Memory Care with Teresa Youngstrom

Hello Care Partners,What if you could use a village of experts to help you and your family navigate your loved one's journey with brain failure? Whatever the diagnosis, this ever-changing condition will require more help. What if you could bring together a team of compassionate care partners who are focused on providing better care for you? Listen to the description of the client we will discuss, and then get your paper and pen out to take down the excellent advice that each of these professionals will share with us. I have questions, and you will too. Be sure to listen to the end to learn how you can contact each of these seasoned educators to assist you on your journey. Dr. Cindy Keehn Engaging Dementia Effectively www.engagingdementiaeffectively.com Jane Jarman Dementia Connections LLC [email protected] www.dementiaconnectionsllc.com Missy Harden Know I Care Dementia Care Consulting www.DowdaSeniorConsultants.comThanks again to these amazing Ladies and all they do to serve families across the states!You Got This,Teresa

Hello Care Partners,Today we are discussing Dementia Prevention with Guest Speaker Dr. Steve W. King of Mt. Lookout Chiropractic in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Steve graduated cum laude from Life Chiropractic College. He treats a wide variety of musculoskeletal conditions and sports injuries. He works with many professional athletes and amateur sports enthusiasts to treat and prevent injury, as well as enhance performance. Dr. Steve King has an extensive post-graduate education in chiropractic, and he has a Master’s Degree in Human Nutrition. His comprehensive approach includes state-of-the-art chiropractic care, targeted nutrition protocols, and exercise recommendations. Dr. Steve holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida. Prior to his chiropractic career, Dr. Steve worked as a space shuttle engineer at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was interesting to learn how Chiropractic care is so much more than treatment of the Musculoskeletal System of the body. There are multiple Neurodegenerative Diseases that can benefit from regular Chiropractic Care in addition to diseases that can be prevented. Join us to learn about how much the environment, nutrition, and even sunlight can affect your health and wellbeing.Mt. Lookout ChiropracticPhone (513) 321-8484Fax (513) 321-3676455 Delta Avenue, Suite 1Cincinnati, OH 45226You Got This,Teresa

Hello Care Partners,Caring for someone with dementia can be one of the most challenging things that you‘ll ever do. Doing it wrong, can be even more challenging. At A Better Approach To Memory Care, we strive to bring you ideas, techniques, and answers about WHY they do what they do and how we can understand them better. When you run into a loved one or a resident that seems to be so rude, I really want you to hit the pause button and spend some time being a great detective instead of a judge and see if we can figure out what’s going on. There are lots of reasons why they could be angry. We’ll talk today about several of those reasons, including pain, fear, and anxiety.You Got This,Teresa

Hello Care Partners,Today we will look at why some people living with brain failure seem to stop eating or stop using their fork, and resort to using their hands to eat. We will discuss our skill fingers and strength fingers the how we frequently lose skill fingers We want to start feeding them but sometimes there is resistance and we end up chasing them with the spoon or trying to pry their mouths open. YIKES! Teepa Snow, the Founder of Positive Approach to Care, developed a revolutionary technique Hand Under Hand. This will help you with their nutrition needs but it can also provide a great boundary for the carepartner when the person living with Dementia is experiencing a lot of seeking and touching needs. Enjoy the videos created by PAC and Teepa Snow, an internationally recognized speaker, Teepa Snow is one of the world’s leading advocates and educators for anyone living with dementia or other forms of brain change. An Occupational Therapist with over forty years of rich and varied clinical and academic experience, her philosophy is reflective of her education, work experience, medical research, and first hand caregiving experiences. Her advocacy efforts led her to the development of the GEMS® State Model for understanding the progression of dementia and changes in abilities. She also created the Positive Approach to Care® training strategies, which are effective techniques for anyone seeking to optimize care and support for those living with brain change. Her user-friendly approaches provide guidance and leadership to national efforts to promote best practices in care. Teepa’s company, Positive Approach to Care (PAC), was founded in 2006 and is now collaborating to improve dementia care worldwide. PAC provides online and in-person services, training, and products to professionals, family members, the lay public, and people living with brain change. Teepa presents with extraordinary expertise and humor to audiences large and small throughout the world. Please join in her mission to improve the culture of dementia care, one mind at a time. Contact Teepa:,www.teepasnow.com YOU GOT THIS,TeresaHere is the Link to our December Bonus Page 👉 https://bit.ly/4a93oRg

