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In this video, Occupational Therapist Sylvia Koreen shares some practical ideas and products to help with day-to-day activities. Learn how adaptations and considering a person’s strengths can help you find new ways of doing things
Living and Celebrating Life Through Leisure - By Us For Us Guide
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Here we have a conversation with Occupational Therapist, Sylvia Koreen. Sylvia helps us to understand how dementia can affect the ability of a person to do day to day activities. She shares ideas to adapt to changing abilities for daily activities like bathing, dressing, mealtime, bathroom routines and leisure time.
After you watch the video, take a few minutes to reflect on the following questions. Feel free to make some notes.
Communicating with people living with dementia
Living and Celebrating Life Through Leisure - By Us For Us Guide
This session includes the following parts:
Part 1: Day to Day Activities
Part 2: Practical Approaches and Adaptations
Part 3: Meaningful Leisure Experiences: For the Person with Dementia
Part 4: Personal Care and Hygiene
Part 5: Questions for Reflection
Part 6: Questions Others Have Asked
Summary
Work through the various parts in the session at your leisure. Move from one part to another at your own pace and in the order that makes sense to you, based on your own needs and interests.
At any time, you may scroll to the Search bar and type a specific question or topic to learn more.
As a person living with dementia, what can you do to help gain back control after you become agitated?
We also ask that others help us minimize triggers and agitations. This can be done by listening to us about what we need and providing gentle assistance.
Read the Managing Triggers-By Us For Us Guide to learn about some of the triggers that people experience and the solutions that they have developed.
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The following Apps are a few examples of online tools to help people with dementia relax and alleviate agitation. They can also help care partners to manage their own stressors.
Each App offers various features, such as guided meditations, relaxation techniques, soothing music, and nature sounds.
Unwinding by Sharecare offers help to reflect on the understandable challenges you often experience as a caregiver and learn how to work through them in healthy, productive way. In partnership with the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers (RCI).
Headspace provides evidence-based meditation, mindfulness tools, mental health coaching, therapy, and psychiatry. Headspace helps you create life-changing habits to support your mental health and find a healthier, happier you.
Calm offers guided meditation sessions, soothing music, and bedtime stories to help reduce stress and promote relaxation.
Simple Habit provides guided meditations and mindfulness exercises designed to fit into busy schedules and promote relaxation.
Breathwork offers various breathing exercises and techniques to help reduce stress and anxiety and promote relaxation.
Aura provides personalized meditation, life coaching, stories, and music to help reduce stress and improve mental well-being.
Pzizz: Sleep, Nap, Focus: Pzizz offers customizable audio tracks for sleep, relaxation, and focus using clinically proven techniques.
Managing Triggers - By Us For Us Guide
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Expressions of feelings and needs are always one way that a person communicates. At this stage of the disease, it is important for the care partner to think like a detective.
Reference: The PIECES Approach, U-First® Program, accessed 6 March 2024,
Dementia is much more than memory lapses. Your brain is responsible for many more functions. As you can see, there are different aspects that will influence the person living with dementia and how they react.
To understand more about how physical changes in the person might influence the brain, please visit the Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health
To understand how the brain changes of dementia affect the senses of the person living with dementia, access Talking Sense: Living with Sensory Changes and Dementia by Agnes Houston, diagnosed with young-onset dementia.
The middle stage of dementia is also called "moderate dementia." In this stage, thinking and memory become more challenging as dementia progresses. People who share insight into their dementia may continue to be aware of their condition. It isnormal in middle stage to require additionalsupport with daily tasks.
For families and care partners, it is the point where they may increasingly need to provide care. It may include moving the person to a care facility. Everyone involved will need help and support because of the changes faced by the person with dementia and their family.
Click and download the infographic below to learn more about the middle stage of dementia.
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Christine Bryden was a top civil servant and single mother of three children when she was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 46. "Dancing with Dementia" is a vivid account of her experiences of living with dementia, exploring the effects of memory problems, loss of independence, difficulties in communication and the exhaustion of coping with simple tasks.
