My daughter's dementia care company's leaders are preparing a list of topics for next year. Can you offer suggestions? She is looking for topics that would be of interest, or should be of interest to care providers (doctors, nurses, case managers, social workers, etc.)
Do you have any suggestions on things you think they would be interested in, or that families of people living with various dementias would want them to know?
Someone mentioned having the family write a biography of the patient (including childhood family, education, work, present family, hobbies) as well as a typical day with routines (showering in the am or the pm, best way to take meds, what is soothing (backrubs, music, ice cream), when patient gets up and goes to bed, etc.
I never would have thought to do this, but it seems brilliant to include it in the patient records for anyone providing care. Not only would they be more able to decipher what the patient is talking about, but can chat about topics like baseball or cars or cats. Some AZ patients sleep only 6 hours while others sleep 12.
A geriatric care manager said that the more they know about the patient's background, habits, likes and dislikes, the better able they are to understand behaviors and frustrations.
All good ideas, marche. I typed up such a list and leave it on my bulletin board in the event someone has to come in and stay with DH. Of course, that never happens, but....