Hello Care Partners,Celebrating family events gets more difficult as our person living with Dementia declines. Challenges like over stimulation or sheltering them from everything can both cause problems. Personalized care is important and we need to recognize this chronic debilitating disease is unpredictable and will affect your loved one in a different way than it does mine. There can also be a more activities during the holidays than are reasonable. For example, parties, shopping, baking, cleaning and decorating not to mention the added expenses. Yikes!! Frequently we have unrealistic expectations for ourselves and our person living with Dementia. Let's consider whose needs are really being served by these traditions. What do I really want or need?What does the Person Living with Dementia (PLwD) want or need? Should the goal be to just ENDURE the Holidays?? I vote NO! Let's think outside the box. What can we change to serve both of our needs? How can we choose wisely: Let's have a family meeting if there are other decision makers involved. 1.Call a family meeting to discuss which traditions are a must or what is open to change. 2. Do you include the PLwD in the meeting? That depends on their awareness.3. Consider what we are willing to give up. 4. Ask for Help! Let go of your ego and save yourself. 5. At large events, assign a person to be one on one with your PLwD and tend to their needs. They can give them insight and serve them quickly before they get agitated. 6. They can also recognize when this person needs to leave the room with all the activity for a time out, potty break, snack or something else. Preventing a larger reaction is always good plan. 7. Put yourself first when it comes to your health habits. 8. Take time to to step away for a break to breathe and recharge your physical batteries. It's important to share this information about your person with friends and family so they will have realistic expectations, but the sad truth is not everyone will understand what you are going through. We can always do a zoom call with A Better Approach to Memory Care so they can hear explanations from me. It is so important to have them on the same page pulling in the same direction with you. Care Partners need to acknowledge their feelings. Please reach out to family, community, social, spiritual and homecare support as needed. As families grow and change, traditions will too. Choose a few to hold on to and let go of the rest. Maybe go to online visits and exchanging pics instead of gifts to save money. These little changes can provide huge relief for you and your loved one during the Holiday Season. YOU GOT THIS,TeresaSo here is it 👉 https://bit.ly/4a93oRg

Hello Care Partners,Caregiving can be very difficult especially when it is a family member. Today we will share some great tips on providing care for people with brain failure. The challenge is that as soon as we get them figured out they change. Let's review some important tips: 1) Approach from the Front. 2)Accept and Agree. 3)Stop Correcting Them. 4)Avoid the Yes/No Questions. 5)Don't Ask Questions/Instead Tell Stories. 6)Say, "I'm Sorry". 7)Be a Grace Giver. Keep in mind this is a journey and the relationship with this person is vital. These tips will help you immensely if you put them into practice. Share these with the other caregivers around you. Here is the Link to our November Bonus Page 👉http://www.teresayoungstrom.com/bonusYou Got This,Teresa

Hey CarePartners, It is vital to make plans for your "later in life" care long before you need it! This should include your Living Will, Powers of Attorney, and All your Advanced Directives, but there is more! Although most of us plan to always stay in our own homes, statistically that will not be the way things go. You need to be proactive and make a plan for if and when your situation changes to assure you are prepared financially, legally, and with your personal choices in mind. In this podcast, we will review the signs of physical and mental decline which will indicate that if we continue to live we will eventually decline and need more help. Types of help might be homecare, transportation, placement assistance or even care management. Then there is the money part which works better with great planning. In America we are blessed with a medicaid safety net if needed but most people would like to be in control when possible. This brings us back to the title of this podcast, Seniors Need to Know Their Plan B. We appreciate you sharing in all the information here today and hope you will Like, Share and Subscribe. Here is the Link to our November Bonus Page 👉http://www.teresayoungstrom.com/bonusYou Got This,Teresa

