"Ask Me Anything!" - Your Questions, answered by our Health Leaders!
On November 15th, we hosted an IG Live “Ask Me Anything” event! This was an opportunity to show the hearts behind AlzheimersDisease.net - our caregivers! Thank you for submitting your questions via this forum and our Facebook page. You can watch the entire conversation by checking out our Reels on our Instagram page (@alzheimersdisease_hu)!
Ask Me Anything Team Members: Amy Matthews, Kelsey Ramos-Conroy, Lynn Marie Witt
**This forum is now closed. Thank you for submitting your questions. We'll do our best to answer these, and others, during our "Ask Me Anything" Forum. For any questions that we do not get to, we'll try to answer them here!**
Your event is a great idea! Unfortunately I work on Tuesdays. Is it possible for a transcript to be made available for those of us who are unavailable at that time?
Hi
! If technology is on our side, we'll be able to make it available for viewing afterward! In the meantime, drop any questions you have here in this forum!
My husband has always been outgoing and he loves people. How can I impress upon him that hugging women is not appropriate in the workplace, sometimes it may be coworkers and other times even customers. He becomes defensive and argumentative, thinking I am accusing him of flirting. He misses the point when I try to explain that
Here is the response from our "Ask Me Anything"! You can watch the entire conversation on our Instagram page (look under reels: alzheimersdisease_hu
From the AMA: It’s about reframing. Our role as caregivers for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or related dementia is no longer to teach; we’re actually the students and the person with the disease is our greatest guide. It is the brain damage that is causing the inappropriate behavior so he’s not going to remember that he shouldn’t do it. Ideally, you would try to adapt to the environment. If it is happening in the workplace, if it is possible, try to help other people understand what is going on. If there is a way to have someone watching out and getting in between your husband and the individual if he is going to hug someone. Adapting the environment to a point where we don’t have to tell our loved ones, or explain. We need to remind ourselves that this is progressive brain damage and he is just not going to remember. And sometimes saying “you shouldn’t do that” can be more agitating.
Warmly, Patty, AlzheimersDisease.net Team Member
Hello, I just saw this question and I felt like I might be able to address it. One thing that helps me with my loved one is redirection. Trying to get him to move his attention away from a behavior that might not be appropriate or difficult to change. I recently took a mandatory course on appropriate workplace behavior and one thing that was impressed upon me was that some folks may not be comfortable with even innocent, friendly gestures. Maybe you could explain this to him. This would redirect the conversation off of his behavior and on to how it could be making others feel. Hope this helps. Scott AlzheimersDisease.net Team member
My dad was diagnosed in 2019 with vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s. He has a stroke in 2005, no one ever said anything about dementia. Question is the life expectancy having both of this disease? He has other medical issues as well.
Thank youThank you for the update. I appreciate how hard you are working and your care. It's truly an inspiration to all of us. Please continue to keep us updated on how the both of you are doing. Caregiving is tough and doing the best you can is all that anyone could ask for. Scott AlzheimersDisease.net Team Member
Hi! My husband has Lewy Body so he has hallucinations and illusions. Any idea how I should respond to his request that I cover up in our bedroom because he doesn't want them to see me naked? Hi
! Here is the response from our "Ask Me Anything"! You can watch the entire conversation on our Instagram page (look under reels: alzheimersdisease_hu)
From the AMA: Dementia with Lewy body is kind of a combination of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's disease, so you have progressive loss of memory and loss in ability. And simultaneously, there are a lot of those physical effects, including very vivid hallucinations and delusions. The key with hallucinations and delusions is that you don’t want to challenge someone; that can cause someone to become upset or agitated. Ideally, if the situation is not posing a danger, or is extremely upsetting to the person, then we don’t really need to challenge it. But, if that is his concern, then change your clothes out of his sight.The challenge is that people with these diseases cannot change how they react, or adapt to any environment; it is now the environment that needs to continually adapt to the person and we can always change our approach. Just go with it if it is not distressful or harmful. Then it can be easier to go along with it and be where he is.
Warmly, Patty, AlzheimersDisease.net Team Member
