October 5-11 is National Residents' Rights week. I am sure you know people in the Seattle area who live in one of the many nursing homes or assisted living facilities here. Whether they have Alzheimer's disease, a related dementia or another illness or disability, they deserve your time and attention.

Folks living at these places now were vibrant members of our community once.They need to feel where they live now is home. They need to know that the staff, relatives and other visitors recognize what things make the place feel like home. They need to know that people care about them and honor them.

To read more about Residents' Rights Week click here

Many long term care facilities welcome volunteers. By volunteerin you will feel good and enrich many others lives.

So do your part and celebrate National Residents' Rights Week

Remember to leave your comments and questions

By Susan Berg author of Adorable Photographs of Our Baby-Meaningful Mind Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones and Involved Professionals a book for those with dementia and an excellent resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals.

In an artcle recently published Alzheimer's exacts tremendous toll in Seattlepi by DENISE INMAN, a trdjedy occured because too many people were unaware of the symptoms of Alzheimer'd disease and other dementias which can lead to serious changes in behavior.

Learn from this story especially if you are a caregiver because no one wants this to happen again.

Find out the signs of Alzheimers disease

read about changes in behavior that can occur.

Realize how to help someone experiencing bizzare behavior that is sometimes associated with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

by Susan Berg author of Adorable Photographs of Our Baby-Meaningful Mind Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones and Involved Professionals a book for those with dementia and an excellent resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals

Hopefully a caregiver can manage a loved one with dementia who exhibits problem behavior. But if you cannot, please seek help.
Please share any words of wisdom or advice that you may have as well as any stories that might interest the readers of Seattlepi.

Labor Day is almost here. We are going to have fun and say good by to summer. What if we were resposible for an adult who could not care for himself?
Did you know that caregivers take longer to fall asleep?
Read this
Caregivers take longer to fall asleep
The good news is that there are ways for them to enjoy a more restful night
Read this
Alzheimer's, dementia and other caregivers, can enjoy better sleep
They are more prone to depression
Did you know that Alzheimer's and dementia caregivers exemplify true love?
Read this
Read the article below to see what additional responsibilities a dementia caregiver has
Why Alzheimer's and Other Dementia Caregivers Should Be Honored This Labor Day
OK, I personally want to thank all the dementia caregivers out there and I hope you will too.
THANK YOU
by Susan Berg author of
AdorabPhotographs of Our Baby-Meaningful Mind Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones and Involved Professionals a book for those with dementia and an excellent resource for caregivers and healthcare professionalsle .

You watched The Forgetting, a movie about Alzheimer's disease on PBS. You saw what a horrible disease this is.

Now you can make a difference in the fight against this disease and related dementias
click here to find out what you can do

by Susan Berg author of Adorable Photographs of Our Baby-Meaningful Mind Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones and Involved Professionals a book for those with dementia and an excellent resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals

Another friendly reminder to watch The Forgiving on PBS tomorrow a movie about dealing with Alzheimer"s disease and related dementias

What will you learn?

You will learn many of the characteristics of the disease

How to ASK HARD QUESTIONS about the disease

A stage-by stage look at the disease

How to LIVE WELL WITH ALZHEIMER'S: Ideas to ease and enrich daily life

Ways to TALK TO CHILDREN ABOUT ALZHEIMER'S:
Ways to engage and inform kids whose family members are coping with the illness

So join us tommorow for this special broadxast on PBS

by Susan Berg author of Adorable Photographs of Our Baby-Meaningful Mind Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones and Involved Professionals a book for those with dementia and an excellent resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals

Over 5.2 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia and someone new is added to those ranks every 71 seconds. By 2050 experts predict there will be as many as 16 million Americans living with the disease. There are no survivors and there is no cure. There is no doubt you know people affected by these terrible diseases.

You can help in the fight against these diseases! Host a Viewing Party.

How, you ask?

Simple
Invite a group of your friends and family to share the Emmy-award winning story of The Forgetting. Your guests will enjoy each other's company – and learn more about how they can become Alzheimer Champions and help in the fight to cure Alzheimers or another dementia.

The Forgetting is an Emmy Award-winning documentary based on David Shenk's best-selling book. It will air nationally Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 6:00 pm PT on PBS (local broadcasts may vary).

If you cannot do that you can become an Alzheimer's advocate by contacting legislators in your area or by making a donation directly to the Alzheimer's Association

The hard work of Alzheimer advocates across the country is starting to pay off. Lawmakers are listening to constituents about the dire need for increased funding for Alzheimer research and care.

Unfortunately, Congress is not expected to finish work on the bill that funds Alzheimer research this year due to a White House veto threat and shortened Congressional schedule. The proposed funding increases approved by the House and Senate committees will act as placeholders and drive discussions in early 2009 when Congress will likely pass the bills.

You can help us keep the heat on members of Congress in our local communities through the summer and fall to ensure that the proposed funding increase becomes a reality.

For more details about hosting a Viewing Party, click here or leave a reply to this post.

You can also have a virtual party. Invite your friends and acquaintances to watch this movie and follow-up discussion in the privacy of their own home.

Tell everyone you know about the movie and when it can be seen.

THANK YOU FOR CARING

by Susan Berg author of Adorable Photographs of Our Baby-Meaningful Mind Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones and Involved Professionals a book for those with dementia and an excellent resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals

the story The You Docs: Wake up to the drink that makes you live longer from July 13, 2008 11:07 a.m. PT, in the lifestyle section, talks about the benefits of drinking coffee

Ii says

the benefits are unbeatable: You're less likely to die. And that's on top of the other health goodies we already know are in this brew:

4 cups (32 ounces) of java a day can cut your diabetes risk by a third, possibly by improving insulin's effects.
3 cups (24 ounces) a day protects your brain, dropping your risk of Parkinson's disease 40 percent and Alzheimer's disease by 20 percent.

