How to Successfully Navigate a Diagnosis of Dementia

A diagnosis of dementia is like entering a foreign country. Maybe you’ve heard rumours about the sights or the people or even the food. But without some research, how do you know what’s true? When you are travelling, making mistakes sometimes leads to new adventures. Not so with a serious diagnosis. Today, we’ll look at

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How to Navigate an Emotional Tug-of-War for Care Partners

Did you ever participate in an old fashioned tug-of-war game? Participants line up on either side of a sturdy rope, and at the command, everyone pulls for all their worth! Those on the sidelines yell and cheer, and eventually the stronger side pulls the rope, and the people holding it, to their side.  As a

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The Scary Move to Long-Term Care: 5 Ways to Prepare

The few days before the move to long-term-care rank high among the most stressful for the care partner, and often the elder as well.  Here’s a peek into the care partner’s mind: Am I doing the right thing? Should I have done it sooner? Did I wait too long?            

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How to Navigate the Minefield of Choosing a Long-Term-Care Home

It probably started with niggling thoughts chasing themselves through your brain. Mom looks unkept. She’d never allow anyone to see her with her hair unsettled before. She seems frail, too. I wonder if she’s eating enough. From there, perhaps you made an off comment to a sibling or other family member. “How do you think

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Why I Think My Care Choices For My Elder Are Better Than Yours

“I’ll never put my mother in a home.” I’ve heard these words many times over the years. My biggest challenge is always to keep silent, or to carefully ask a few gentle questions. Spoken with conviction and often a sanctimonious air, the words don’t usually invite dialogue. Those eight words hold hidden messages and although not all

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How to Make Downsizing Your Friend

Margaret liked her stuff. She wasn’t the least bit materialistic. Not in the traditional sense.  With her, it was all about the memories. Her sentimentality made it impossible to part with anything which had the slightest story attached to it. In her house, whole rooms were devoted to boxes of old pictures which she planned

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How to Navigate the Icy Ground of Change

Freezing rain scares me.   At work one day, freezing rain and wind swirled in the streets outside, and the bushes near the window became coated with ice. “Aren’t they pretty?” said a resident as she walked by. Yeah. Pretty. From the inside.   When 4:00 o’clock came, I checked the window again, frowning. It

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Will You Be My (Elderly) Neighbour? How to Connect

“Will you be my neighbour?” Fred Rogers’ winsome question prodded a generation to think beyond their cultural norms. Neighbours were the same age, colour and religion as me. They were adults, they didn’t have wheelchairs or (gasp!) mental health issues. When we did something for them, they gave back. Yeah, we could be neighbours with

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