Island Treasures
Island Treasures began as a platform for caregivers with its guests sharing their stories to encourage, provide insights, and resources to support those in the midst of caregiving. With over 100 heartfelt episodes, it reminded caregivers they were not alone, as it uplifted voices of wisdom, empowerment, and compassion. In October 2025 Island Treasures enters a new chapter.
This relaunched season explores life after caregiving—the transitions, transformations, and moments that follow with former caregivers sharing how they have transitioned into their next chapter.
In addition to these heartfelt episodes addressing life after caregiving, from time to time we will celebrate the treasures of Vancouver Island with an episode highlighting a place or experience unique to Vancouver Island—after all that’s where the podcast calls home.
Whether you’re just beginning to rediscover life beyond caregiving or caregiving is part of your distant past, Island Treasures offers stories that we trust will resonate with you and inspire you as you move forward after caregiving. Or if you’re curious about Vancouver Island and want to hear more about the people and places that make it special, we’re delighted to have you join us for those episodes as well.
Please note: the original episodes remain available and provide a rich archive of support for caregivers. This new season simply expands the journey.
Island Treasures
Skills Retained: Strengths-based Approach to Dementia Care
In this episode you will hear about the strengths-based, person-centered approach to dementia care from my guest Judy Cornish.
Judy Cornish is an author, founder of the Dementia & Alzheimer’s Wellbeing Network (DAWN®), creator of the DAWN Method® of dementia care, and a retired elder law attorney. Her two books (The Dementia Handbook and Dementia With Dignity) take person-centered dementia care from theory to practice by identifying the skills not lost to dementia. Through DAWN, Judy Cornish provides online training programs for families and professional caregivers, as well as certification courses for agencies and facilities. Her goal is to see dignified dementia care and aging in place become available for all.
This strengths-based approach offers the listener the opportunity to choose to look at dementia from a functional and experiential perspective instead of focusing on what the person with dementia can no longer do because of the skills they have lost. Judy offers meanings and suggestions to help us understand how to lessen our guilt, stress, conflict, pain and exhaustion as caregivers by recognizing the skills that are still present in our loved ones or care recipients who have dementia.
For more information on the Dementia & Alzheimer’s Wellbeing Network® (DAWN) and the DAWN Method® contact judy@thedawnmethod.com
And her social media links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judycornish/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theDAWNmethod
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theDAWNmethod
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