Alzheimer’s disease – Sound Aging

Care Planning & Health Care Directives for Dementia

Earlier this week I attended medical Grand Rounds at the University of Washington given by Dr. Barak Gaster, a physician well informed about dementia care. He gave a comprehensive introduction to dementia demographics, screening, medications and how to have “the driving discussion.” But more importantly he emphasized the need to work with patients and families […]

Review: Fraying At the Edges

New York Times Special Section, Sunday, May 1, 2016 This past Sunday, the NY Times had an extensive article profiling a woman in the early stages of AD. Geri is an insightful and courageous woman. Courageous in her willingness to share her experience, and courageous in meeting the challenges of her disease diagnosis and progression […]

End-of-Life Choices in Late Stage Dementia

My thoughts about this topic began upon reading an article in the NY Times (January 19, 2015) about an 88 year old man who has made it explicit in his advance directive that when he develops Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia he wants to be able to refuse ordinary means of nutrition and […]

Doll Therapy in Late Stage Dementia

In discussing late stage dementia the use of dolls and stuffed animals was the topic of the last Round Table Discussion Group. Almost unanimously we agreed that despite the initial discomfort of feeling that we might be patronizing and infantilizing an older adult, the fact is that this behavioral and non-pharmacological intervention could be […]

Caregiving: Co-Partnering

The effort to bring forth the strengths and personhood of people experiencing dementia and cognitive impairment has brought with it a number of programs geared towards the early stages when a PWD can more easily be engaged and has higher levels of verbal communication. Preferences can be articulated, activities can be tailored, gifts (personal and […]

Staging Alzheimer’s Disease: Assessing Dependence

The question raised in this article was if dependence was a useful concept in staging Alzheimer’s disease. The discussion was wide-ranging and robust and much later it occurred to me that the arc of this discussion was that dependence implies a relationship whereas the other measures – cognition, function and behavior – do not. This […]