Adria Thompson

This is a great example of how we need to keep our goal in mind to figure out how to deal with this kind of situation. The goal for Ann was peace and a stress-free life with as much joy as possible. Telling her the truth was causing her stress, grief, and pain. That’s not the goal. Once the script was changed, we ensured her peace again. You don’t have to lie, but sometimes you might. You just have to figure out… is it worth it? #dementia #alzheimers #lewybodydementia #vasculardementia #frontotemporaldementia #caregiver #dementiaawareness #speechtherapy #slp #speechlanguagepathologist #occupationaltherapy #ot #cota #physicaltherapy #pt #pta

This vicious cycle may be one that you’re all too familiar with. You might have become the target of an accusation of stealing. Although this doesn’t feel good, I hope this video can give you some clarity as to what might actually be happening. In follow up videos, I will tell you what to do in the situation. However, it all starts here with empathy and understanding. Has this ever happened to you?

Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to leave trash and dishes all day long, but consider, leaving it a little longer than you might typically. Remember the phrase, “I’ll have to see it to believe it”? It’s the same kind of idea. Also, visual reminders are always better than auditory reminders for someone with short-term memory loss. As with all of my videos, it’s possible that this tip might not work for the specific person in your life. However, I hope this gets you to thinking about their perspective. They are not trying to be difficult and they are not trying to run you ragged. They’re doing the best they can. 💜 Have you ever thought of this before? #dementia #caregiver #alzheimers #dementiaawareness #dementiacare #caregiver #alzheimerssucks #vasculardementia #frontotemporaldementia #lewybodydementia #alzheimersfight #alzheimersdisease #dementiasucks #dementiasupport #caregiversupport #caregivers

Contrast is crucial in helping individuals with dementia during meals as it enhances their ability to distinguish food from the plate and the plate from the table, easing visual confusion. It's about more than just a red plate; the goal is to provide a dining setup where the tableware distinctly contrasts with both the food and the table. Keep this in mind next time you serve someone with dementia! #dementia #caregiver #alzheimers #dementiaawareness #dementiacare #caregiver #alzheimerssucks #vasculardementia #frontotemporaldementia #lewybodydementia #alzheimersfight #alzheimersdisease #dementiasucks #dementiasupport #caregiversupport #caregivers

Navigating challenges in dementia care is as much an art as it is a science. It’s impossible to give you a equation you can plug your situation into that will spit out the perfect solution to your problem. It’s nuanced and delicate.    Validation and reality orientation are two different approaches that are well documented and you will find that you naturally try them out without even knowing what it’s called! We use reality orientation in our everyday lives speaking to friends, family, and strangers throughout our daily routine. We are asked a question, and we provide the factual answer. It comes more natural because we have far more practice in it and we are taught that this is ethically how we are to interact with others.  For many, validation feels like a lie. It can be challenging to make the shift from telling someone you love with dementia the brutal truth to answering kindly in line with the reality they are able to understand. However, if your goal is to keep them at peace, it may be the preferred method.    What are your thoughts on this?

What are you waiting for? When caring for someone with dementia, it's important to understand that their actions often have underlying reasons rooted in past habits or beliefs. If an individual isn't eating, consider if they might be waiting for a customary prayer before meals, a practice they may have followed religiously throughout their life. Similarly, they might be under the impression that they need to pay for the meal or may be adhering to a lifelong courtesy of waiting for everyone else to be served first. These behaviors are not just actions but are tied to deeply ingrained values and past routines. So what do you do? Address the concern! Pray over the food, sit and eat with them or tell them to go ahead without you, and tell them the meal is "on the house!" Have you ever thought of this? #dementia #caregiver #alzheimers #dementiaawareness #dementiacare #caregiver #alzheimerssucks #vasculardementia #frontotemporaldementia #lewybodydementia #alzheimersfight #alzheimersdisease #dementiasucks #dementiasupport #caregiversupport #caregivers

Hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia are more common in some types of dementia like Lewy body dementia and Huntingtons disease. They may see specks of pepper and think that they are bugs or bits of Parmesan cheese as something nefarious. Another reason someone with dementia may think they’re being poisoned is because they are always eating something different or at different times then others. Let’s say someone is living at home with a hired caregiver who makes their meals. They are served food while the person cooking it isn’t eating and is instead sitting there watching them. Kinda suspicious, right? Or let’s say someone in a care community is on a modified diet and their food always comes out first and it looks different than their friends. Hmmmm. Consider their perspective and trial different ways other than just standing over them saying “no, it’s not poisoned… just eat it!” Because that’s what a person that poisons food would probably say🧐 #dementiaawareness #caregiver #lewybodydementia #dementia #korsakoffsyndrome #memoryloss #frontotemporaldementia #alzheimers #vasculardementia #neurocognitivedisorder #endalz #activitydirectorlife #activitydirector #ctrs #otr #occupationaltherapy #cota #speechtherapy #slptobe #speechlanguagepathology #slp

It can feel really stressful when someone with dementia refuses to eat. You may feel panic or even desperation. Take a deep breath. It’s okay.  It’s not unusual. In this video, I wanted to show you what role you can play in increasing their consumption of food. It may feel natural to jump to trying to convince them WHY it’s important to eat… but often that’s not going to work. Think about being non-confrontational. I recommend this in many aspects of caregiving, but definitely when it comes to food! Allow many opportunities and model what it looks like to enjoy eating. Have you found this to be true? Let me know in the comments. #dementia #caregiver #alzheimers #alzheimer #dementiaawareness #dementiacare #caregiverlife #alzheimerssucks #vasculardementia #frontotemporaldementia #lewybodydementia #alzheimersfight #alzheimersdisease #dementiasucks #dementiapatients #dementiasupport #caregiversupport #caregivers

This is a very simplified explanation of memory, but hopefully it serves as a visual to explain why it seems as though people with dementia are not honest. Our understanding of the role of the hippocampus is that it takes information perceived from all of our senses and encodes it to become accessible to us as long term memory. If it isn't working, everything we experience is quickly lost and forgotten. Individuals with dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease and Korsakoff Syndrome, have significant short term memory loss due to damage and disease in the hippocampus. These are the kind of people we may document as, "unreliable" or a "poor historian." Merriam-Webster defines a lie as "to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive." So, do people with short term memory loss lie if there is no formulated plan to deceive you because they simply have no information to pull from at all? Maybe not.  However, in the earlier stages of dementia when short term memory is still intact to some degree, is it possible that a person with a diagnosis of dementia is knowingly lying to you? Absolutely it's possible. But, I think that ability to lie decreases over time and with further progression of dementia.  #korsakoffsyndrome #vasculardementia #Alzheimers #dementiaawareness #lewybodydementia #dementia #caregiver #memory #aging #frontotemporaldementia

How many times have you heard “get into their world”? What does that really mean? the first step is acknowledging that the reality you see and the world someone with dementia lives in are different. It was helpful for me to imagine stepping into a new place that I needed to be curious about when I stepped into my patients room. I can assume nothing. They may not be 84 in their world. They may not have children in their world. They may on a cruise ship or in a coal mine. They may be under attack. They may be angry about something I did. I encourage you to be curious too! At times, it can be fun puzzle to figure out, but only if you’re open. What lessons have you learned by stepping into their world? #dementia #caregiver #alzheimers #dementiaawareness #dementiacare #caregiver #alzheimerssucks #vasculardementia #frontotemporaldementia #lewybodydementia #alzheimersfight #alzheimersdisease #dementiasucks #dementiasupport #caregiversupport #caregivers

For individuals with dementia, who might not grasp the current time or recall their last meal, warming them up to the idea of eating is crucial. Hunger isn't their only cue to eat - like anyone, they rely on daily rhythms, routines, and the context of their day. Just as they require additional time to understand spoken words, they also need extra moments to recognize that it's mealtime. Involving them in mealtime preparations can offer them cues and foster a sense of involvement. How do you get someone with dementia ready to eat? #dementia #caregiver #alzheimers #dementiaawareness #dementiacare #caregiver #alzheimerssucks #vasculardementia #frontotemporaldementia #lewybodydementia #alzheimersfight #alzheimersdisease #dementiasucks #dementiasupport #caregiversupport #caregivers