2 cups (16 ounces) a day keeps your hardworking liver healthy, as it filters out pollutants, makes protein, warehouses extra carbs and vitamins, and helps produce bile needed to digest fat.

Many of these benefits also come from decaf -- good news if caffeine disturbs your blood pressure or ability to sleep.

Just be sure you make coffee with a paper filter; the paper traps a compound that otherwise increases lousy LDL cholesterol. That said, there are almost no other coffee caveats, except this: If regular-strength brew is what you groove to, get some extra calcium, because caffeine makes you excrete this bone builder.

For every 8 ounces of coffee, get an extra 40 milligrams of calcium. Conveniently, that's almost exactly the amount in 2 tablespoons of skim milk -- so if you like coffee with milk, you're good to go

This is all well and good, however, not everyone can drink the amounts stated.
Also one needs to practice other healthy habits to receive the maximum benefis of drinking coffee.

In addition just because you drink coffee does not mean you will not have health issues

Here is a link to another story about drinking coffee and dementia prevention.

Do you drink coffee?.
If so how much?
Do you think you are healthier because of it?
Knowing that coffee may keep you healthier, are you going to stat drinking itor increase the amount you drink?

People with Alzheimer's or a related dementia often engage in wandering behavior thus limit their access to the outdoors and dangerous areas inside the home.
Do this by:
covering doors and locks with cloth or paint to disguise them
installing deadbolts high or low on exterior doors to make it
difficult to acess them.
removing locks in bathrooms and bedrooms to ensure they do not lock themselves in or youi out
installing child-proof locks and door knob covers to keep those with dementia from dangerous appliances and household cleaners,

As Alzheimer's progresses, there are vision changes so:
ensure the maximum amount of visibility for your loved
one,
diffuse glare and bright lights by removing any mirrors or
furniture with glass tops from the home.
put shades or blinds on the windows
add extra lighting to entryways, stairways,
bathrooms and hallways.
At night, place nightlights throughout the
home to ensure they can see if they need to get up and use the
bathroom.

also their mental functing decreases
daily activities that were once familiar may become more difficult
for your loved one to do safely
install walk-in showers and grab bars in the bathroom to allow them to move around safely and independently.
remove all scatter rugs to prevent falls
clean out your refrigerator on a regular basis so they don't eat something that
will make them sick.
remove the knobs from your kitchen stove
burners to prevent fires and eliminate all electrical appliances
from your bathroom to reduce the risk of electrical shock.

For more information
click here
or
here
by Susan Berg author of
Adorable Photographs of Our Baby-Meaningful Mind Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones and Involved Professionals a book for those with dementia and an excellent resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals

Feel free to add safety tips you have found useful

Hi All,

Sorry it has been a while since the last post of dementia care. I still care, of course, however, I have been working on other projects

One thing that came to my attention is an article in PsychCentral.com entitled Multiple Benefits of Socializing for Older Women

It talks about why socialization, namely getting together with other peers in some organized fashion, is so important in ataving off Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

This got me to thinking that some older women are dead set against going into a nursing home or at least going to adult day care or a senior center if they can manage it.

They make their families promise not to place them in a nursing home. They are extremely resistive to going to an adult day care center. They refuse to engage in any activities that a senior center has to offer.

Then families see a mental decline or worse an injury.

Before this happens to your loved one, or friend, check out senior social options in your area.

If it becomes to difficult to manage your loved ones care at home despite what you promised earlier, investigate near by nursing homes.

Read the article entitled Top Ten Nursing Home Niceties

The moral of the story is keep the minds of older Americans active. Keep then involved socially. This is the best chance for staving off dementia

And if need be place them in a facility if their care becomes too difficult for you to handle.

Remember the staff at nursing homes work extremely hard to keep their residents engaged in all sorts of activities

by Susan Berg author of Adorable Photographs of Our Baby-Meaningful Mind Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones and Involved Professionals a book for those with dementia and an excellent resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals

Studies show that blueberries protect the brain against the effects of age-related
short-term memory loss found in folks with dementia. This is due to the antioxidant actions of flavonoids found in blueberries

In one study, Jim Joseph, Director of the neuroscience laboratory in the USDA Human Nutrition Center found that blueberry-fed mice performed better than their control group counterparts in motor behavioral learning and memory, and increased in exploratory behaviour

Preliminary results show that people who ate a cup of blueberries a day have performed 5-6% better on motor skills tests than the control group

Eating blueberries is one thing people can do to stave off Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Persons can eat fresh, frozen, or dried blueberries. Try not to get ones with added sugar because that can bring in another set of problems. Also beneficial is drinking blueberry juice.,Blueberry juice was in Seattle at Qwest field for the Northwest Women's Health & Fitness Show (March 28-30).

to find out more about Blueberry juice click here

To find out more about eating right and other things to decrease the chances of getting dementia click here

Was this information helpful?

I eat my blueberries everyday. How about you?

Blueberries are not just good for brain health and, keeping dementia at bay, but they also have many other health benefite.
Click here to see what they are

So the next time you and someone you know with dementia want a snack, reach for a blueberry treat
Click here for some healthy recipes and more information about the benefits of blueberries

by Susan Berg author of Adorable Photographs of Our Baby-Meaningful, Mind-Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones, and Involved Professionals, a book for those with dementia and an excellent resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals