Life With Dementia

Hi there. Thank you for sharing this podcast with Teepa Snow. I am a second year MSW student at NYU, and work with the geriatric population. I have experience working with older adults with memory loss as well as having a grandmother who has had dementia for the past 12 years. I really enjoyed listening to this episode. I have known about Teepa for some years now, and am most familiar with her “Gems”. Teepa’s approach to working with older adults with memory loss by changing how individuals (family, friends and care partners) view dementia, is a lesson I stand by. I believe this adjusted way of thinking, as well as providing respect to the person and not taking away their dignity, are some of the keys to success when working with someone with memory loss. A specific point I wanted to bring up which Teepa talked about was how to gently help an individual with memory loss be aware of their needs. Teepa describes 3 steps to doing this. More so, I want to analyze step 2. Step 2 says to reframe how you phrase things. When Teepa discussed this step as well as the power struggle between care giver and care recipient, often times the caregiver is a child to the older adults. In this situation, ideas such as the child knowing better than their parent or having more authority over the person with memory loss may be experienced. I know in my family this is what has happened. As mentioned, my grandmother has dementia and my mom is thus her care taker. When my mom was growing up, it was her mother who had authority over her. It is interesting how roles change as we age. In tying this idea of the power struggle to Teepa’s step 2 of reframing how you phrase things, I believe they complement each other. For example, my mom who again takes care of my grandmother and who has authority over her will say “Mom, take a shower you are dirty”. Instead of my mom commanding my grandma and telling her what to do, and thus taking away her dignity, she could instead say “Mom, would you like to take a shower? It will make you feel good”. This change in linguistic style can make all the difference for the person living with dementia as well as the care taker. Furthermore, I really enjoyed listening to this episode and plan to listen to future episodes as well. I hope you even bring Teepa back for another episode as she is so very knowledgeable. Something I would like to hear more about are Teepa’s “Gems” and possibly an in-depth explanation of them and how to successfully assign a “gem” to an individual.

I've been following several dementia-related podcasts for a while, and although the others have been helpful, Life with Dementia Pod has delivered the best most concise material. It's a new pod, so only a couple of episodes have dropped, but I have greatly benefited and look forward to many more. The host's ability to steer the show, yet truly listen to the guest's infinite knowledge in this field has been amazing. Like most of us, we are busy, and this pod gives me everything I need in the shortest amount of time possible. Heres to many more pods and can't wait! Spread the word, because dementia is a disability most of us will deal withat some point (ourselves or a loved one). Thank you Johnna.