Many caregivers and those with neurological diseases suffer from insomnia. In this 2023 “New York Times” article on cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), two sources are suggested for finding CBT-I practitioners near you:
* Try the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine to find members
* Or the Penn International CBT-I directory
The article says “If you cannot find a provider, C.B.T.-I. instruction is easy to access online. Yet it is rarely the first thing people try.”
A local Parkinson’s Disease (PD) caregiver support group member recently offered her highest recommendation for a book titled “Advice From a Parkinson’s Wife: 20 Lessons Learned the Hard Way,” by Barbara Sheklin Davis (2019). We encourage you to buy it! Barbara authored five books before this one. She was a Parkinson’s care partner for over twenty years. Her latest book is “Advice from a Parkinson’s Widow.”
Our friend Denise Dagan shared her book review of “Advice From a Parkinson’s Wife: 20 Lessons Learned the Hard Way,” by Barbara Sheklin Davis (2019). Though “Parkinson’s” is in the title, this book will be of interest to caregivers coping with Lewy body dementia and the other atypical parkinsonism disorders. While “wife” is in the title, this book will be of interest to all caregivers regardless of whether they are caring for a spouse or not. Denise highly recommends the book and calls is a “quick read” (at 94 pages). Her comments are shared here, and then Denise provides a summary of the 20 lessons.
Local support group member Joan’s husband recently passed away with Lewy body dementia. This is a list of items she encourages families to consider before a loved one’s passing. Some of the advice is specific to spouses. A bit of the advice is California-specific. None of the advice is specific to Lewy body dementia.
In December 2023, Brain Support Network and Stanford Parkinson’s Community Outreach co-hosted a discussion for caregivers to share the top three things they have learned about caregiving. Caregivers offered advice to each other, including advice caregivers wished they could tell their younger selves.
