January has been dedicated to efforts directed at Alzheimer’s Awareness. The keyword here is “awareness.” The first step to helping support someone with Alzheimer’s disease (the most prevalent cause of dementia) is awareness and understanding of what it is and what we can do to support someone diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Every year, on Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada reminds organizations across Canada as well as individuals, “to learn more about dementia and its stark impact on Canadians.” Did you know that 76,000 new cases of dementia are diagnosed each year?

At Dementia Solutions, we are very worried about these statistics and are striving to make a difference.  We believe knowledge is power!  Learning comes in a variety of ways. It can come from our experiences, including our mistakes. It can also come from observing others such as healthcare professionals as well as family caregivers. Most importantly, learning comes from listening and observing the individuals living with symptoms of dementia themselves.   

It is not only important to become educated, but even more important is that we practice what we learned, demonstrate, model, and inspire others on what works in dementia care and dementia behaviour management.

Below, we want to share with you 3 barriers that we have noticed that can cause a family or frontline professional caregivers many challenges when trying to provide quality dementia care.

1. Thinking there is a “one size, fits all” approach to dementia care.

It’s important to keep in mind that each person is unique – unique history, personal preferences, life experience, lived traumas and several other factors. Hence, the need for personalized creative solutions rather than a “cookie cutter” approach. While some situations may appear similar, focusing on the whole person as well as their personality, is the best practice so that you can tailor your approaches for each circumstance.

2.  Not thinking like a detective

Though theoretically, we know that there is always a reason behind the behaviour and the solution lies in asking “why” and investigating the cause for the behaviour, caregivers are not always consistently able to put this into practice.

The misconception is, it will take too much time to investigate the cause for the behaviour and caregivers are simply too busy or tired to dedicate time to put this into practice. My experience as a Dementia Consultant, that this, in fact, is not true. When we start with asking “Why?“ our brain neurons will be firing so fast, that the answer may likely just pop up instantly.  This will result in the quicker implementation of a personalized and effective approach.

3. Becoming Burnt-Out

The professional or family caregiver may have the knowledge and skills, but if they are taking on way too much, it is highly possible that they may burn out.  Being in a state of burnout can also create a situation of losing compassion for the person(s) you are supporting. This is known as ‘Compassion Fatigue’. We cannot practice what we have learned or may lack the patience to put our knowledge into practice when we simply, no longer care.

One of the ways we can prevent compassion fatigue is by talking things out.  This can include being a part of a supportive community that shares similar challenges and experiences in caring for people living with symptoms of dementia.

At Dementia Solutions, we offer the valuable opportunity to talk things out in our ongoing family support groups and our monthly Zoom dementia coaching sessions we provide to our students and graduates in our CDCP™ Dementia Designation Program. We provide a venue where people get emotional support and most importantly, get re-inspired for the important work that they do. These communities allow the participants to reconnect with their purpose and help them cope better in their daily lives.

At Dementia Solutions, we’ve made it our mission to demystify dementia behaviour and empower caregivers through education. We believe that awareness creation and skill-building through education is the most effective and powerful tool we have to promote and maintain the well-being of both the person with dementia and their caregiver.

If you need support in your caregiving experience or would like to learn more about our educational opportunities, please reach out to us at Info@DementiaSolutions.ca and we would be more than happy to support you.