Spaced Retrieval: Enabling People with Memory Loss to Lead More Independent Lives

Twenty years ago while working at a long-term care community, I learned about a memory-training strategy called Spaced Retrieval, which is used to teach people with memory loss new or previously known information. I began using this strategy with people who had Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, aphasia and other conditions that cause…

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An Unsung Hero…The Family Caregiver

This week I welcome Vicki Tapia as a guest blogger, family care partner, and advocate for people with dementia.    By Vicki Tapia: In 2004, my father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s-related dementia and a few months later, my mother with Alzheimer’s disease. That was the year I became a caregiver. While my parents didn’t reside with me,…

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Giving Elders a Voice in Their Own Care: Person-Centered Care and Choice

Person-Centered Care puts considerable value on an individual’s right to make decisions concerning every aspect of her or his life. Often long-term care providers want to honor resident choice, but are afraid to do so because of fear of injury or risk of liability.  The key is to find the balance between providing good care…

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November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month & National Family Caregivers Month

In honor of National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month this November, I am offering some helpful tips for the many men and women helping to care for and support their loved ones with Alzheimer’s Disease or another type of dementia. Below are the top five most effective tips for positive communication…

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New Online Training Available to Help Navigate Neurocognitive Disorders

As health care professionals, our role is to collaborate with older adults, to help them fill-in the gaps of their abilities and to help them succeed at doing what they want to do. Brush Development Company is offering a new 12-hour online, one-on-one private course that invites, encourages and challenges speech-language pathologists and other health…

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I Care Inspires Care Partners of People with Dementia

Fear, frustration and stress – Being a care partner of a loved one with dementia is physically and emotionally difficult, but help and support are available. I Care: A Handbook for Care Partners of People With Dementia, written by Jennifer Brush and Kerry Mills, provides caregivers a sense of hope and inspiration to make the…

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First long-term Care Community in Argentina to Complete Montessori Training

Congratulations to the staff at Fundacion Nuevo Hohar LeDor VaDor for enthusiastically completing their first Montessori for Dementia workshop. Approximately 35 staff members from a large Jewish home for the aged in Buenos Aires spent time in intense training with me in September. As I reflect on my time with the staff, I can’t help…

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Jennifer Brush Featured in ASHA Leader Article about Helping People with Dementia Eat the Foods They Love

Jennifer Brush was recently featured in an article from the October 2015 issue of ASHA Leader, published by the American Speech and Hearing Association. In the article, entitled “Stepping Up to the Plate,” Jennifer was interviewed about her person-centered approach to helping older adults with dementia find ways to enjoy the foods they love while…

Join the Revolution! How Montessori for Aging and Dementia can Change Long-Term Care Culture by Bourgeois, Brush Elliot & Kelly

“The purpose of this article is to outline the findings of several systematic reviews of this literature, highlighting the areas of improvement needs, and to describe a new person-centered care model, DementiAbility Methods: The Montessori Way. This model focuses on the abilities, needs, interests, and strengths of the person and creating worthwhile and meaningful roles, routines, and activities for…

Reminiscence and Dementia

The power of reminiscence is a tool that should not be underestimated in dementia care. Long-term memory involves the retrieval process and permanent storage of an unlimited amount of information and the ability to retrieve this information again at another time.  One type of storage system is called non-declarative memory. Non-declarative memory begins to develop…