John A. Hartford Foundation Members

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Comment by Carole Larkin on September 30, 2008 at 9:08pm

One of the primary things I talk to caregivers about is their communication with their loved one with dementia. Because many of these diseases slowly take verbal communication away from the person with dementia, the caregiver needs to find another way to communicate with their loved one. this is a very difficult thing to ask caregivers to do, because we are all taught from infancy to verbalize to communicate and not to find other ways to reach others. But all senses can be used to communicate when words fail. The challenge to caregivers is to mentally break free of the confines of how we are taught to communicate and create communication thru touch, smell, taste and sight. At times even some of these senses are failing, which makes it even more challenging to communicate. But I believe that caregivers must not stop trying to find creative ways to express their unconditional love for the person who has one of these awful diseases. In the end, their love may be the only thing that clearly understood by the person afflicted, because you don't really need words to express your love for another.

Comment by Bryan Ford on August 4, 2008 at 2:50pm

Please start a discussion. I am hoping that through our dialogue about care issues, we can learn from each other about what everyone is doing research-wise and provide a forum that caregivers can look in on, read, and learn from the experts. Thanks.