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Inside the Dementia Epidemic: A Daughter's Memoir

Page 31

by Martha Stettinius


  for agitation, 172, 248

  for Alzheimer’s, 16, 40, 120, 283, 293-294

  help taking, 27, 47, 77, 85-86, 106, 141, 174

  paying for, 84, 266

  Medigap policies, 36, 84, 210, 267

  meditation, 272

  melatonin, 212

  memory:

  boxes, 173

  care, 78, 124, 131, 167, 186, 221, 231, 256, 258, 285

  concealing loss of, 44

  consultations, 310

  costs, 175, 200, 244

  description, 171-173

  loss

  short-term memory loss, 42-43, 58, 60

  long-term memory loss, 42, 58, 90, 137, 183, 195, 266

  mild cognitive impairment, 17, 20, 52, 289-290, 296

  “mixed” dementia, 2, 10, 312

  money, see financial matters

  mood swings, 18, 33, 44, 47

  Mount Sinai Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, 320

  multi-infarct dementia, 2, 10, 15, 42, 53, 105, 120-121, 128, 162, 233

  music, 78, 99, 132, 172, 202, 207-209, 225, 232, 255, 258, 263-264, 266, 270, 296

  N

  Namenda, 293-294

  Nardil, 52

  nasal spray of insulin, 306

  National Alzheimer’s Project Act, 324

  National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners, 322

  National Institute on Aging (NIA), 53, 290, 303, 320

  National Institutes of Health, 290, 321

  National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, 285, 321

  National Sleep Foundation, 300

  NCB Capital Impact, 248

  nerve cells, see neurons

  neurologists, 283-284, 296, 299, 310, 320

  Neurology, 295

  neurons, 280, 291, 295-297, 299-301, 304, 307

  neuropsychological testing, 43, 53-54, 268, 283, 289

  New York Times, 105, 229

  non-hospital order not to resuscitate, 228

  Northwestern University, 306

  nurses:

  discharge, 133, 137

  in assisted living facilities, 117-118, 120-123

  in elder cohousing, 319

  in the Green House Project, 249

  in the hospital, 134-137, 215-216

  in “memory care,” 172, 178, 196-202, 209, 212-213, 222

  in nursing homes, 258-260

  in rehab centers, 140

  visiting, 114

  nursing homes, 40-41, 164-165, 255, 257

  adjusting to, 259-261, 264

  aides in, 163, 258-259

  care plan meetings at, 157-159

  cleanliness of, 161-162

  costs, 257

  dementia care units in, 162, 164, 211, 256

  placement, evaluation for, 122-124

  redesign of, 244-245

  see also Eden Alternative; Green House Project

  nutrition, see diet and food

  nutritionists, 106, 158-159, 297, 311

  O

  obesity, see weight

  obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, 51-54, 268

  obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), 298-300

  office for the aging, see area agencies for aging

  Omega 3, 308

  Omega 6, 308

  ostracism, 103

  P

  pain, 115, 127, 130, 142-144, 158, 253

  Paleo diets, 308-309

  paranoia, 19, 37, 220

  Parkinson’s disease, 40

  patient review instrument (PRI), see nursing homes, evaluation, placement for

  pelvis, fracture, 128-129, 133, 146, 149, 250

  Penny Wise, Pound Foolish: Fairness and Funding at the National Institute on Aging, 320

  pension, 77, 266

  personal care plan, 235

  personality changes, see behavioral changes

  person-directed care, 151-152, 245, 247

  personhood, 150, 239-240, 246-247, 264, 276, 281

  pets, as therapy, 107, 171, 245, 265, 271, 280

  PET scans, 289-290

  physical therapy, 114, 140-142, 146, 158, 249-250, 258, 266

  pills, see medication

  plants, 194, 245, 247, 250, 265

  plaques, 276, 289-291, 304-309

  pneumonia, 19, 229, 280

  podiatrist, 112, 175

  Power, G. Allen, 264

  power of attorney, see durable power of attorney

  pre-diabetes, see insulin resistance

  prescriptions, see medication

  Prevention of Progression to Dementia in the Elderly, 295

  private aides, see home care aides

  psychiatrists, 52-53, 57, 104, 269, 275

  psychologists, elder care, 40, 47-48, 74, 284

  Q

  quality of life, 229

  R

  Rabins, Peter, 40

  Radin, Lisa and Gary, 274

  Rankin, Katherine P., 276

  Razadyne, 293

  reading, see cognitive function; language function

  recognition of loved ones, 220, 232, 263, 266, 279

  redirection, 136, 152, 203

  reflexes, 19

  rehab, 58, 133, 135-136, 139-146, 148, 161, 164, 239, 255, 258

  research, dementia, 2, 3, 20, 108, 254, 276, 289-291, 293-307, 312, 320-325

  resident assistants (RAs), 91, 98, 100-101, 111, 113, 117-122, 127-128, 150, 166, 192, 194, 196-199, 203-206, 208-209, 214-215, 217, 221-223, 234-235, 241, 243, 253, 255, 257, 263