Hello Care Partners, We have the privilege of talking with a professional today whose reputation precedes him. Tune in and take lots of notes so you too can be prepared for what the future holds for you and your family as we age. Dennison Keller is licensed to practice law in Ohio and Kentucky and owns The Law Practice of Dennison Keller, LLC. He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, is a past president of the Ohio Forum of Estate Planning Attorneys, and a past president of the Life Care Planning Law Firm Association. Dennison has also been accredited by the Veterans Administration. Dennison is a frequent local and national lecturer on the topics of Elder Law, Life Care Planning, Medicaid Planning, and Estate Planning. He also teaches courses on these topics at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute through the University of Cincinnati and the Miami University Institute of Learning in Retirement. Dennison is a summa cum laude graduate of the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University and a cum laude graduate of Miami University in Oxford. Today we will discuss how to be prepared for ourselves and/or our aging parents so the wheels don't fall off especially if we learn of a dementia diagnosis. The goal is to protect our assets and our legacy with our families. Dennison covered: When to begin planning for the later stages of life. What pieces of the puzzle are necessary in the planning. Why is an attorney important to utilize in the planning process? What are the additional steps to consider to make this process easier for you and your family. How is your Life Care Planning Law Firm different than an attorney who focuses solely on estate planning? For more information or to Contact Dennison Keller: Cincinnati: (513) 818-1111 Mon-Thu: 9AM–5PM Fri: 9AM–4PM Kentucky: (859) 372-6790 By appointment only [email protected] We so appreciate all the information shared here today and hope you will Like, Share and Subscribe. Here is the Link to our November Bonus Page 👉http://www.teresayoungstrom.com/bonusYou Got This,Teresa

Hello Care Partners,Please welcome my guest, Staci Hannah, who is the founder of Graceful Journey Atlanta. She is a certified Aging Navigator, independent consultant with Teepa Snow, certified Positive Approach to Care trainer, mentor, coach, and consultant, and graduate of the Rosalyn Carter Institute of Caregiving, as well as trained End-of-Life Coach. Her goal is to educate and advocate for her clients and their families. She empowers care partners with skills and knowledge, to create meaningful relationships and engagement opportunities. She makes sure her clients' voices are heard, their needs are met, and their safety and security are the number one priority. Graceful Journey provides: 1. Care planning: Staci helps clients create a care plan after the diagnosis of a long-term illness. Each plan is customized to fit the client’s needs and desires. She makes sure to provide safety guidelines, hygiene regimens, and ways to maintain activities of daily living. 2. Care Partner Education and Training: Being a care partner for a loved one is often challenging, confusing, and exhausting, but it doesn't have to be. She can equip you with tools and techniques for care-partnering and be an encouraging advocate alongside you and your loved one every step of the way. 3. End-of-Life Coaching: Let's talk openly about end-of-life issues. Staci is a certified End-of-Life Coach: someone who is trained and experienced in noticing end-of-life transitions, non-verbal cues, and then creates a safe and meaningful experience. She is a daughter, sister, mom, aunt, and new grandmother who has been a caregiver and knows first-hand the challenges inherent in the aging process. Her professional expertise from working in memory care facilities and with hospice organizations makes her uniquely qualified to provide training, education, advice, guidance, and support to centers, organizations, families, and individuals. For more information contact Staci G. Hannah, M.Ed. Aging Navigator 404-358-7752 (c) gracefuljourneyatl.comYou Got This,TeresaPlease Like, Share and Subscribe!

