Tips, suggestions, anecdotes and stories to help the caregiver get through her or his day. You’ll find something here if you’re new to this or a seasoned professional.
Millions of people fall victim to scams each year, including an increasing amount of seniors who are especially targeted. Scammers are becoming more savvy and refined with their fraudulent measures, so it is more important than ever to identity the scams before becoming a victim.
There are many reasons to get an early and accurate diagnosis if you suspect dementia. Included: treatment is sometimes more effective when started early, early diagnosis gives one time to get affairs in order, and diagnosis might be more accurate if done early. Most importantly, there are many diseases and conditions that mimic Alzheimer’s disease as well as the symptoms associated with most other causes of dementia. Many of these are treatable and even curable!
As hard as it may be to believe, there is an entirely new concept in fashion design. Advancing age as well as certain medical and physical conditions make dressing oneself difficult, even with another’s help. Immobility makes it hard for a carer to assist in dressing. However, several clothing manufacturers, including Tommy Hilfiger, are stepping up to with answers to this problem. Adaptive clothing lines help people with a variety of disabilities to dress themselves, and help care providers to more easily and more effectively do their job.
The announcement was made at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. As usual, more study is needed, but researchers are hopeful that the bioactive compounds available in maple syrup may prevent proteins in the brain from becoming entangled in a process called fibrillation. It is this fibrillation that creates the amyloid plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. If Maple syrup can prevent Alzheimer’s disesae… well that is certainly good news!
INGREDIENTS
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PROCEDURE
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These North African Meatballs are classified as a Mediterranean diet entree. The Mediterranean Diet has long been thought to protect against Alzheimer’s. If something guards the brain against damage from disease, there is a good chance that it will also slow progression of the disease as well.
This is a fun do-together recipe. Mixing the spices into the ground meat—by hand—and rolling out the meatballs provides wonderful sensory feedback for a person with dementia. Almost all of the spices in this dish are thought to provide protection to the brain. I recommend frying in coconut oil.
INGREDIENTSFOR THE SAFFRON TOMATO SAUCE
FOR THE MEATBALLS
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PROCEDUREMAKE THE SAUCE Heat oil over medium-high heat in a wide, heavy bottomed saucepan. Add onion and cook without browning until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomato paste, cinnamon and saffron, and stir well to incorporate. Season generously with salt and pepper, and allow to sizzle for 1 minute more. Add broth and simmer gently for 5 minutes. May be made several hours in advance, up to a day. MAKE THE MEATBALLS
Serving suggestions:
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This turmeric smoothie incorporates many of the natural ingredients that are being investigated for their impact on dementia and inflammation.
Author: Gena Hamshaw (The Full Helping)
Serves: 4-6 Servings
For the soup:
For the cumin toasted chickpeas:
Music is proving to be one of the most powerful therapies for people who have dementia including Alzheimer’s disease. The known benefits of music therapy for dementia include alleviation of stress and depression, improved communication, and the alleviation of pain. Music therapy will even promote physical healing. But for someone who is experiencing cognitive and memory difficulties, just playing music can be difficult or even impossible. Operating a modern MP3 player, a stereo, or a CD player is often too difficult for a person with dementia. The Simple Music Player for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia makes it easy for anyone to play their favorite music. Purchase at our online store.
A recurring problem that occurs when trying to provide direct access to music, however, has been the difficulties people with dementia face when trying to operate modern music playing equipment. Remembering how controls operate, the manipulation of knobs and non-tactile buttons, and an array of confusing symbols all limit access to the therapy that music provides. The Simple Music Player was developed with supporting research from the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering (BIME). Research findings confirm both the benefits of providing people who have dementia with music they remember, and the need for easy access to this music.
You can see from the video above that the Simple Music Player for dementia lives up to its name. It was designed to be as easy as possible for the end user to operate. Setting up the player and loading/unloading music is undertaken by friends, family or care partners, as a one time process.
Purchase the Simple Music Player at our store, or call toll free if you have any questions (877/300.3021).
Simple Music Player – Just lift the lid to start the music! BUY NOW!
*The music will always continue from where it was last stopped.
The back panel allows a USB connection for loading music, a socket for head phones (can be loud, so use caution), and ports for remote switches.
Setup is undertaken by friends, family, or carers. There are two essential operations: Setting the volume and uploading the playlist.
The volume control is designed to avoid being accidentally changed by the user. This could lead to the music being far too loud and disturbing, or too quiet and it may appear to be broken.
To adjust the volume, using a pencil or similar, press and hold one of the buttons underneath the player. You don’t need to press too hard; you should feel a gentle click like on a keyboard or doorbell. Only after holding the control for 5 seconds the volume will begin to increase or decrease, so it can be set to the appropriate level.
Tunes are loaded into the Simple Music Player by means of a USB cable connection to your computer. There is no software to install. It is compatible with all systems which support USB plug and play devices (Apple, Microsoft, Linus)
Once the SMP is recognised by your computer then it acts as if it were a standard USB stick or some external memory location; simply copy your music files from the computer to the SMP. You can either ‘cut and paste’ or ‘drag and drop’; whichever you prefer. Tunes can be individually uploaded or deleted at anytime using this method.
If you like we can load some music for you before we ship—see our Simple Music Player with Music option!
The Simple Music Player is an MP3 player which also will play MPEG4, WMA, WAV, and AAC music files. It comes in three versions: Red, Green and Burr-Walnut. They are functionally identical so they all operate in the same way. Because of the additional steps in creating the finish, the Burl-Walnut version is $30 more.
