After nearly 13 incredible years with us, we get ready to bid a heartfelt farewell to our beloved colleague Sharon Host, OTR/L, Senior Consultant, Implementation Specialist, and Global Professional Instructor, who will be retiring March 31st.

Collaboration in dementia care starts with shared knowledge. A unified training approach helps teams align on dementia stages, assessment tools, and care strategies - leading to better outcomes for residents, patients, and caregivers. By fostering a common understanding, organizations can improve communication, streamline decision-making, and enhance care quality at every stage of dementia. Investing in team-wide training lays the foundation for a more supportive, person-centered care environment.

Even though most people have a general awareness and understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, there are a plethora of misconceptions- especially around understanding a person’s potential to live well with dementia and what constitutes quality dementia care. Let’s examine this further.

As we begin a new year, I always pause to reflect on my purpose in life and assess how well I’m fulfilling this purpose. One of the greatest gifts I’ve received in life was being called to be an occupational therapist and being led to serve those living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. For the past 35 plus years I have been doing whatever I can to make the world a better place for those living with dementia, their loved ones, and caregivers. Along the journey I quickly realized there is little value in going it alone. This is not solitary work to be done by one- it is a movement. We believe it is vital to “create a Dementia Capable Society, one person, one passionate partner at a time”.

The holidays are upon us. Gatherings to celebrate the season may be plentiful. Good food and drink may be abundant. That sounds awesome. What could possibly be of concern, you might ask? Well, for those living with dementia there are stress triggers embedded within the joyful happenings of the season. It’s important to be aware and be prepared so we can avoid inadvertently hitting those stress buttons. Let’s identify a few things you can do to help you and someone with dementia enjoy the season.

As we round out the year, we think about why it is so vital to create a Dementia Capable Society. If through quality dementia training, we all understand the disease process and the dementia stages, we can work together, with mutual understanding, to mitigate the impact of dementia.

Dementia care is both challenging and very rewarding. We know we can and need to do better for the millions living with dementia today, and for their loved ones and caregivers. Partnering with organizations and individuals who are passionate about making the world a better place for those with dementia is an essential ingredient for us to achieve our mission. This passion also burns bright in many of our valued customers/partners. This month we will spotlight Leisa Askew, a passionate leader you should get to know!

In this interview, you will "Meet a Dementia Capable Care Superstar,” You will learn about Frank Residences from Robert Sarison, a (DCC-CI) Dementia Capable Care - Certified Instructor since 2019 who has taught over 30 DCC classes. Robert is the Assistant Executive Director at Frank Residences Assisted Living and Memory Care, and he and his colleagues; Keyatta Shade, Gloria Vo, and Rebecca Holzman teach the DCC program at Frank Residences. We hope you enjoy learning more about their efforts to go above and beyond, to create a dementia capable workforce and to deliver high quality care and services.

In this blog series “Meet a Dementia Capable Care Superstar,” we will introduce you to individuals and organizations who are going above and beyond, to create a dementia capable workforce and to deliver high quality care and services. This month we will spotlight: Aegis Living -An Organization You Should Get to Know! Check it out!

In this new blog series “Meet a Dementia Capable Care Superstar”, we will introduce you to individuals and organizations who are going above and beyond, to create a dementia capable workforce and to deliver high quality care and services. Let's begin with: Twin Cities Care!

OK, here we go. I am going to interrupt my normal “how to,” information laden blogs with a bit of a rant to hopefully raise awareness and inspire some important advocacy. This is a point of view blog, which feels like it must be shared. I keep coming across situations in my personal and professional life that are so genuinely concerning, I just had to write this. In each case there is a clear need for more awareness, honest discussion, and advocacy for solutions and improvement.

A required skill for quality dementia care is to be able to prevent and safely de-escalate distress behaviors such as pacing, cursing, threatening, and hitting. None of us want to get hurt on the job or verbally abused, and unfortunately it happens. The key to reducing this risk (and to provide high quality care for those living with dementia), is to make the necessary shift to empowerment, driven by informed and compassionate understandings.