Tailored Activity Programs
Some of the concerns I hear as an occupational therapist or dementia consultant sound something like this:
“Dad won’t do anything anymore and I’m worried about his quality of life.”
”My mom keeps getting up in the middle of the night, but I need to sleep.”
”My wife asks me the same questions over and over again.”
There are many common challenges encountered by care partners of people living with dementia. Drs. Laura Gitlin and Cathy Piersol created a practical guide based on strategies and techniques their research identified as most helpful to families. It is designed to help at-home caregivers navigate these daily challenges. In their own words, “A Caregiver’s Guide to Dementia explores the use of activities and other techniques to prevent, reduce and manage the behavioral symptoms of dementia. Separate sections cover daily activities, effective communication, especially difficult behaviors, and explicit strategies to deal with agitation, repetitive questions, acting-out, wandering, restlessness, hoarding, resistance to care, incontinence, destructiveness, sexually and socially inappropriate acts at home and in public, aggressiveness, depression, sleep disturbances and home safety. Worksheets are provided to help caregivers customize the strategies that work best for them.”