Optimizing Well-Being | Dementia Action Alliance

Innovative Dementia-Friendly Programs – Countering Stigma and Social Isolation

by Emily Kearns, PhD, MBA We have known for a very long time that lifestyle, such as diet and exercise, affects our health and well-being. But, did you know that social isolation is directly linked to decreased longevity? That’s right! More than cigarette smoking and even obesity, living alone and being isolated can shorten our lives. Not only that, the quality of our shortened life is at risk with social isolation potentially contributing to [...]

Karen Charney 2018-02-13T07:03:19+00:00 February 13th, 2018|

Resident’s Grandson Gives the Gift of Music

Jayne Clairmont, Dementia Care Expert & Owner, English Rose Suites http://englishrosesuites.com With our sincerest appreciation to Jayne for allowing DAA to re-post the following article from their online blog. Betty Vaaler was one of those women that you always remember fondly; she was kind, funny, caring, a loving and supportive mother and wife. The proof of that statement is obvious when you meet her family. Betty was also a woman of God, who enjoyed [...]

Karen Charney 2017-05-29T09:22:36+00:00 May 3rd, 2017|

Side-by-side events uplift people with dementia and their caregivers

DAA thanks Jonathan Streetman, Health & Social Service Reporter, and The Herald Times for allowing us to re-post the following article: By Jonathan Streetman 812-331-4353 | jstreetman@heraldt.com | Feb. 15, 2017 On Valentine’s Day, cards created and given by a loved one can say much more than the words inside them. At Jill’s House Memory Care, a facility for individuals with memory problems such as Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, residents were [...]

Karen Charney 2017-05-29T09:23:04+00:00 February 17th, 2017|

Book Reviews: Wonderful New Books on Living Proactively with Dementia

By Karen Love Every once in a while a book comes along that is a stand out. Luckily, two such books about living proactively with dementia have recently been published. Kate Swaffer’s, “What the Hell Happened to My Brain? Living Beyond Dementia,” is a tour de force and a candid account of one person’s journey living proactively beyond a dementia diagnosis. As the title suggests, Kate, who was diagnosed with a younger onset dementia [...]

Karen Charney 2017-05-29T09:23:27+00:00 November 8th, 2016|

Maureen’s journey: ‘We have a positive attitude – we’ll try anything once!’

The DAA thanks Maureen and Mike and Unforgettable.org for allowing us to re-post their story Maureen Pike’s husband Mike was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA) at the age of 59. Here Maureen explains how they’re both continuing to enjoy life. How was Mike diagnosed? It was quite a long process. Mike had always looked after himself and led a healthy, active lifestyle. The only time he’d ever been ill was as [...]

Karen Charney 2017-05-29T09:24:04+00:00 August 17th, 2016|

What We Can All Learn About Living in the Present

by Anthony Cirillo. Originally posted on The Huffington Post on 5.10.2016 My good friend Sandy Halperin, who has early onset Alzheimer’s, was recently honored along with Sanjay Gupta, M.D., with the 2016 Proxmire Award, which recognizes national figures who have “demonstrated leadership and positively impacted public awareness around Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.” A couple weeks before he accepted the award we had a 35 minute Skype call. In it he expressed concern about [...]

Karen Charney 2017-05-29T09:25:04+00:00 May 11th, 2016|

Person-Centered Dementia Care Encourages International Exchange of Ideas

by: Mara Botonis, Access and Utilization Work Group Co-Chair, Dementia Action Alliance I leaned in and asked the former zookeeper, "Which animal in the zoo was the most difficult to care for?" She responded "The monkeys" without hesitation and with a knowing sparkle in her eye that wordlessly conveyed that she knew more than a little something about this topic. She quickly added that the reason she chose monkeys was because "they are always SO naughty!" before [...]

Lon Pinkowitz 2017-05-29T09:27:51+00:00 May 8th, 2015|