Helping parents, partners or siblings when dementia starts to show up is both exquisitely meaningful, and extraordinarily exhausting. Your Geriatrician can help ease the way, but as Caregiver, you may need more support.

Knowing the physiological basics of dementia helps:

  • Diminished ability to see blues, greens, darker colours – use bright red, yellow, and neon colours for what you want to accentuate.

  • Logical factual memory gets wobbly long before emotional feeling memory; don’t sweat the names and nouns and “why”s, focus on the emotional feeling of the person/ event. Not “where is home”, but “what feels like Home?” Be a detective to understand and strategize how to support and connect with your loved one as they journey through dementia.

It is at times heart-breaking, watching your loved one experience progressive brain damage from which they will not recover. Care-giver, I honour your journey and the opportunity to support you!