  in Eden Alternative nursing homes, 245

  in The Green House Project (“Shahbazim”), 247-249

  resilience, 273

  respite, see caregivers, caring for self

  restraints, 134

  rigidity, 19, 235-236, 243, 266

  risk factors, 2-3, 51, 295-302, 311

  Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 248

  role reversal, 43, 55, 97, 108, 128

  rosiglitazone, 306

  rowboat, 183-185, 194

  Rubinstein, Nataly, 283

  Rush University Medical Center, 296

  S

  safety: 58, 217, 323, 325

  bed rails, 45, 112, 115, 174

  body pillow, 258

  preventing falls, 174, 258

  rubber mat, 258

  see also alarms; falls

  sandwich generation, 11, 22, 96, 119, 133, 202, 270, 273

  scatolia, see feces, smearing of

  schizophrenia, 23

  seizures, 285

  self-expression, see cognitive functioning

  selfhood, see personhood

  Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living, 318-319

  sexual behavior, 113, 213-219

  Shahbazim, see Resident Assistants, in The Green House Project

  shopping, 58, 76

  showering, 57, 101, 106, 121, 131, 179, 181

  silver tsunami, 2, 317

  sleep apnea, and dementia, see obstructive sleep apnea

  sleep disturbances, 2, 19, 46-47, 53, 100, 103, 196-199, 212, 220, 298-301, 305

  in bipolar II disorder, 269

  slowing down, 153, 164, 190, 192, 273

  smell, loss of sense of, 291

  smoking, 35, 38, 56, 85, 106, 275, 295, 311

  socialization, 60, 296

  Social Security, 51, 77, 83, 266

  Social Services, Dept. of, 244

  social workers, 140, 157, 162, 205, 246, 249, 322

  see also Eden at Home; Green House Project

  soiling, see incontinence

  speech, see language function

  spend down, see Medicaid

  spinal fluid tests, for Alzheimer’s, 290

  spoon-feeding, 78, 173, 234-235, 253, 256, 259, 278, 284

  Stanford University, 289

  stem cell treatments, 304

  Strange Relation: A Memoir of Marriage, Dementia, and Poetry, 276

  stress:

  as risk factor for dementia, 304

  in caregivers, see caregivers

 
stroke, 10, 15, 42, 53, 105, 120-122, 128, 162, 233, 280, 289, 295-296, 300, 305, 308, 314

  see also multi-infarct dementia

  student volunteers, 77, 87-88, 99, 103

  sugar, see diet: food and eating

  sun-downing, 142

  support:

  books for caregivers, 40, 238-239, 283

  for people with dementia, 311-312, 321-323

  groups for caregivers, 39-40, 57, 60, 150, 205, 254, 284, 312, 322

  surgery, 116-117

  swallowing difficulties, 19, 43, 197, 235, 279

  swimming, 147

  T

  tangles, see tau protein tangles

  Taubes, Gary, 308

  tau protein tangles, 276, 290, 301-302

  tests, for Alzheimer’s disease, 43, 289-291

  The 36 Hour Day, 40, 204

  Thies, William, 3

  Thomas, Jude, 244

  Thomas, William H., 244-249

  toenails, 112

  toileting, 18-19, 43, 57, 106, 113, 155, 175, 185, 194, 208, 220, 266, 284

  scheduled, 222

  see also incontinence

  Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Sleep Research Laboratory, 300

  training, of dementia care staff,115, 172, 206, 284, 322-323

  transferring, 57, 145, 155, 173, 243, 266

  transitions in care, 122, 133, 137, 164-167, 173, 175, 284, 318

  transportation, 13, 58, 60, 99, 133, 265-267, 270

  triglycerides, 308

  tube feeding, see feeding tube

  twelve-step programs, 10, 23, 51, 66, 68, 71, 129, 132, 198, 207, 266, 273, 275

  type III diabetes, 305

  U

  University of California, San Francisco, 299

  University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 305

  University of Rochester Medical Center, Memory Care Program, 310

  urinary incontinence, see incontinence

  urinary tract infection, see infection

  usefulness, 153

  V

  vaccines, 301

  vascular dementia, see multi-infarct dementia

  Vienna Boys’ Choir, 207-209

  violence, 114, 203-206, 222

  viruses, 304

  vision checkups, see eye care

  vitamin B12, 283

  vomiting, 115

  W

  walkers, 108, 113-115, 143, 145, 155, 163-164, 237, 265

  walking, 19, 57, 87-88, 105-106, 111-112, 115, 123, 127, 185, 193, 235, 237, 266

  wandering, 19, 145, 162, 166, 172, 179, 247

  Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, 299

  Washington University’s Sleep Medicine Center, 299

  weight:

  as a risk factor for dementia, 51, 106, 306-308

  loss, see diet and food

  training, 296

  wellness visits, 311

  Weston A. Price Foundation, 308

  wetting, see incontinence

  What Are Old People For? How Elders Will Change the World, 249

  What If It’s Not Alzheimer’s?: A Caregiver’s Guide to Dementia, 274-276

  wheelchairs, 143, 162, 265-266, 278, 281, 285

  Why We Get Fat, and What to Do About It, 308

  withdrawing, 53-54, 269, 277

  Woodside, 136-137, 139-146, 161-164, 254-267, 270, 278-282

  work-life balance, see caregiving, and job demands

  writing, as emotional release, 31, 95-96, 115

  Y

  Yee, Robert, 313

  Z

  Zeisel, John, 239, 255

  Mom at 62, and me at 30, in 1995

  Mom, 77, with Suzanne, a massage therapist who specializes in bodywork for elders, in 2010

  (photo by Jason Kates van Staveren)

  Mom, 79, in 2012

  About the Author

  Martha Stettinius is a “sandwich generation” mom; an editor and writing instructor with a master’s in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University; and an advocate for the needs of family caregivers. She serves as a volunteer representative for New York State for the National Family Caregivers Association.

  For fourteen years she’s lived with her husband and two children in an intentional community where they share some common space and community meals. She’s grateful that nearly each day she learns something new from her neighbors about how to live a full life.

 

 

 


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