EP #5: Navigating Early Memory Trouble: Coping Strategies for Alzheimer's and Dementia

Are you noticing early signs of memory trouble in your loved ones? Tune into this enlightening episode of the Comfort Keepers Davie podcast as your hosts, Jeremy Wolf and Kristi Gurule, delve into the early stages of Alzheimer's and dementia. They walk you through the common signs and offer valuable advice on what you can do even before these conditions manifest fully. You'll learn the importance of having open conversations with your loved ones and discover simple strategies that can help them cope with memory challenges, like using calendars and reminders at home.

As the conversation progresses, we turn our focus to the more advanced stages of these conditions. Kristi sheds light on how our team at Comfort Keepers steps in to ensure our clients are eating properly and attending their appointments. She emphasizes the significance of keeping the brain active with games and activities and discusses how maintaining a consistent routine can enhance memory. Moreover, we stress the need for maintaining a well-rounded, healthy lifestyle throughout one's life, not only in old age. This episode provides a wealth of information that can help you effectively handle the early stages of Alzheimer's and dementia.

Please visit our website for more information: https://www.comfortkeepers.com/offices/florida/davie/

or contact: (954) 947-7954

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Welcome to the Comfort Keepers Davy podcast, where we elevate the human spirit. Here's your host, christy Grulay.

Jeremy: 0:15

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Comfort Keepers Davy podcast. I'm your host, jeremy Wolfe, and I'm joined by, of course, your host, christy Grulay. Christy, I say this every time always a pleasure to see you, but it truly is always a pleasure to see you. How you been.

Kristi: 0:33

Good good, happy Monday, happy fall. Right, since last we've spoke, we're now officially into fall, which is exciting.

Jeremy: 0:43

Yeah, holiday time, let's get excited for that. It'll be fun, fun, fun with the family. So I know we've been talking a lot about kind of signs to look for in your loved ones. There could be something going on. And last episode we talked about the various stages of Alzheimer's and dementia and you kind of gave a broad overview, went through a lot of it. What I thought we would do is kind of hone in a little bit and talk a little bit more in depth about these specific stages so that people know not only what to look for but also what to do when they encounter something that could be an issue. So why don't you share with the listeners a little bit about the early stages, right Like before you even come into the picture, notice something going on with mom or dad, whatever it is. What are some things that you can do early on to combat this from moving forward?

Kristi: 1:39

Yeah, so a lot of times when you start to notice that your loved one mom or dad is becoming a little bit more forgetful, sometimes it's just great to have a conversation with them, just a realistic conversation. How can we help you remember implementing some new things in the home? So when I'm called and asked for advice at this stage, this is what we talk about. So we have like a big calendar maybe it's on the refrigerator we have a big wall calendar, different reminders for them so they don't get frustrated if they start to forget details. After that it's usually when we start to become involved with ourselves coming into the home. That's when we're coming in to make sure that parents are eating, that they're eating properly, that they are in fact getting it to their appointments and not getting lost on the way.

Kristi: 2:34

That can become a really frustrating and scary thing for families to have to worry about their loved one getting to appointments. So when it becomes, when it gets to that stage two to three, usually if we were going to classify somebody that's when Comfort Keepers is called in to help. But I do need to say that everybody progresses differently, right? So there are those that I come in much later in the picture and others, that I'm there in the very beginning and if I am there closer to the beginning then I like to implement games. I like to do memory games, things to keep the brain elastic. You know we're hands-on, tactile connect for little things that we can do during our shifts with clients so that we can make sure that they're mentally engaged.

Jeremy: 3:26

Yeah, I think this also speaks to at least with me, where I'm at with my life. I notice more and more that the less I do in terms of being consistent, exercising, eating healthy, the more I steer from that path, the more of that brain fog and confusion I tend to get throughout my days. And then when I really hone in and I say you know what, I'm going to wake up at 6 am every day, I'm going to run in the morning, I'm going to exercise, I'm going to do these things, I'm going to exercise more clearly, and I think a lot of the issues that elderly not always, but a lot of the issues that people encounter in old age are just a result of them not having the right preventative methods in place. So it speaks to taking care of yourself, not just when you're 75 and have a problem, but throughout your whole life. Right, yeah, with proper diet habits and everything right.

Kristi: 4:17

Yeah, it all starts foundationally and I think that once something is implemented, it needs to be very routine, because that's something that also helps with memory. We're going to remember that we're coming in a couple of days a week and, even if we aren't there but family is doing something, that they stick to a routine to also help again, just that foundation, re-encouraging and strengthening.

Jeremy: 4:46

Yeah, for sure, 100%. So anything else you'd like to share about kind of this early stages signs to look for things like that, anything you'd like to share before you wrap up?

Kristi: 5:01

Well, I think that the last thing that I'd say is that just self-reflect right? We don't like to say when we're having a problem with anything, right? That tends to be the case when you address something that you're seeing and they really don't want to cause any additional stress on you. So when there's denial, it's just be gentle, just be really soft in the conversation. I have a lot of family members that want to talk to me about how do you talk to them, because they deny that they have the problem that I'm seeing that they're forgetting things. Just gentle reminders. How can you be more involved in their day to day without becoming the parent yourself of your parent? And it all starts with just really soft conversations.

Jeremy: 5:48

All right, awesome. So we'll wrap it up there and I think we can get into some of these other stages and a little bit more depth moving forward. So we shall do that. Christie, always a pleasure. I'll see you very soon. Thank you All right, bye.

Speaker 1: 6:07

Thank you for listening to the Comfort Keepers Davy podcast. For more information, visit ComfortKeeperscom or call 954-947-7927.