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Measure
How do you know when to worry or talk to your primary physician about your family member?
There are a number of assessments tools, but the simplest to take is called the SAGE Test.*
The benefits of this test is that SAGE can be a tool for measuring someone’s thinking ability over several years. The first time the test is taken could be considered a “baseline,” or the standard to be compared to when it’s taken again later. If scores on the test are worse two years later, this might indicate something’s wrong. Dementia diseases are progressive, worsening over time, and SAGE can help chart the progression.
Also, peace of mind can be huge. If you are stressed or exhausted (perhaps from caregiving for your loved one), then focus and memory might suffer. A person with a healthy brain may become worried that they’re showing signs of dementia. Taking a SAGE might reassure you that rather than developing an incurable brain disease, you just need more sleep.Doing this test at home is a solid marker.
View or download the SAGE Test
WHY?
More information helps doctors make a better diagnosis. The questions on SAGE are diverse, asking someone to remember the date, do simple math problems, recall the names of objects or animals, and more. Because different types of dementias affect the brain differently, this is helpful for determining what’s wrong. Someone with Frontotemporal dementia, for instance, would have difficulty coming up with the right words, but less problems with memory.
Catching cognition problems early equals better treatment. Dementia cannot be cured, but its symptoms can be managed. The sooner management begins, the easier a person’s life with Alzheimer’s disease or related illness will be. If you or a loved one shows signs of developing dementia, you can better prepare for the future, including understanding what might be required of caregivers.
*SAGE stands for Self-Administered Gerocognitive Test.
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DONALD’s SPIRITUAL HOUR
Life can be hard, lonely, purposeless when suffering from an illness.
Cultivating a strong spirituality can lift and add hope to one’s life.
Without purpose one can loose the will to fight.
Limited attendance, every Thursday at 1PM.
Vaccination Tips
Review these important points below:
Are you taking care of someone?
- If yes, you are:
- Home-Based Respite and Individual/Family Support staff and entitled to receive the vaccine as part of phase 1.
Have you hired someone to take care of a loved one?
- If yes, they are called:
- Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) and they are entitled to receive the vaccine as part of phase 1.
Where can I get the Vaccine?
Find a vaccination clinic near where you live to schedule vaccinations ASAP.
Online scheduling (if your zip isn’t bringing a site, use the next larger town)
Phase 2
References:
Clinical and non-clinical health care workers doing direct and COVID-facing care
New
Activities are offered online for those who are isolated at home.
From cooking, to craft, story telling and discussions and spiritual talks.
Head Injuries
Can one get Dementia from Brain Injuries?
A concussion or other traumatic brain injury (TBI) can increase the risk of developing dementia even 30 years later, according to a new study published recently.
How Does Dementia from Head Injury differ from other type of dementia?
A number of medical conditions can cause dementia. Some are reversible while others can lead to more permanent states of dementia. Alzheimer’s diseaseaccounts for about 55 percent of all dementia cases. Dementia due to a head injury is comparatively rare and accounts for less than 5 percent of cases.
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI’s) affect an estimated two to three million people in the United States each year. Between 400,000 and 500,000 people are hospitalized. It is difficult to find accurate statistics on how many people with a TBI go on to develop significant dementia, but there are three areas that we need to consider. The first is the link between Alzheimer’s disease and TBI; the second, post traumatic dementia affecting the elderly and thirdly dementia pugilistica, (also known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy). cont
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Challenges
In dementia, day to day tasks can become a challenge, even with simple things, like getting dressed…
The family caregiver’s role is changed and comes without defiance, protest, and dare. Both involved will need to learn new roads and understand each other in new ways.
Anxiety – Agitation
In the following video, UCLA professor for the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program demonstrates new approaches to those behavioral challenges. He offers new ways to communicate and decrease anxiety or agitation.
Dementia?
What is Dementia?
Dementia isn’t a disease. Instead, it’s a group of symptoms caused by other conditions. You might also hear it called major neurocognitive disorder.
Some cause for these symptoms are curable, it is why it is very important to have an accurate diagnoses for it’s cause.
Causes of dementia that may be reversible include:
- Reaction to medications
- Infections of the brain
- Compromise Immune disorder like leukemia
- Emotional distress, depression
- Poisoning caused by carbon monoxide, heavy metals..
- Alcohol or drug abuse
- Tumors
- Subdural hematomas, blood clots beneath the outer covering of the brain
- Normal-pressure hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain
- Metabolic disorders such as a vitamin B12 deficiency
- Low levels of thyroid hormones, called hypothyroidism
- Low blood sugar, called hypoglycemia
- HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND)
- Heart and lung disease causing low oxygen.
These forms of dementia are partially manageable, but they aren’t reversible and get worse over time:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Vascular dementia
- Dementia from Parkinson’s disease and similar disorders
- Dementia with Lewy bodies
- Frontotemporal dementia (Pick’s disease)
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Routines
The Benefits of Routines for People With Dementia
How Consistent Caregivers Can Help.
Because dementia can make it difficult to learn new things, using established, consistent routines can be calming and reassuring, for both the person with dementia and those around her.
Routines are often associated with our procedural memory (how we do things) and long term memory. So, since dementia typically first affects the short-term memory, the memory of a routine will often remain well into the middle stages of dementia.
Types of Daily Routines. Cont
Benefits of Routines in Dementia
- Maintains Functions
- Reduces Anxiety
- Decreases Caregiver Stress
- Allows for Some Independence
Source: Verywellhealth
Hand washing
Hand washing is crucial for caregivers. The approach is different from everyday hand washing. Learn how to do the right way. Many illnesses are transmitted through touching. Gloves are not a substitute.
