AlzAuthors: Untangling Alzheimer's & Dementia

Judy Cornish is the founder of the Dementia & Alzheimer’s Wellbeing Network (DAWN®) in Moscow, Idaho. Through her hands-on work with dementia, she developed a proprietary method for working with people who have dementia—one that helps them develop and retain a sense of security and wellbeing. She is the author of Dementia with Dignity and The Dementia Handbook.

The DAWN Method® is simple enough to be used by caregivers in the home and works in care facilities as well. It targets the emotional distress that accompanies cognitive decline so that behaviors are avoided, and caregiver stress isminimized.

Judy is an attorney licensed in Idaho and a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). Before becoming a lawyer, she worked in vocational rehabilitation with people who have brain injuries and as a Qualified Mental Health Associate with the mentally ill. With her background in traumatic brain injury, mental illness, elder law and disability law, Judy brings a distinctive set of abilities to her work with dementia andAlzheimer’s.

In this episode, we discuss the importance of intuitive thinking skills, which Judy calls “the seat of our souls,” the medical model of dementia care vs. the experiential model, and how her desire to help a neighbor with dementia remain in her home launched a philosophy and program that helps families dealing with dementia worldwide.

Start reading Judy’s books now: https://amzn.to/3hwN7eq

(Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.)

Read Judy’s AlzAuthors Posts:

Judy Cornish, Author of Dementia with Dignity, Offers Tools and Techniques for Home Care: https://alzauthors.com/2019/07/30/welcome-back-judy-cornish-author-of-dementia-with-dignity/

The Dementia Handbook: Judy Cornish Answers How to Care at Home: https://alzauthors.com/2017/06/27/meet-judy-cornish-author-of-the-dementia-handbook/

Connect with Judy at the DAWN Method!

Website: https://thedawnmethod.com

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/DAWN-Method-1684106525201898/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JudyCornishDAWN

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judycornish/

Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.

AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .

Thank you for listening.

Elizabeth Miller is the creative genius behind Happy Healthy Caregiver, a community built for caregivers who may be overwhelmed with their responsibilities and long to find others to connect with as well as resources to make life easier. Her mission is to help caregivers become happier and healthier while caring for others. “We can do hard things,” she says, “but we don’t need to do them alone.” Her years as a former caregiver for both parents and a certified caregiver consultant have given her a wealth of experience which she shares on the Happy Healthy Caregiver website and podcast, as a caregiver consultant, and much more. She is a sought-after speaker at caregiver conferences nationwide and coordinates a Daughterhood Circle in Atlanta. She’s also the author of Just for You: A Daily Self-Care Journal.

In this podcast, we discuss juggling caregiving with a full-time job, commuting, and raising children, finding time for self-care, and the beauty of life after caregiving.

Read Elizabeth’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/11/10/elizabeth-miller-just-for-you-self-care-journal/

Start journaling now with Just for You: A Daily Self-Care Journal! https://amzn.to/35MWvW9

Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales

Connect with Elizabeth

Website: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/

Podcast: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/podcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happyhealthycaregiver/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happyhealthycaregiver/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HHCaregiver

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/HHCaregiver/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethbmiller

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAcYkpMK6I3Y0ep-kyvrZaQ

Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.

AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .

Thank you for listening.

What happens when two dementia advocates from opposite sides of the Atlantic who have each written books and blogs and host podcasts on the condition get together for a chat? The conversation flows and grows into a wealth of storytelling and sharing. This is what happened when Pippa Kelly joined me for a Zoom call.

Pippa is the author of Invisible Ink, a novel that explores a man’s relationship with his mother who has dementia. She also blogs on all things dementia, and hosts the popular podcast, “Well I Know Now,” featuring a variety of guests sharing their dementia stories.

Her dementia journey started when her father became ill and she needed to step in to care, not only for him, but for her mother, who had dementia. She was thrust into caregiving unexpectedly and says she felt ill-equipped for the role. Like most caregivers she had to learn everything on the spot and tackled such issues as moving her mother out of her home against her will and convincing the National Health Service to provide services for her father at home. A journalist, she soon began writing about their experiences, won an award for her writing, and became known across England as a campaigner and trusted speaker on the subject.

In this discussion we touched on all of these topics, as well as the emotional chaos of dementia, and what you can get back from dementia care.

Read Pippa’s AlzAuthors Posts:

Meet Pippa Kelly, Dementia Writer and Advocate https://alzauthors.com/2016/06/16/meet-pippa-kelly-dementia-writer-advocate/

Meet Pippa Kelly, Author of Invisible Ink

https://alzauthors.com/2017/04/12/meet-pippa-kelly-author-of-invisible-ink/

Start reading Invisible Ink now! https://amzn.to/3pYpXSh

(Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.)

Connect with Pippa

Website https://pippakelly.co.uk/

Blog https://pippakelly.co.uk/blog/

Podcast https://pippakelly.co.uk/blog/

Twitter https://twitter.com/piponthecommons

Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.

AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .

Thank you for listening.

Richard Creighton began his blog, “Living with Alzheimer’s: A Real-Time Account of Dementia Caregiving,” the day his wife Kate was diagnosed in 2011. His goal was to keep a record of their experience for their children. He and Kate cared for family members together for 24 years, which included both his parents and his in-laws throughout various illnesses. Now he cares for her, deep into her dementia, at home with the assistance of paid caregivers.

Richard and Kate recently made a major life change, leaving their home of many years to start anew at a Continuing Care Retirement Community, where they can age in place. Richard made this decision to make life easier for himself and for Kate, and to make sure their children’s responsibilities for their care would be minimal. He wanted a plan for an easy transition to the last chapter of their lives.

In addition to his blog, which he writes under a pseudonym, Richard is also an AlzAuthors Associate, creating videos for our Dementia Caregiving During COVID video series.

In this episode we talk about making a residential move late in life, their traumatic bout with COVID-19, how he keeps himself active and busy while caring for his wife at home, and what he’s got in his “Caregiver Toolbox” that may also be helpful to other caregivers on the dementia journey.

Read Richard’s AlzAuthors post: https://alzauthors.com/2019/01/15/meet-blogger-richard-creighton-living-with-alzheimers/

Watch Richards’s Dementia Care During COVID videos: https://alzauthors.com/covid-19/

Start reading “Living with Alzheimer’s: A Real-Time Account of Dementia Caregiving” now! http://livingwithalzheimers.com/

Connect with Richard Creighton

Blog: http://livingwithalzheimers.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LivingWthAlz

Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.

AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .

Thank you for listening.

Today’s guest is Dr. Jennifer Bute who lives in a dementia inclusive retirement village in Somerset, west of London. Previously she worked in Africa as a doctor before working as a GP for 25 years in England and was involved in medical education. Her career was cut short when she was diagnosed with young onset dementia ten years ago. She speaks at conferences and on radio and has been involved in television programs raising awareness and understanding of dementia. She passionately believes more can be done to improve both the present and the future for those living with the condition. Her book Dementia from the Inside: A Doctor's Personal Journey of Hope is her story and explains these principles. Her website GloriousOpportunity.org includes many videos where she discusses different aspects of dementia, and she also blogs on Facebook at Glorious Opportunity.

In this episode we discuss the Japanese Memory groups she runs at her retirement village, how to find someone in their dementia, why she insists on always telling the truth to those with dementia, and the wonders of Alexa.

Read Jennifer’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/09/15/dr-jennifer-bute-dementia-from-inside/

Start reading Dementia from the Inside Out now! https://amzn.to/2Qm36mg

Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.

Connect with Jennifer

Website: https://www.gloriousopportunity.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gloriousopportunity

Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.

AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/

Thank you for listening.

We’re doing something a little different on the podcast today. It’s AlzAuthors 6th anniversary, and we’re celebrating by bringing the entire team together to talk about what goes on behind the scenes of this global organization of authors. We’ll talk about upcoming events and projects and plans for the coming year. You’ll learn about our acquisitions process, which is how we find the great books and blogs in our collection, how to become an AlzAuthor, our new book club with Amazon, and how you can help to support our mission to bring quality resources to caregivers and others concerned about these conditions. Be sure to check the show notes as they are packed with information on how to get more from AlzAuthors.

Follow AlzAuthors:

Website: https://alzauthors.com

Blog: https://alzauthors.com/blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlzAuthors/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alzauthors/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alzauthors

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alzauthors

Volunteer: https://alzauthors.com/volunteer/

Submit Your Book: https://forms.gle/oTaGH1S3b52VHdTB6

Donate: https://alzauthors.com/donate/

Purchase an Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/AlzAuthors/e/B07K8YDZZB

Join our Amazon Book Club:

https://www.amazon.com/amazonbookclubs/detail/amzn1.club.bookclub.96bc133f-1784-0992-c0b0-cdead946f145?

Dementia Caregiving During COVID Videos: https://alzauthors.com/covid-19/

Podcast: https://alzauthors.com/podcast

Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.

AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/

Thank you for listening.

Today’s guest is Katya De Luisa, an artist, expressive arts program designer, freelance writer, and author with 20 years’ experience working with those living with dementia and theirfamilies. She firmly believes that when we change the way we look at something what we look at changes.

Katya’s experience working in long-term care facilities as both a caregiver and as an art director has given her a wealth of insight into the dementia diseases, family dynamics, communication, miscommunication, and more.

Her passion is communicating with people in late-stage disease using the visual arts, collage in particular. She believes that no matter how advanced a person’s dementia may be there is still a person inside who is reachable if we use the right tools and methods.

She is the founder and director of the non-profit The Infinite Mind DementiaProject in Costa Rica, and the author of the book Journey Through the Infinite Mind: The Science and Spirituality of Dementia.

