Planning for the Future after a Dementia Diagnosis: Why Working Together Is Important If we are caring for a loved one who has recently been diagnosed with dementia or a related disorder such as Alzheimer’s Disease, it can feel devastating. Often, families avoid having discussions with their loved one about what the diagnosis could mean for their future out of fear. As the disease progresses over time, we may find ourselves as a caregiver in the position of making important care or health-related decisions for a loved one in a time of crisis, even if we have never previously discussed with our loved one what kind of care they would prefer. As a result, we may feel guilty about having to make decisions on our loved one’s behalf, without prior knowledge of their care values and preferences. Read more
Where Can I Turn for Help? When we begin caring for a loved one with a chronic health condition, it can be difficult to ask for help. We may not know whom to ask for support, or worry about being perceived as unable to manage all of our responsibilities. Locating available resources and information can be challenging and overwhelming, but understanding where to turn for quality services and information to support us throughout our caregiving journey is important. We can start by surfing the internet, but these searches often give us too much information, and it can be hard to determine what is accurate and trustworthy. Read more
Taking ACTION to Manage Dementia Care Caring for a loved one with dementia can oftentimes go hand-in-hand with challenging situations that may lead us to feel stress and uncertainty about how to manage our loved one’s care. It can become overwhelming, especially for one person, but there are steps we can take to minimize the burden and make progress. Action planning gives us guidance and support to meet our caregiving needs and manage our loved one’s care by breaking down larger goals into small, manageable steps towards solutions to potential challenges. Read more