Here is an audio file from Christine's book. Take a few minutes to listen to her words as she shares from the perspective of a person living in the middle stage of the disease. Feel free to make some notes as you listen.
Take the quiz below to learn some helpful strategies for dealing with common symptoms in the middle stage of dementia.
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Dancing with Dementia by Christine Bryden
Progression Series: Middle Stage
Shared Experiences: Changes You May Experience
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The early stage of dementia marks a beginning that will bring with it significant changes for you and the people who care about you.
You will likely retain many of your abilities and require minimal assistance during this stage. You may have insight into your changing abilities and therefore, can inform others of your experience of living with the disease and help to plan and direct your future care. You may also be feeling overwhelmed and apprehensive about the future. It is normal for both you and your family to have many mixed emotions including feelings of grief and sadness.
Please note that the term “early stage” refers to people of any age who have mild impairments because of dementia. This differs from the term “early onset.” Early or young onset refers to people who have been diagnosed with dementia at a younger age than usual, typically in their 50s or very early 60s. Take the quiz below to learn some helpful strategies for dealing with common symptoms in the early stage of dementia.
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What to expect as the person’s dementia progresses
Dementia Progression Roadmap – Overview
Dementia Progression Roadmap - Early
The word dementia is a general term that refers to many different diseases. Different types of dementia are caused by different physical changes to the brain. Some dementias are reversible, meaning that they can be treated and cured. Some are irreversible, meaning that there is no cure yet.
Examples of other dementias include:
You may also hear about connections between Alzheimer's disease and illnesses such as:
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Mental illnesses (like schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disease) are disorders of the brain. So is dementia.
Disorders of the brain can cause problems in one or more of the brain's three main functions: how we move, think and feel. In the case of dementia, it is "cognition" - the thinking, knowing, problem-solving and judgement function of our brain - that is primarily affected.
Dementia and other mental illnesses share other important similarities:
Listen to this podcast from the Alzheimer Society of Canada to learn more about the connection between mental health and dementia.
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Alzheimer's Disease and Down Syndrome
Frontotemporal/Pick's Dementia Fact Sheet
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Fact Sheet
At any time, you may scroll to the Search bar at the top of the page and type a specific question or topic.
Several conditions can lead to dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease and vascular disease (including stroke).
Signs of dementia are unique to each person, but there will usually be:
Other conditions have symptoms similar to dementia and may be treatable, including:
Other possible causes of confusion are poor sight or hearing and emotional changes and upsets, such as moving or bereavement
Finding out the cause of the symptoms can help you to:
In the two videos below, geriatrician Dr Jasneet Parmar discusses the process of diagnosing dementia and what to do if you are worried about someone's or your own memory.
If you or someone you care about is showing signs of forgetfulness, confusion or agitation, speak to your family doctor. If you don’t have a family doctor, you can call your local Alzheimer Society. They will help you navigate your options.
At the end of an assessment, your family doctor may feel able to make a diagnosis, or they may request further tests to make sure. They may also want to refer the person to a memory clinic or other specialist service for a fuller assessment.
Talking to your doctor about dementia
How to get tested for dementia: Tips for individuals, families and friends
The 10 benefits of an Early Diagnosis
Principles of a Dignified Diagnosis
Dementia is not a part of normal aging.
Almost 40 percent of people over the age of 65 experience some form of memory loss. When there is no underlying medical condition causing this memory loss, it is known as "age-associated memory impairment," which is considered a part of the normal aging process. Sometimes, it is called “age-related memory loss.”
However, dementia is different. Age-associated memory impairment and dementia can be told apart in a number of ways. In general, a memory problem may become a concern if it begins to affect your day-to-day living. Most older adults do not go on to develop dementia.
In the two videos below, Dr Jasneet Parmar, Care of the Elderly physician, explains the difference between normal age-related memory loss and dementia.
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After you watch the videos, take a few minutes to reflect on the following questions. Feel free to make some notes.
What questions do you have about what you heard or saw during the video? Make a note and bring it forward during your next conversation with your healthcare provider, or contact your local Alzheimer Society via our toll-free number 1-866-950-5465 or by email: info@alzheimer.ab.ca.
