Increasing My Knowledge to Better Care for Clients With Dementia
Better Care for Clients With Dementia
In my ongoing pursuit of knowledge, I met with the Director of the Family Caregivers Center of Mercy in Cedar Rapids, Kathy Good, about a month ago to see if she had any suggestions for working with our clients experiencing dementia who also demonstrate resistance to performing personal cares or taking medications. These are recurring challenges for our Care Team members while working with some of their clients. Kathy enlightened me about The DAWN Method developed by Judy Cornish and recommended that I read her book, “Dementia with Dignity”. I have just completed it, have been in touch with Judy, and I am now considering enrolling in her online training classes to learn even more.
The main ideas behind this method is to first realize that people experiencing dementia lose rational thinking skills, a sense of reality, memory, and a sense of self which all contribute to their mood and sense of security. People experiencing dementia often feel embarrassed, frustrated, and sad about these losses though they may not even be able to acknowledge them, a condition called anosognosia. But, what is not lost are their intuitive thinking skills, emotions and feelings, and the ability to live in and experience pleasure in the present time. There needs to be a person-centered focus on tapping into their remaining abilities and capitalizing on those to increase their confidence and security. It is so important to educate and empower ourselves as caregivers of people experiencing dementia because we have the choice and power to really influence their mood and reality which can result in improved relationships, less stress, and more success in achieving personal care tasks or medication compliance.
I highly recommend learning The DAWN Method and I plan to continue to incorporate its concepts into educating our Care Team members as well as family caregivers for people experiencing dementia.
If someone you love is in need of care, contact us today.