In this episode overflowing with practical advice and much to think about, we discuss how to connect with those who have dementia, why we should “move into the now,” tips on how to evaluate a nursing home, and why dementia instills such paralyzing fear in all of us, as individuals and as societies.

Read Katya’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2021/02/02/katya-de-luisa-alzheimers/

Start reading Journey through the Infinite Mind: The Science and Spirituality of Dementia now! https://amzn.to/3nB6zcC

Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.

Connect with Katya De Luisa

Website: https://www.theinfinitemind.org

Blog: https://www.theinfinitemind.org/category/katyas-blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katya.deluisa.37

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheInfiniteMin1

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katya-de-luisa-5a789319/

Info on MP3 players for those with dementia:

The Purple Angel (UK): https://purpleangel-global.com/mp3-players/

Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.

AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .

Thank you for listening.

Today’s guest is Renée Brown Harmon, MD, author of the teaching memoir “Surfing the Waves of Alzheimer's: Principles of Caregiving That Kept Me Upright.” She and her husband Harvey created, developed, and shared a thriving family medicine private practice in Birmingham, Alabama, for more than twenty years. In 2010, Harvey, at age 50, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s and forced to retire. Renée became “The Queen of Everything” at work and at home. She was a solo physician at their practice as well as Harvey’s primary caregiver, and primary parent to their two teenaged daughters. With reluctance and resentment, she also took on the role of head of household. It was a lot, but she managed to “surf the waves,” which she shares in her insightful book. Harvey’s dementia journey ended in memory care in 2018. Renée retired in 2019 and uses her time and talents to write and speak on Alzheimer’s and dementia while advocating for caregivers.

In this episode we discuss how being a physician affected her caregiving journey, how she tried to do it all herself but learned to reach out for help, and the creative ways her friends helped her and Harvey.

Read Renée’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/06/16/renee-harmon-earlyonset-alz-blog/

Start reading "Surfing the Waves of Alzheimer's: Principles of Caregiving That Kept Me Upright" now! https://amzn.to/3atH7jU

Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.

Connect with Renée

Website: https://www.reneeharmon.com/

Blog: https://www.reneeharmon.com/blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reneeharmonauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reneeharmon_writes/?hl=en

Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.

AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .

Thank you for listening.

Ann Campanella is a former magazine and newspaper journalist, the author of two memoirs and four collections of poetry, and an AlzAuthors manager and director. Her award-winning writing has appeared in literary journals, newspapers and magazines across the country and around the world, and she has discussed her work on numerous podcasts.

Ann’s first memoir,Motherhood: Lost and Found, was twice named “One of the best Alzheimer’s books of all time” by Book Authority. In 2018, she was recognized by her hometown newspaper as one of the Most Influential Women in her community. She has a degree in English Literature from Davidson College and lives with her family and animals in North Carolina.

In this episode, we discuss her heartbreaking journey to become a mother while losing her own mother to dementia at the same time, the healing power of horses, and the “season” of caregiving.

Read Ann’s AlzAuthors Posts:

Motherhood: Lost and Found https://alzauthors.com/2017/01/18/meet-ann-campanella-author-of-motherhood-lost-and-found/

The Beach Poems https://alzauthors.com/2017/11/08/what-flies-away-poetry-byann-campanella/

What Flies Away

https://alzauthors.com/2019/09/17/meet-ann-campanella-alzauthors-manager-and-author-of-what-flies-away/

Start reading Ann’s work now!

Motherhood Lost and Found: https://amzn.to/3eC5izw

The Beach Poems: https://amzn.to/3lsFPu1

What Flies Away: https://amzn.to/3clNBSi

Celiac Mom: https://amzn.to/38VsV

Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.

Connect with Ann Campanella

Website: http://anncampanella.com/

Blog: https://fieldsofgrace22.wordpress.com/author/awcamp/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ann.campanella.7

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awcampanella/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorAnnC

Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.

AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .

Thank you for listening.

Vincent Zappacosta has been a writer and photographer ever since he was a little boy back in Catholic school. His professional background has been in theatre, yoga, and graphic design. All of these skills came to be a blessing when his mother, Mama, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and he and his husband Douglass became her caregivers.

“Mama was a ham,” he says, and loved being the focus of attention. She was thrilled when he began sharing their dementia journey with the world through his blog, Dementia Mama Drama. The blog became a play, and then a book, all by the same name.

In this episode we discuss how Vincent and Douglass coped as caregivers to the dramatic Mama with daily doses of humor, always keeping Mama in the spotlight, and maintaining their own sanity with The Three W’s: writing, walking, and wine.

Read Vincent’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/12/15/a-daily-dose-of-dementia-mama-drama/

Start reading Dementia Mama Drama now! https://amzn.to/3rZiwdS

Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.

Connect with Vincent Zappacosta

Blog: https://www.dementia-mama-drama.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Mama.Drama

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_mama_drama/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DementiaMama

Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.

AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .

Thank you for listening.