Is the Start of a New Year the Best Time to Seek Out Memory Care for a Loved One? With a the fresh start of a New Year, there's no better time than NOW to stop procrastinating around making plans for a loved one's care. We cannot emphasize enough [...]
We "Support Local" at Maple Cottage, but What Does that Mean? The global pandemic of 2020 has taught us some important local lessons. Big box stores like Lowes, Walmart and Kroger, to name a few, have thrived due to their deemed “essential” nature, while local enterprises have had to [...]
A Fresh Approach to Mealtime For people living with dementia, dining can serve up a host of challenges, that's where the need for supportive dining in memory care comes in. Many memory care residents are finicky eaters, and food preferences often turn on a dime. Some have difficulty discerning colors, temperatures, [...]
Your loved one lives in a memory care unit or assisted living during the coronavirus pandemic and this has meant months of isolation, and a total absence of visits for what seems like a very long time. Visits are finally a possibility, but they are limited in their scope and [...]
1. AFTER a dementia or Alzheimer’s diagnosis If your loved one is exhibiting signs of Dementia, it is best to be proactive by scheduling a visit with a general practitioner. Symptoms can include memory loss, difficulty finding one’s words, mood changes, confusion, disorientation, lack of balance, difficulty with day [...]
Assisted Livings specializing in serving residents with memory care issues play a critical role in medication management. Seniors with Dementia and Alzheimer’s are less likely to communicate about allergic symptoms, side effects or any other ongoing issues with medications. As a result, the caregiving staff at the Assisted Living must [...]
What makes great memory care? Is it a perfectly designed building? Experienced leadership? Evidenced-based programming? Carefully vetted and well-trained staff? Well, yes -- all of these things matter. But with nearly 38 years of nursing experience under my belt, I firmly believe that it is the staff-to-resident ratio that is the single most [...]
If you are caring for a loved one with Dementia, you’ve probably heard this advice more than one time: “Make sure you are taking care of yourself too!” This concept is good in theory but sometimes more difficult in reality! Most Caregivers looking after Mom, Dad or a spouse with [...]
I am extremely introverted. Many who know me find this confusing because I easily and often engage people and usually take control of social situations with ease. Most of the extroverts who know me think that if I could “just come a little further out of my shell”, I would [...]
"You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred." —Woody Allen As a geriatric nurse and lifelong caregiver, I have noticed that some people have a gift of looking at life through the lens of [...]