Hello Care Partners,Join us to learn more about Council on Aging from our guest Lisa Kruse. Lisa is an experienced Communication Professional at COA in SW Ohio. She is also a University of Xavier Graduate, COA is a vital organization serving the five counties in SW Ohio. They strive to serve older adults so they can stay in their homes as long as desired. Some of the services include meals delivered to the home and or transportation. Caregivers also get a lot of support with COA which may include a variety of safety equipment. There are also programs called Elderly Services which is a taxpayer funded program that can fill in the gap when someone is not low income enough for medicaid, however they are struggling to afford the needed care. Then there is a service called Passport for individuals who do qualify for medicaid and would be forced prematurely into nursing homes without it. COA is a non-profit and wants to provide the right amount of care, at the right time for the appropriate needs. Income does not determine eligibility for care so do not assume you are ineligible for services. There may be co-pays or sliding scale costs to make the services available. If you are looking for care in another part of the country you can use the eldercare locator. www.eldercare.acl.gov. This works on a zip code basis. Interesting fact: about 70% of Americans will probably need long term care but only 30% believe they will need it!! Huge discrepancy and COA hopes to keep the masses at home as desired. Caring for the caregiver is vitally important and the shortage of personal caregivers is at an all time low and many families are being thrust into providing personal care for their family members. Caregiver burnout frequently is the reason people end up in nursing homes too. COA is working hard to provide what is needed to keep a balance at home whether they are local or at a distance. Reach out to COA: 513-721-1025 www.help4seniors.orgCheck out our Bonus Page for this month! Here is the link https://www.teresayoungstrom.com/bonusYou Got This,TeresaPlease Like, Share and Subscribe!

Hello Care Partners,Caring for a loved one with memory loss can be one of the most difficult tasks you will face in your life. We usually haven't been trained for this type of care and frequently find ourselves arguing and fighting about things that really shouldn't matter but they seem to escalate into situations that can soon damage our relationship. Thankfully there are more techniques now on how to keep the peace with a loved one struggling with dementia and we will share some here today. Keep in mind that maintaining a great relationship with this person is a priority. If they lose trust in us they may never want to even be in our presence and this is a very sad place to be in. We need to join them on the journey not as their boss or superior but as their partner in life on the same team. Can we make them feel like we are figuring things out together? I vote yes. Avoid making the mistake of taking everything from them and insisting on doing it yourself because they are too slow. Ouch! That won't win you any points and it sure won't help grow this relationship. Try to make them feel like you are just as forgetful or have the same challenge figuring out things like the new remote for the TV. You might see how you can provide tools to help them remember. For example, get a large calendar or provide notes to remind them to take their medication. There is a season where this will work and then we will help in different ways when they decline. Always keep in mind that they tend to remember how you make them feel. They rarely remember every word you use but frequently remember how you make them feel. With this in mind let's avoid rushing, correcting and over explaining and see what we can do to bring them joy in the moment. Share a compliment or a story from the past where they were awarded or successful! One more suggestion is to not play good cop/bad cop with individuals struggling with memory loss when it is time to implement hard choices. What if we blamed a 3rd party like the doctor for not being able to drive or the insurance company for requiring home care. We can still validate their frustration arm in arm on the journey and let our tone and body language reaffirm that we are still on their team. Make a choice to be part of the solution not part of the problem!! You Got This! We appreciate you watching our podcast and have a gift of Bonus Page 2 Safety with Memory Loss which can be found by using the link below. Please Like, Share and Subscribe to us on all platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/78w36us... This is a gift for you! https://www.teresayoungstrom.com/bonusTeresa

