The value of touch and sensuous experience in dementia care increases as language becomes more difficult to access. When a caregiver and care recipient engage each other through respectful touch, what comes about in the attention to sensuous experience is the mutual appreciation for having a body that the person providing care and the person …
When I joyfully relate to a person who has dementia, I can see in our relationship a place where we can play. Our mutual play lets us know we matter to each other, reduces stress, and improves health. Especially as we age, play with others protects our health. When we matter to others we feel …
Care for others requires collaboration to be successful. Care is about relationships and a responsibility to reduce harm and nurture connections and growth. This means that we collaborate with other caregivers to provide care. It also means that we collaborate with those to whom we provide care. We empathize with caregivers and care recipients, and …
When mutual recognition happens between persons, the act of recognition opens up worlds of communication and collaboration. This is the essential basis of mindful care, we pay mindful attention to our relationship with others. We recognize our connection with others and how our care can nourish them and their life. Reciprocally, we recognize how their …
When we care for people with dementia, failing memory changes how we remember together who we are, and this makes how recognition happens between persons more noticeable. We cannot take for granted that the two of us will be able to recognize each other through going back into memories or telling stories about our lives. …
When we recognize another person, we acknowledge she is unique, call her by name, and confirm her identity. We include her in our narratives, and we see ourselves as having a unique role in hers. Not only are we unique as distinct selves in our own narratives, but our narratives about our relationships with other …
Mindfulness is a way of making choices about where you place your attention as a caregiver. It involves the ability to notice and accept whatever arises in our experience as human beings. We can think of it as using the hand of our attention (our mind’s hand) to get in touch with and feel any …
The life of a person living with dementia still has meaning and purpose, yet this meaning and purpose have to be constructed and recognized. Caregivers who are tuned into experiences of persons living with dementia will attend to these five important needs that they have. By doing so, attuned caregivers will serve as co-creators of …
Several leading specialists of dementia care focus on the person living through the changes in life that dementia causes. They celebrate ways of providing care and telling stories about people with dementia and giving care to them that preserves the dignity of the unique person. These ways of providing care are often called “person-centered care” …
This website and blog will bring together mindfulness, dementia, and care. It will explore ways and means to care for others and ourselves as we confront the challenge of living well with dementia and caring for those who have dementia. I am convinced that the art of care and the science of attachment and connection …
