries that her teddy bear has died and the next, it’s sleeping with her and gives her joy. Do I take the teddy bear away or continue to let her care for it?- Gwen F.

Love objects, like stuffed animals or baby dolls, can be very comforting for some people with dementia. But they can pose challenges, such as the worry that the teddy bear has died.
  • Ask Mimi

What are some ways I can help relieve anxiety in my loved one?- Katherine F.

It is not surprising that people with dementia feel anxious sometimes. The world has become more difficult for them to navigate, and they are unsure of so many things.
  • Emotional, Engagement, Joy Plan, Physical

4 Ways Dementia Caregivers Can Find Peace of Mind

Caring for someone living with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia is difficult work. There are however ways caregivers can reduce the stress they experience.

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