Hello Care Partners,The brain is an amazing and very complex part of the human central nervous system which also includes the spinal cord. It controls thinking, memory, language, hearing, learning, vision, balance and even our breathing and heart rate. It is hard to imagine all that the brain controls and monitors until something starts to malfunction. Neurodegenerative Disease like Dementia is an umbrella term for the huge range disorders which primarily affect the neurons or brain cells. There is so much still to learn about how the brain works and can it replace or repair damaged neurons or not. Some popular examples of Neurodegenerative diseases include Alzheimer's, Parkinson's etc. Symptoms of these diseases are many and some you may have experienced, but they can also be indicative of other disorders. Let's compare the symptoms of some of the more popular diseases: Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Some symptoms overlap yet others are specific to certain areas of the brain experiencing damage due to disease. When we dig a little deeper into the warning signs, the lists are long because people are unique and can be very different physically, culturally, and involving a variety of comorbidities. This complicates the ability to find an accurate diagnosis and sometimes our loved one will not tolerate further testing. Then we do not and should not force this and frequently end up with the goal of comfort care and symptom management since we are unable to specifically diagnose our person. When we compare and contrast Alzheimer's vs Parkinson's we can immediately see that Alzheimer's frequently starts with cognitive decline and Parkinson's frequently starts with physical challenges. This is interesting but confirms that with different areas of the brain declining, symptoms can be very different. With Alzheimer's we see challenges with the hippocampus which leads to short term memory loss and is diagnosed with the presence of plaques and tangles. Parkinson's problems appear to stem from the substantia nigra which is a part of the basal ganglia that has a huge role in movement in our bodies. When dopamine is not produced a long list of problems can occur, one of which is trouble with movement and muscle tone. This is a very simple explanation to a couple of very complex diseases, but will suffice for our short lesson today. Ultimately our job is to love these individuals along on their journey with brain failure and make sure we care for ourselves too along the way! I know you GOT THIS and we are here to help. This is a gift for you! https://www.teresayoungstrom.com/bonus Please Like, Share and Subscribe to us on all platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/78w36us...Teresa

Hello Care Partners,There are so many examples of interesting to very bizarre activities I have seen over the years. Today I will share a few of these examples with the hope of letting you relax and hit the pause button when it happens to you. Sometimes they are hoarding and hiding items with the hopes of making sense of it later or maybe paranoia has set in and they feel the need to block the doors or make a plan to escape. The important thing to remember is that your situation with your loved one or the person you care for may be different but frequently we can still accept and agree or clean up afterwards to avoid confrontations or corrections which can damage the relationship. The relationship is still so very important, and my advice is to make a plan to bring in help before the need is critical.Don’t forget to Like, Share and Subscribe to our podcast and take advantage of our September bonus page. This is a gift for you! https://www.teresayoungstrom.com/bonus Please subscribe to us on all platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/78w36us...You Got This,Teresa

Hello Care Partners,Join us to review common signs and symptoms that may indicate dementia. Keep a journal in the beginning to be able to report accurately what you are seeing and concerned about. Memory loss, Getting lost, and many more will be discussed and explained. Dementia will look differently on each of us and our health or lack thereof will also change what memory loss looks like for you or me. We will review the fact that some people have awareness of their memory loss and some will not or it may fluctuate at times. Dealing with these symptoms and changes can be difficult, so we will continue to share as much information as we can. It is our mission to provide tools for you as you join them on their journey with Dementia. Don't forget about our bonus page for the month of September. You can click below to get this wonderful gift from us. Feel free to print this out and share if needed. Don't miss the suggestions near the end of today's podcast to provide better strategies for you to keep your brain safe and healthy. You Got THIS,Teresa Please Like Share and subscribe to us on all platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/78w36us...

Hello Care Partners,Today we are going to review better ways to join your loved one or resident on their individual journey with Dementia. We will discuss the challenges with changing their locations and why this needs lots of consideration and planning in order to make this transition successful. It's also important to always know your plan B or the alternative care arrangement just in case something should suddenly disrupt your current schedule. In this podcast we also included a simple acronym to help you remember better techniques to use with memory care. The Bangs Technique was developed by my friend Susan Macaulay who is the founder of My Alzheimer's Story. www.myalzheimersstory.com. This simple technique has helped tens of 1000's of caregivers give better care. Lastly, Thank you for tuning into our Podcast today! We hope you enjoyed this episode and gained some valuable insights. Before you go we have included a little surprise to reward your dedication in getting through the podcast and that is a link to get our featured Bonus Page for this month! Here is the link to the bonus page 👉https://www.teresayoungstrom.com/bonus Please Like, Share and Subscribe on all platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/78w36us...You Got This,Teresa

