I had the pleasure of being invited to observe a workshop by Teepa Snow (http://www.TeepaSnow.com). The event was hosted by the Alzheimer’s Support Network and, to my great pleasure, was attended by staff from diverse facilities and organizations that provide dementia care. Teepa is a very skillful and talented presenter/trainer. Her focus was on doing. She presented conceptual training in the form of role-plays of many challenges we face when trying to get into the world of someone who is demented. Her teaching style focused on doing rather than saying. She challenged but always coached participants into a success by offering specific prompts and modeling. Caregiving is not an intellectual exercise but is a hands on, participatory activity. Teepa’s message is clear. You must provide person-centered care to be effective in caring for those with severe cognitive decline. We often […]
Archive for July, 2014
Stress is a pervasive condition that affects our mental and physical functioning. The term covers both situations that we may call “stressful” such as being told we have cancer or Alzheimer’s disease, caregiving for someone with dementia, or having to give a speech or our reaction to the stressful event such as racing heart, dry mouth, or worry. Stress can be “negative,” as in being sued, having a car accident, or getting divorced, or “positive,” as in taking a vacation, getting married, or winning the lottery. Stressors vary in terms of duration, intensity, novelty, and type. The ranges of stressors includes threat of death, threat of bodily injury, illness, grief, divorce, grief, moving, night shift work, commuting, and noise. The formal study of stress started with the seminal book The Stress of Life by Hans Selye that was published about […]
There is increasing empirical evidence that a life style that includes at least moderate, consistent exercise improves cognitive and health outcomes as we age. It seems logical that exercise would be helpful to improve outcomes of those with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease where there is progressive loss of neuromuscular abilities. Fortunately there is an encouraging review that serves as the basis for this article: “An evidence based exercise regimen for patients with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease” (Brain Sciences, 2013, 3, 87-100 http://qxmd.com/r/24961308) Parkinson’s disease is, by some accounts, the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and affects 4-5 million of those over 50. The primary symptoms involve motor control: resting tremor, slow response initiation (called bradykinesia), muscular rigidity, and postural instability. It is now clear that exercise improves physical function, self-reported quality of life, strength, and gait speed […]