The intention is for the player to be installed and left powered on, allowing the user to operate it at will without any other requirement than to lift or lower the lid to start or stop the music.
The only other control available to the user is a large button which skips to the next tune when pressed.
The Simple Music Player has been designed with the minimum of controls and has been extensively tested as well as trialled by the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering (now ’Designability’).
The construction is highly durable consisting of a strong wooden enclosure with a high strength plastic covering. The loudspeaker grille is cloth finished but reinforced with a steel mesh to avoid any damage to the speaker. Rubber feet ensure that the player does not slip. It can be wiped down with a damp cloth if required.
The Simple Music Player can be used anywhere in the world. It is configured to suit your national power supply at point of order.
Buy the Simple Music Player for Dementia at our Online Store!
Holly and I just got back from Europe where we hammered out some of the remaining details with our European partners, Ana and Žiga, concerning expanding the reach of Best Alzheimer’s Products into the European Union. Ana initially contacted me several years ago. Her mother has frontotemporal dementia, and Ana knew long ago that there is more to caring for her mom than just ensuring that her basic needs were met. When she found our website she found confirmation for her conviction.
Ana and her business partner Žiga live in Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia, a small Adriatic country that nestles among Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Austria. To be honest, though I’d heard of the country, I couldn’t have located it on a map the first time Ana emailed me. But I knew it was in Europe, and I knew that Europe has a need. I knew that because of the number of visits our website receives from Europe.
A Typical Street in Ljubljana, and By Typical I Mean Cuter Than You Can Imagine
It took some time, but our European store is up and running. Not all of our products are available to the European market,* but many of our best are in Slovenia now and ready to ship to European destinations. And we are adding more almost every week. We are combing the continent for good products that are European made, but we will continue to export some of our favorites to Slovenia when suitable alternatives are not available.
Looking back, we accomplished a lot via email and Skype. But we are glad that we went in person to put some of the finishing touches on the deal, and to meet Žiga and Ana in person. We met some other great people as well, including Žiga’s wife Romana and their son Luca, and Ana’s boyfriend, Aleš. Romana will eventually help to run the company in Slovenia. Aleš promised to do what he can, when he can, to help spread the word.
Visit us and watch us grow!
Ana’s initial reason for reaching out was to explore the possibility of expanding Best Alzheimer’s Products into Europe. I was interested in her proposal. Very interested! Best Alzheimer’s Products has a fairly large international following. Our website gets thousands of visits from outside the United States every month; maybe thousands every week. We ship to foreign countries almost every day. But it is expensive to ship internationally. I have been looking almost since we started our business to find a more economical way to get our products into the hands of people outside our own country, people who need and can benefit from them. Ana was looking for the same thing.
All of the partners at dinner on our first night in Ljubljana. From left to right: Žiga, Ana, John, Holly.
Ana and I emailed and Skyped periodically for the next months, but we were never able to move our idea forward. I am busy, and she is even busier. More of that later. It was a matter of timing, and our perfect time finally came. Alzheimer Europe, the umbrella organization that brings together Alzheimer’s organizations from all around Europe, scheduled it’s 2015 annual conference in Ljubljana. How perfect! The ideal time and place to announce our intention and inaugurate Best Alzheimer’s Products Europe had blossomed as if out of the ether.
Two expressions come to mind. “Timing is everything,” and “Some things are meant to be.”
Now that we have been to Ljubljana and met them it is obvious that this was meant to be. Some time ago Ana had introduced us to Žiga, her partner in several of her business endeavors,but, of course we hadn’t yet met either of them in the flesh. Both Ana and Žiga were clearly excited about the prospect when she suggested during one of our Skype meetings that Holly and I come to Slovenia for the event.
WOW!
Holly and I had talked about travelling to Europe for several years, but it wasn’t for business reasons. I have family there. Holly had never been to the continent. Now, suddenly, here was an excellent reason and an opportunity. An international event at which to announce Best Alzheimer’s Products Europe. Slovenia was never in our travel plans before. Germany and Italy and France; maybe Scandinavia; maybe Spain. Nothing on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. Slovenia? Where’s that?
All of us at the 25th Alzheimer Europe Conference with Štefanija Lukič Zlobec (center), president of Spominčica, Alzheimer Slovenija
That was before; now we know exactly where Slovenia is. And oh what a week we had! We love Slovenia and now think of Ljubljana as a second home, even though we were there only five days. We can’t wait to return. And we have family there now!
The picture at the top of this page is one of the many iconic landmarks in this beautiful city, the Ljubljana dragon. Another landmark, St Nicholas Cathedral can be seen in the background. There is legend associated with this dragon, and sometime I’ll tell you about it. I’m still learning.
Ljubljana is surrounded by mountains. From the top of the tower at Ljubljana castle one can see for miles in every direction; and in every direction are mountain ranges. One day soon I will know what those mountain ranges are, but for now suffice it to say that the view is breathtaking.
On our last night there we had dinner at the castle. The weather was beautiful. The setting was exquisite. And the company was fabulous! Romana and Aleš a joined us. Holly and I felt totally at home. During dinner Ana said it for all of us: “I feel like I’ve known you guys forever.”
The Courtyard at Ljubljana Castle (Ljubljanski grad)
*Some of the things we sell in the U.S. would not be appropriate in Europe for cultural reasons, or because of language requirements. Additionally, many things sold in Europe require a special certification, a “CE mark” that is the manufacturers assurance that the product complies with the essential requirements of the relevant European health, safety and environmental protection legislation. Though our products have been tested and deemed safe for sale in the U.S. market, some of the manufacturers we work with haven’t gone that extra step to make their products available to European buyers. We are working with them.
