In this short article in US News & World Report, the author limits her discussion to the two most important caregiver tips.
The two tips are:
#1 – Learn as much you can about your loved one’s disease or illness to know what to expect. Otherwise, you’ll be driving blind.
#2 – Care for your loved one the same way you would want to be cared for if you were living with the disease. After learning as much as you can about [your loved one’s illness], put yourself in your loved one’s shoes by asking yourself, “What fears and uncertainties would I feel in the face of this…diagnosis?”
I think this is good advice. But #1 is hard to achieve when the specialists aren’t even able to say with better than 50/50 odds what the neurological diagnosis is! So you learn all you can about one disorder only to learn a new diagnosis a year or so later.
The author notes that someone at the Lewy Body Dementia Association described LBD as a disorder that: “walks like Parkinson’s and talks like Alzheimer’s.” That sounds like a good description for some with LBD.
Here’s a link to the article:
health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2015/05/01/the-2-most-important-caregiver-tips
The 2 Most Important Caregiver Tips
How to survive, thrive and even find joy in caring for a loved one with dementia.
US News & World Report | Health
By Brenda Avadian
May 1, 2015 | 9:00 a.m. EDT
Robin