Monday we will have Keith Brengle on our show. Keith is a son dealing with his Father’s dementia. We will talk openly about their journey and how his coping with the disease.
Our second guest will be Lisa Hirsch, Author of My Mom, My Hero will join us. Lisa is a passionate advocate and has some great insights into caring for someone with dementia. Come and join the conversation!
I have found it interesting to notice how I have dealt with my Mother’s Dementia over the past thirty years, the phases I have gone through. I thought maybe, just maybe, it might help you on your own Dementia journey.
I’m not so sure that I would say my life is fascinating living out here as at times and especially now with my illness having to cope with all the customs and traditions within the Indonesian culture can be extremely difficult for my brain to deal with and can make me very disconcerted, I know that Sumi does all she can to protect me but at times I do feel incredibly vulnerable to (as it were) the outside world around me and all the gossiping that goes on along with the weird glances that are centred in my direction, it’s at times like that I get very home sick as I’ve not seen my home land the ‘UK’ for more than a few months within the past almost 30 years and I really do have a longing for home, in fact some time ago I wrote a poem about it that was published in my book of poems ‘Lamenting Ink’ I’ve copied at the bottom of this for you to read and hope that it doesn’t bore you too much!
“Just Once More”
I had always been a travelling man,
That wandered the world… with a trade in my hands,
To the distant realms… and cultures of afar,
Where golden sunsets gave birth to the nights stars,
Then came the day when my journeys did end,
As my wandering mind… found an unwanted friend,
That led me astray from my chosen path…
Without hope of new life… just memories of what’s past,
Now my thoughts go wandering… on their own,
Forever yearning the green, green, grass of home…
Just to stand once more on the Britannic shores,
Where my childhood dreams first began their birth,
To hold my grandchildren… of whom I’ve never seen,
Listening to their laughter… that resounds in my dreams…
Their eyes might shine… and with shrills of delight…
Our second guest today will be Ellen Gerst a grief and relationship coach. Using a combination of her personal experience as a young widow and her professional expertise, she assists clients and readers to look at challenging life circumstances from different perspectives. We will be discussing Why children get so angry at their parents in order to understand Grief and Caregiving. Please feel free to call in or use the chat box to let us know your thoughts.
This is a great article from the Boston University (BU) Today.
Max Wallack is not your ordinary teen. He is on a personal mission to end Alzheimer’s disease. This is a fascinating story of an extraordinary person. I hope you take the time to read the full story.
During last month’s spring break, when many students were sunning themselves on beaches or catching up on sleep, Max Wallack traveled to Los Angeles to deliver a poster presentation at the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry’s annual conference. His subject was the role that ACE inhibitors—a class of drugs used to treat cardiovascular disease—could play in preventing Alzheimer’s disease. Heady stuff, especially when you consider that BU sophomore Wallack is just 16. READ MORE
Photo by Vernon Doucette
Wallack with his mentor, Wendy Qiu, who heads the Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry in Aging at BU’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center.
Photo courtesy of Max Wallack
Max Wallack (CAS’15) with his great-grandmother, Gertrude Finkelstein, who died of Alzheimer’s disease when he was 10.
For more Resources And Information On Dementia Check Out Our Website Below.
By Carol Orsborn, Ph.D., Executive Director of CoroFaith
Not long ago, Debi Cost was introducing a dementia-care community to the power of therapeutic music. As Director of Client Enrichment for Coro Health, a media healthcare company offering MusicFirst: Alzheimer’s, this was nothing new for Debi. But this time, by the time the presentation was over, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
On that particular day, Debi had come face-to-face with Marcia, a resident in the final stages of Alzheimer’s. Often, Alzheimer’s patients are surrounded by familiar items supplied by loving family members: photos, mementos, favorite clothing. But in this case, under state guardianship, Marcia had arrived into the community without a single personal item. She spent much of her waking hours agitated, rocking back and forth. All Debi had been told was where she had been born and her approximate age. It wasn’t much—but it was enough.