Hello Care Partners,Join us to review your current assessment skills then enjoy a recorded drama with Teresa demonstrating a scenario she first saw Teepa Snow perform years ago. The goal is to help you distinguish between red flags that may indicate symptoms of dementia or just normal age related forgetfulness so you can better discern if there is a real problem or not! You will want to follow this to the end in order to take advantage of our New Bonus Page only available to those dedicated followers of the podcast. Here is the link to the bonus page 👉 https://www.teresayoungstrom.com/bonus We appreciate your support and encouragement and want to give back to you a wonderful tool that I wish I had to care for my own Mom. Please like, share and subscribe so we can serve many more Care Partners on this journey.Please subscribe to us on all platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/78w36us...You Got This,Teresa

Hello Care Partners,Join us to hear about Dr. Catherine Franssen She is recognized internationally as a public speaker, educator, and researcher. She received her Ph.D. in neurobiology from the University of Chicago and has thrived at multiple universities over the past two decades, most recently Longwood University in Virginia, where she earned tenure and launched an interdisciplinary neuroscience program. Her collaborative research over the past two decades has appeared in prestigious journals including Nature and Brain Research. Catherine is widely recognized for her ability to take the latest research in neuroscience and psychology and apply it to everyday life, decision-making, and business strategies. Her thoughts and voice appear in hundreds of publications including CNN and Scientific American. Her broad scientific training combined with her innovative thinking, humor, and passion for informal education lends a unique lens to a range of topics, from holiday spending to the love of pumpkin spice. Passionate about communicating lessons from neuroscience to improve business strategies, career development, and personal wellbeing, Dr. Franssen has recently founded Franssen Strategies, LLC. Her areas of expertise include stress management, mental health, and neurodiversity. She provides workshops and executive coaching for organizations in the public and private sectors. Join us as we discuss how Dementia is different from normal aging and why it is so challenging to relate to especially when agitation or acting out is present. You Got This,TeresaPlease Subscribe, Like and Share on all platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/78w36us...

Hello Care Partners,Our guests today are Laurie Walther, M.S., CCC-SLP and Emily Briggs, OTR/L are licensed therapists who are independently certified to train on Teepa Snow's Positive Approach to Care (PAC) techniques. With over 45 years of combined experience as a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) and Occupational Therapist (OT), respectively, they are passionate about improving the quality of care by providing care with those living with dementia and empowering others to do the same. These amazing women know their business and are compassionate too. They think outside the box to find ways to serve your loved one who is living with Dementia. They have personal and professional experience that you will notice as soon as you talk to them. Their focus is to provide exceptional CARE or Compassion, Acceptance, Reliability and Education. You will be blessed by this podcast and the stories that they shared. You Got THIS,Teresa Please subscribe to us on all platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/78w36us...

Hey Care Partners,Enjoy this podcast where you will learn to observe your person living with dementia and determine in every moment if they have awareness of their memory loss or if they are in a state of complete denial and believe they are just fine. Teepa Snow taught me about Anosognosia and I was completely surprised that in all my experience as a nurse, I had never heard of it. In this podcast you will learn about the value of identifying their awareness of their memory loss every time you are together so you can better serve their needs. If they are back in time, you will need to join them there, and if they are tracking with you, even better. Be a great detective and not a judge in order to serve them to the best of your ability and maintain a great relationship. You Got This! TeresaPlease Like, Share and subscribe to us on all platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/78w36us...

Hello Care Partners,Many times people living with brain changes have a challenge with seeing their own brain changes. Sometimes our loved ones develop Anosognosia or the inability to see their brain deficit, making it challenging initially to engage with them. Listen to several true stories where we personalized care and engaged in a way to come alongside and serve their needs. Forget the fact that they think they back in time and think they’re still employed. Join them on their journey wherever they are today, and allow them to be right when they’re wrong in order to maintain a great relationship with your loved one. You Got This, Teresa Please Like, Share and Subscribe to us on all platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/78w36us...