Emerging research has shown a deep connection with brain health and strength training exercise. What is brain health? It is more than just memory and forgetting as you age. According to the World Health Organization, brain health is a multidimensional concept which includes cognitive, emotional, and functional abilities. More than 16 million Americans are currently living with some form of cognitive impairment and the scale is continuing to grow. The CDC suggests that up to 4

Participating in holiday gatherings can often be a source of stress for many individuals, and this stress can be significantly heightened when caring for someone with dementia. As the holiday season approaches, it is beneficial to consider practical strategies that can help make these occasions more manageable and enjoyable for everyone involved. Adjusting Expectations Set Realistic Goals: Communicate clearly about what can and cannot be accomplished during the festivities. I

Communicating with a person diagnosed with dementia can be challenging and the way you communicate with them will need to change as they progress through the disease. In the early stages of dementia, a person can usually still participate in meaningful conversation but may experience some difficulty in articulating certain words. They also can participate in brief social interactions but may struggle in prolonged social settings. You may find that the longer the conversat

What is dementia? Dementia is an overarching term to describe a progressive disease that affects ones overall cognitive function, especially in the area of memory loss. Currently there are over 170 irreversible dementias, with the most common ones being Alzheimer’s, Vascular, Lewy Body, and Frontotemporal. Each of these have specific characteristics that differentiate one from another, with some aspects that are common in each. There are some types of dementia that are tr

Having just come through the Thanksgiving holiday the song “Count your Blessings” was probably a song you heard during that time at some point. Did you know that this song was written in 1897 by Rev. Johnson Oatman, Jr., what most people do not know is that Rev. Oatman wrote the text to over 5,000 other hymns but this is by far his most well-known song. It is unfortunate that most only think of this song during Thanksgiving. The message of this hymn is for every day of the

Many questions can arise when an individual is nearing the end of life. At times, some of these questions can be faced by that person and their loved ones together, but often, the person that has power of attorney for healthcare must face these questions alone, as the dying person is no longer able to express their desires. If you have been given power of attorney over a loved one’s healthcare, investing the time to discuss their philosophy toward end-of-life decisions, and

In our last post we reviewed some of the things you should do after first hearing the diagnosis of dementia. In this post we will look at some additional items you should consider doing while your parent or spouse are still early in their diagnosis. Accept the diagnosis and understand what it means What type of dementia does the physician believe they have – Sometimes this is not yet known at the beginning but learn what you can. Can the physician determine what stage they

Receiving the diagnosis of dementia usually doesn’t come as a total shock as people generally see signs of a problem well before the official diagnosis is given. But, once it becomes “official” it brings with it a multitude of questions, not only for the person with dementia, but for their loved ones as well. Over our next two posts we are going to address some of those initial questions, and/or concerns that come along with receiving a dementia diagnosis. A ton of emotio

The Apostolic Christian Home of Eureka hosts a monthly Dementia Education and Support Group at the Eureka Public Library community room the 4th Thursday of each month at 6:30 which is free for anyone to attend. Each month we cover a different topic but there is always time for questions regarding anything related to dementia. During our last meeting our topic was “Staying safe at home with Dementia”. We talked about a number of things you can do around the house to make it

Have you found yourself at a point where a conversation about the future needs to take place? Maybe that conversation is with a parent, or maybe with your siblings, or most likely both. This is a conversation most people avoid, or take the position that, "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it", and then hope and pray they never get to the bridge. Unfortunately, for the majority of us, that day will eventually come and it is best if you prepare, even just a little, for

Welcome to our Blog site. We know that getting older and helping parents or loved ones as they age can be challenging and comes with a myriad of questions that aren't always easy to get answers to. Many times we have questions that we might be too afraid to ask, or we really don't want to know the answer, out of fear of what lies ahead once we get an answer. Through this blog we hope to help answer some of those questions and help you along the journey that lies before eac