Category: caregivers

Meaningful Pursuits: Create meaningful activities for those with Alzheimer’s and dementia

Posted by Jeannie Finnegan

An elderly woman wearing a sweater looks at a photo album with an adult female family member

Anyone caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s or dementia will at some point struggle with how to spend meaningful time with their loved one or add purpose to their lives. Family visits can feel awkward, pointless, or sad as we grapple with our loved one’s cognitive decline and memory loss, and it can become very challenging to have a meaningful visit. However, those with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia still have the need and capacity for meaning and purpose in life – they just need someone to guide them into appropriate activities that can add greatly to their happiness and quality of life.

When You or a Loved One Is Diagnosed with Dementia, What Comes Next?

Posted by Jeannie Finnegan

An adult daughter hugs her elderly mother after a dementia diagnosis

A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia can be very devastating, challenging, overwhelming, and emotional. Dementia doesn’t just affect the one diagnosed — it often impacts everyone in the family, close friends, and even neighbors and co-workers. However, being informed and getting connected to appropriate support after a dementia diagnosis can help you know what to expect and what to do next. This checklist can help you get started.

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Posted by Jeannie Finnegan

A road leading to a sunrise with an arrow from 2021 to 2022

Each year, many of us make resolutions to become a better version of ourselves in the new year. Many times, these new year’s resolutions focus on the negative — our worst qualities that we want to change, our bad habits we want to break, or our biggest mistakes we hope to rectify. If your past year had major losses, challenges, or setbacks, you may long for “the good old days” or how things once were, idealizing the past and longing for something that is gone. This is very easy to do when thinking about our pre-pandemic lives and the ways things are now, and certainly, many have experienced the loss of family or friends, jobs, and more.  

When the Holiday Season Isn’t Always a Happy One

Posted by Jeannie Finnegan

Senior woman at home on Christmas

With the holiday season upon us, everywhere we look we see signs of joy and festivity — sparkling lights in our neighborhoods, commercials of happy families celebrating together, decorations in every store, and social media pictures of holiday bliss. But despite being called the “most wonderful time of the year” and the “season to be jolly,” for many people, the holiday season can be a time of depression, grief, sadness and loneliness. 

When a loved one has dementia…

Posted by Jeannie Finnegan

Being a caregiver can be rewarding, overwhelming, inspiring, draining, and more. And being a caregiver for someone with dementia presents a host of unique and often intense challenges.  As the disease progresses and your loved one changes, you may find you have more questions than answers.