Online Dementia Journal

Teepa Snow - Today's Voice for Dementia

Teepa is an advocate for those living with dementia and has made it her personal mission to help families and professionals better understand how it feels to be living with dementia related challenges and change. Her company, Positive Approach, LLC was founded in 2005 and offers education to family and professional care partners all over the world. Her goal? Making a difference...one mind at a time.

Do You Hear What I Say?

Maybe It's Time to Make a Change!

by Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA

When someone is living with dementia, it is vital to appreciate the changes it makes in the person's ability to take in auditory data and make sense of it in a timely and effective fashion. Over the past few years we have learned a great deal to heighten our appreciation of what is happening that changes the brain's ability to comprehend messages. This includes messages that are delivered through speech versus writing, in a crowded space versus a one-on-one situation, or even a familiar voice versus one that is unfamiliar. Other hindrances to comprehension include an unfamiliar accent or rhythm of speech, the switching of subjects, or when emotion is embedded in the content rather than just information or words. Speed, inflection, rhythm, and association with other sensory cues can totally modify how the meaning of the content is taken in and processed. continue

The Impact of Language
Are Your Words Important?

Culture word and related terms such as heritage, language, ideas, common goal, and vision on a dry erase or message board

by Rev. Linn Possell

The language we use helps direct what we focus on as well as what we expect to experience. Language helps us connect with one another, tells us what is important to one another, and guides us in our response to one another.

Language is important in relaying our message and focusing our attention, therefore we must pause and consider the words we choose. Traditionally, the language used to describe brain change and people living with dementia has drawn our attention to all that is lost with this process. For example, if a person loses their ability to communicate with language they may express themselves in other ways that may be viewed as a behavior which can be perceived as childlike and misbehaving.

What if we were to look at this behavior as a way of communicating an unmet need? continue

Th e capacity to learn is a gift; The ability to learn is a skill;

The willingness to learn is a choice.

- Brian Herbert

Are you a Senior Living Professional?

Make 2016 the year of improving yourself and the quality of life for people living with dementia.

Book an onsite training event today!

Care Skills Awareness Workshop (6 hours)

This enlightening and interactive workshop is designed to provide an introduction to Positive Approach™ philosophy and care partnering techniques that change the way people think about dementia.

Topics Include:

What's happening in the brain/mind of a person living with dementia
Positive Approach™ to Care philosophy
Introduction to Positive Physical Approach (PPA™)
Introduction to Hand-under-Hand (HuH™) guide and assist
Introduction to GEMS™ Abilities Model

Two Day Team Training - Care Skills Awareness, Knowledge, and Drill to Skill (6 hours each day)

This impactful and comprehensive training is designed for up to 18 members of your care team and focuses on skill development. The group will be divided into teams of three for post training mentoring purposes.

Topics Include:

What's happening in the brain/mind of a person living with dementia
Positive Approach™ to Care philosophy
Positive Physical Approach (PPA™)
Hand-under-Hand (HuH™) guide and assist
GEMS™ Abilities Model
Practice and role play using PPA™ and HuH™
Incorporate GEMS™ into PPA™ and HuH™
This training includes a follow up coaching component to reinforce calls with each group to review applying PPA™, HuH™, and GEM™ levels in real life scenarios.

More Info

PAC Mentors Kelly Fenish and Leslie Finkley
are facilitating onsite PAC Community Training with the staff at Kendal on Hudson .
Stacey Conway and her team
are committed to moving from care givers
to true care partners. One of their first breakthroughs...letting go of the word feeders and replacing it with "the person I assist with eating."

Online Training Course

Save 10% with promo code: PAC10

Following our December 1 ^st release date, we have already had over 120 students sign up for our online course, Becoming Dementia: Aware . Overall, the course has been really well received and the feedback is pouring in. One learner even stated that the course is like a beginner's instruction manual for Care Partners and dementia. If you have a testimonial or comment that you would like to share about your course experience, please connect with Amanda Bulgarelli for recognition and to share your personal story.

Our second course, Becoming Dementia: Knowledgeable, will launch this spring! As we dive deeper into the PAC Skills and knowledge from Teepa, our PAC Virtual Mentors will still be available to step right in to help you develop your skills in a one-on-one setting. We have already had some great success with this process, and look forward to helping others develop their PPA™, HuH™, GEMS™ identification, and problem solving skills. Remember, the only way to improve is to DO something NEW - we will simply provide the coaching and feedback to make you the best you can be!

Thank you to everyone who joined our course in December. If you are ready to sign up, there is still a coupon code for you to use throughout the entire year: PAC10. This code will get you 10% off of the course!

Eating and Dementia

How Language Guides Our Actions

by Dr. Beth A.D. Nolan

For many of us, eating is one of the joys of our day. However, when dementia begins to steal skill from our fingers, it can turn what was once enjoyable into a frustrating experience. If we see someone we care about struggling with eating, or other tasks which once were second nature, we surely want to help. The only question is: How do we help them recover that joy?

Many caregivers use one of two ways to feed people:

direct hand (DH) feeding, where the caregiver sticks the spoon directly into the mouth of the person living with dementia, or
hand over hand (HOH) feeding, where the caregiver wraps the person's hand over the spoon and then wraps their hand over the back of the person's hand.

PAC would like you to consider a third option to help someone eat...continue

Working Together to Help Cleveland Be a More Caring Community

by Cheryl Kanetsky, LSW, MBA

What does it mean to be a dementia-friendly community? As the number of people facing Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia continue to rise, community-minded citizens are beginning to see that they can make a difference right now to help their own town become more safe and supportive of those who are living with the challenges of dementia.

The stigma of Alzheimers disease and other dementias is still very real. Those with the diagnosis report often wanting to hide from the community in fear of appearing vulnerable or weak. Caregivers report frustration and embarrassment when they feel they have to apologize for socially uncomfortable situations that may arise. Combine the two and we see that many people become more isolated in their homes; separated from family, friends, and community.

But there is an alternative. continue

Spotlight on PAC Trainer

John McBride
by Amanda Bulgarelli

This month, as we look at the importance of language in the world of dementia care, one of our Certified PAC Trainers has extended his skill as a Trainer to reach families and Care Partners with positive language. John McBride, the Access Services Supervisor for the Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Aging in Olympia, Washington, has been a supporter of Teepa and her methods for many years. He also serves as a leader for the South Sound Alzheimers Council. Through his many years of advocacy and supportive work for those living with and around dementia, he has found that creating a safe space to share grief, ideas, and friendship is extremely important. continue

International Advocacy Efforts

by Robin Andrews

"See the person...not the dementia" - this is one of the heartfelt requests of a global advocacy group that lives and breathes the phrase " why language matters." Dementia Alliance International is a non-profit group founded by individuals living with dementia who represent and support others living with dementia.

In January, DAI will celebrate its 2-year anniversary in an online global celebration. Determined to be a united voice of strength ,

membership is free and open exclusively to anyone living with dementia from any country around the world. In addition, the DAI offers a monthly blog and educational webinars that are open to anyone who wants to listen and are a great resource for learning more from those who share about how we can help improve their quality of life.

Members have made great efforts over the past two years to speak out about the impact of words and the effects of language on thinking and perspective of oneself. continue

January 2016

In This Issue

Do You Hear What I Say?

The Impact of Language

Eating and Dementia

Working Together...

Spotlight on PAC Trainer

International Advocacy Efforts

Upcoming Events

Upcoming PAC Certification Events

Upcoming Events
Close-up top-view photo of calendar with a datum circled by young woman with red nails with a back marker, concept of time management at work