Debi had done her research. Since MusicFirst: Alzheimer’s was developed by a team of neuroscientists and music therapists, Debi had access to the latest brain research. New studies indicate that the Medial Prefrontal Cortex is the hub where music, memory and emotions meet. It is also one of the last brain regions to atrophy in Alzheimer’s patients. Based on Marcia’s date of birth and geographic origins, Debi selected the category of “Gospel music” and chose the desired outcome “relax” from the MusicFirst library, and soon, the iPad was playing “The Lord Will Find a Way.”
“Immediately, Marcia stopped rocking repetitively back and forth and instead, started swaying to the rhythm of the music. But most exciting of all was that she spoke three spirited words: ‘Hymn, Wow, Amen.’” The caregivers in the room were electrified. As they explained to me later, they had never heard Marcia’s voice before,” says Debi.
Therapeutic music stands in sharp contrast to the selection of music based solely on genre and popularity, such as that available over radio or on CD’s. Rather, therapeutic music consists of programs thoughtfully built by a team of music therapists, designers and neuroscientists. While this has traditionally been prohibitively expensive for individual caregivers, Coro Health has developed an mHealth mobile app that is revolutionizing the delivery of therapeutic music to individuals with Alzheimer’s. Early adopters of Coro Health’s MusicFirst include over 1000 long-term care communities, hospitals, rehabilitation agencies, home health companies, individual caregivers and third party media distributors, supporting over 100,000 people per day.
As Marcia’s story illustrates, familiarity is one of the considerations that go into the therapeutic use of music. For Marcia, Gospel was the key that unlocked the door to her spirit. But depending on individual backgrounds, equally effective music is offered in the R&B, Country and Classical genres. Familiar songs engage people on multiple levels with such positive outcomes as the stimulation of memory senses, providing comfort and creating higher-quality physical engagement by singing, tapping feet and swaying. But other factors other than familiarity go into the therapeutic programming of music for specific outcomes.
“Simple musical themes, regardless of level of familiarity, can provide a level of consistency and connection that are designed to create an environment of comfort,” explains Leanne Flask, Chief Operating Officer of Coro Health, and an expert in the delivery of therapeutic music. “The more complexity a song has—the more instruments, singers, chord, key and tempo changes and so on—the harder the brain has to work to process the sound. Simple songs that are lower in tempo are a good choice for creating an atmosphere of calm and trust.”
MusicFirst: Alzheimer’s draws on over 1000 hours of music and is delivered over most mobile devices. Easy-to-use, the Alzheimer’s app targets outcomes for those suffering from Alzheimer’s, dementia and other forms of memory impairment as well as behaviors associated with Sundowning syndrome.
The new mHealth app is available in the Apple iTunes store.
You can download and receive the three hours for free and then the app is $4.99 a month.
Click on the logo below.
For more information: visit CoroHealth.com or to download the app:
For additional resources check out Alzheimer’s Speaks
Hiya, i had an e mail from some nurses in Canada the other day asking if i had done any videos for training and awareness ect, so i thought i would list them all together and also share on here just in case they are helpful to anybody, very best wishes, Norrms and family
So, here are a few videos i have done talking not only about my own dementia but my thoughts on other related dementia issues, i really hope they help. As always, thank YOU so much for what you are doing and if i can help in any other way please just ask.
Also here is the links to the books i have written SINCE my diagnosis (proceeds from these sales also go to Dementia charities so please share with friends) because they are written by someone who ACTUALLY has this disease i am told they help so much, i would appreciate these being put on your website as well if you don’t mind. If you do get any responses to my writings/poems i am more than happy to answer them if possible if you pass them onto me, very best wishes, Norrms and family xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sandy Halperin, has Dementia. He is a strong advocate for the disease as is his daughter Karen Halperin Cyphers, who has her Ph. D. Karen wrote a great article called “From a daughter’s perspective,” which was published by the Florida Medical Association. In this article Karen’s lists a guide for physicians working with those with Early Stage Alzheimer’s Disease. I think it is good information for all of us to know and pass along.
Click on the graphic below to bring you to the full article
I would love to hear your thoughts on the article?
Are the other things you think the medical profession needs to do differently or consistently?
Personally, I think this article is worth cutting out and giving to every physician.
They need much more training and information on dementia then they are getting.
Alzheimer's Speaks believes working together and sharing knowledge is the best way to win the battle against this disease. Please explore the site and share your thoughts.
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