Receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer's/Dementia can be overwhelming for the person and their loved ones. Below are some highly recommended resources.
Essential Reading
"This easy-to-use, practical guide is designed to help at-home caregivers navigate these daily challenges. Although there is no cure for dementia or its many behavioral symptoms, there are clear and proven strategies that can be used to enhance the quality of life for persons diagnosed with dementia--strategies that can make a real difference for their families."
Practical and sensible, this is an incredibly useful guide and introduction to common concerns.
"When caring for someone with dementia, your own mental health can be the single most critical factor in your loved one's quality of life. The Caregiver's Guide to Dementia provides practical and comprehensive guidance on caring both for yourself and your loved one. Inspirational and compassionate, it focuses on two qualities dementia can't take away: your love and your loved one's humanity."
This guide includes specific advice on what to say, what to do, what to ask your doctor and 'how are YOU doing,' which checks in with the caregiver and offers suggestions for self-care.
"Jolene Brackey has a vision: that we will soon look beyond the challenges of Alzheimer's disease to focus more of our energies on creating moments of joy. When people have short-term memory loss, their lives are made up of moments. We are not able to create perfectly wonderful days for people with dementia or Alzheimer's, but we can create perfectly wonderful moments, moments that put a smile on their faces and a twinkle in their eyes. Five minutes later, they will not remember what we did or said, but the feeling that we left them with will linger."
Short, casually written, and compassionate, this guide is full of helpful suggestions for bringing joy to those impacted by Alzheimer's/dementia.
Here in Minnesota, we're fortunate to have the Roseville Alzheimer's/Dementia Community Action Team.
"Roseville Alzheimer’s and Dementia Community Action Team (RSVL A/D), was formed in 2013, to proactively assist the calculated large number of people living with dementia and their caregivers living in Roseville. RSVL A/D is a ground-breaking alliance of community members, municipal, fire, and police staff, aging services professionals, school district senior program staff, and county library staff."Their website, hosted by the city of Roseville has an incredible wealth of information. (Descriptions are from the Roseville A/D website.)
- Support, Activities, and Resources - Dementia Support Groups and Services, Dementia Friendly Activities, and Resources for Care Partners
- Dementia Caring and Coping Presentations - Recordings and handouts from an in-person speaker series about topics related to those impacted by dementia and their care partners. Presented by experts in the field, the presentations cover a wide variety of topics such as getting a correct diagnosis, utilizing caregiving resources, dealing with legal concerns, and living well with dementia. Highly recommended: Ambiguous Loss presented by Ted Bowman, grief and family educator.
- Memory Minders: Kits for Caregivers - The kits contain materials used to spark memories, create conversations and provide positive and engaging interactions between clients and their caregivers. Kits are divided into high, middle and low activity levels. The majority of kits are for people living with Alzheimer’s disease, but there are kits for people with Lewy Body Dementia and for children who have contact with someone with dementia. Currently, more than 100 unique Memory Minders Kits are available for check out three weeks at a time. They are also renewable and can be requested via the Ramsey County Library catalog.
- Insights from Arthur's - Short videos presented by Deb Nygaard of Arthur's Residential Care which provide insights to families on Alzheimer's care. Videos such as Dealing with Delusions, Offering Forced Choices, Safety Awareness and Therapeutic Fibs empower families experiencing dementia to have positive relationships.
- Alzheimer's Speaks Radio - Gives voice to those afflicted with memory loss, their care partners as well as researchers, advocates, businesses, authors, musicians, movie directors… as it relates to dementia and caregiving. Our goal is to raise awareness, give hope, reduce fears and remove stigmas by sharing real everyday life stories of living with dementia.
- Caregiver Collection - Recommended reading for care partners of those with Alzheimer's, dementia, or memory loss.
Updated 8/6/21
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