Summary: This course provided an overview of the multiple kinds of dementia faced by families and their loved ones. It distinguished between the losses seen in normal aging versus the clear indicators of dementia and addressed the greater impact of early onset dementia and how that changes the course of the illness. We discussed the reality that dementia is in fact a terminal illness, leading to death, and how that should change the conversation about what needs to be taken care of and what the issues confronting families are.
Participants were able to identify/describe/discuss:
- Types of dementia
- Normal aging brain loss traits
- Increase in dementia with age
- Early onset dementia
- Managing someone with dementia
Clinicians also learned the following about families who have a member with dementia:
How to speak with doctors, document symptoms, locate online education and support, be realistic about limits and the need for outside help and asking for help, caregiver strain and illness, understand anticipatory grief, including:
- Things NOT to say to families dealing with dementia
- Things NOT to do or say to those living with dementia
The list of stuff to get done if dementia is setting in: POA, DPOA, POLST, trusts, Living Wills, videos, letters, “buckets,” creating a village at home
- Dementia buddies
- Dementia villages
Jill is a therapist in private practice in Riverside, where she co-owns Central Counseling Services with Sherry Shockey-Pope, LMFT. Jill completed her MSW at the University of South Florida. Her professional life has been anchored by hospice, grief and loss, life transitions, and adoptions. She created the online grief recovery program “Your Path Through Grief,” which is available at www.yourpaththroughgrief.com. She is a Certified Grief Recovery Facilitator through the Grief Recovery Institute. Jill is also a member of the Riverside Mayor’s Task Force for creating a Purple City, focusing on the issues of dementia in the population. She created and facilitates a dementia support group monthly in Riverside, and provides services for families facing dementia and the multiple issues that overwhelm families coping with dementia in their midst. She is also a regular presenter at the Death Café at Cal State Fullerton’s OLLIE program.
Caregiver's Guide to Understanding Dementia Behaviors.pdf
Dementia Seminar Evaluation Summary.docx