Least amount of assistance = most amount of independence. As a therapist, that’s what we aim for. Using skills for as long as possible keeps them intact longer! Just because someone stops feeding themselves without any assistance at all, doesn’t mean they can’t participate anymore! Try a few of these techniques. The simple move of their own hand coming to their mouth is a cue that food is coming. This will result in their mouth opening reflexively. If a person isn’t opening their mouth during a meal, try to incorporate their hand moving with the food and see if it makes a difference. In addition, we may start the meal doing hand-over-hand and then after a few bites, they are able to feed themselves without any physical assistance! This is when we can “fade” cues and assistance. Occupational therapists are experts in the area of self feeding. If you have questions or would like individualized recommendations for yourself or your loved one, ask for a referral! #occupationaltherapist #otr #ot #occupationaltherapy #cota #slplife #speechtherapy #speechlanguagepathologist #speechlanguagepathology #slp #dementiaawareness #caregiver #lewybodydementia #dementia #frontotemporaldementia #alzheimers #vasculardementia #nurse #cna

I use this strategy on myself sometimes! When I am at a restaurant and I need to give all my attention to the person I'm with, I will choose a seat at the table that faces the wall rather than the rest of the room. My people-watching tendencies are too hard to resist! When someone with dementia has limited attention, it's crucial to streamline their focus, especially during meals. By minimizing distractions and choices, you help allocate their available attention to eating, ensuring they can concentrate on their meal. So, consider what things may be visually distracting. I tend to sit in the seat they will be in and look at the view they will have. What may pull their attention away from the food on the table and in the rest of the room? This also can be applied to sounds! Maybe you need to turn off a TV, turn down music, or shut the door to the busy hallway. Have you ever thought of this? Let me know your thoughts or questions in the comments! #dementia #caregiver #alzheimers #dementiaawareness #dementiacare #caregiver #alzheimerssucks #vasculardementia #frontotemporaldementia #lewybodydementia #alzheimersfight #alzheimersdisease #dementiasucks #dementiasupport #caregiversupport #caregivers

The reasons why someone with dementia may experience a change in eating are related to: - Chewing and swallowing - Memory - Attention - Perception - Communication - Discomfort Now, there are many reasons why changes in eating occur that extend beyond this list. Medication side effects can hinder appetite, dental health, difficulty in sequencing the steps to feed themselves, change in the social aspect of meals, difficulty recognizing food, and the expected loss of appetite that happens at the end of life. One of the biggest stressors for caregivers is when they feel like the person they are caring for isn’t eating enough or eating too much. It can be a helpless feeling. Follow along this month as we tackle the topic of eating and dementia. Let me know below any questions you may have or situations you are facing! #dementia #caregiver #alzheimers #alzheimer #dementiaawareness #dementiacare #caregiverlife #alzheimerssucks #vasculardementia #frontotemporaldementia #lewybodydementia #alzheimersfight #alzheimersdisease #dementiasucks #dementiapatients #dementiasupport #caregiversupport #caregivers

"Sit down! Sit down. Sit down. Sit DOWN" Unfortunately, I see this situation play out far too ofen! Someone doesn't comply right away with a command and we automatically think they are willingly resisting and that we need to MAKE them comply. Its for their best, right?  Well, not exactly. In this example, it is important that I do get him sitting down for dinner but if I can acknowledge what is actually happening in this moment (that the issue is his short term memory loss) then I can modify MY actions to, in turn, modify his. Avoiding conflict and making our days go smoother. Did you know memory could be so short?  #dementia #ot #pt #slp #ftd #ctrs #occupationaltherapy #physicaltherapy #speechtherapy#dementia #caregiver #alzheimers #dementiaawareness #dementiacare #caregiver #alzheimerssucks #vasculardementia #frontotemporaldementia #lewybodydementia #alzheimersfight #alzheimersdisease #dementiasucks #dementiasupport #caregiversupport #caregivers