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Tag: Alzheimer’s disease

Why I work to support people with Alzheimer’s

Why I work to support people with Alzheimer’s

Beth Haas, Behavioural Support Worker for the Alzheimer Society of Oxford, shares her connection to Alzheimer’s disease. Can you share what your personal connection to Alzheimer’s disease has been? First it was my grandmother who had Alzheimer’s disease. It was still called senility in the 1970s.   At an early age,  I had to travel every other weekend to support her as she struggled to remain in the farmhouse where she had spent all of her married life. And then, years…

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Recording what people with dementia and their caregivers experience

Recording what people with dementia and their caregivers experience

Often times when our families and friends begin to need elder care supports, services and information about dementia, we don’t know where to begin looking for help. By the time we know we need help, we are in knee-deep in the crisis, having to make life changing decisions without enough information. It is a frightening and exhausting time for individuals, their families and care partners. Three years ago the week before Christmas, my frightened and delirious 82-year-old mother arrived –…

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Meet Mahwesh Saleem: the next generation of Alzheimer researchers

Meet Mahwesh Saleem: the next generation of Alzheimer researchers

Brain function has always fascinated me because it’s very complicated. It’s not black and white, and so many things contribute to how you think and how you behave. That interconnection means mental health ties into your physical health, and vice versa. Because I’ve always been an analytical person, I like the challenge of figuring out those connections. Especially when the payoff is a better quality of life. As we all know, Alzheimer’s disease can affect quality of life so dramatically….

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New tax credit for safer homes

New tax credit for safer homes

Have you heard about the Government of Ontario’s Healthy Homes Renovation Tax Credit?

If you are over the age of 65 or live with someone who is senior, you could make your home safer and more accessible and the Ontario government will cover 15% of the costs.

Tips and resources: making the most of Family Day

Tips and resources: making the most of Family Day

When it comes to visiting Mom, I like the normal days, where my only expectation is to “connect” with my mom. The days I don’t like are holidays: birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Family Day – they all remind me of better times. I feel so overwhelmed by the Mom I have lost, that I don’t have the energy to “find” the Mom who is left behind. On these occasions I enlist my family members or friends to come with me. I…

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Susan Parish: Champion for Dementia

Susan Parish: Champion for Dementia

As a graduate from nursing at Western, Susan understood the devastating impact of dementia.  Prior to retirement, she worked for ten years in a long-term care home in Lindsay, where many residents had Alzheimer’s disease. It was after retirement that Susan noticed unsettling cognitive changes. During the summer and fall of 2009, Susan began to feel very nervous when driving. Her husband Brian also noticed subtle changes in spelling, numeracy, comprehension, memory and coordination.  After a prompt referral to a…

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On-ice showdown for Alzheimer’s disease

On-ice showdown for Alzheimer’s disease

On January 24, I will be hosting the fifth annual Red Stone Lake Pond Hockey invitational, an outdoor hockey tournament on Piccadilly Bay in Haliburton, Ontario. But this classic Canadian weekend of intense on-ice competition is about more than victory. Through Memory Makers for Alzheimer’s, we’ve turned the tournament into a fundraiser in honour of my father, Don de Maio, who passed away from Alzheimer’s disease last year. Our house on Piccadilly Bay once belonged to my father, who always…

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How a diagnosis helped my mom

How a diagnosis helped my mom

At first, it was small changes. My mother was losing things and getting on the wrong bus. But then I began to notice more unsettling changes. She wasn’t taking care of herself, slept a lot during the day and was becoming even more confused. I knew something was wrong. I took her to her doctor. We got the always shocking, but ultimately expected news. She had dementia. I felt mixed emotions. But knowing the source of my mother’s difficulties was…

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2014 Walk for Memories: meet walker Casey Peters

2014 Walk for Memories: meet walker Casey Peters

It all started with her cookies. My Nonna (grandma in Italian) made the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They were a staple of my childhood. One day, when I was a teenager, the cookies tasted different. It was such a small thing, but I noticed, because they had always tasted the same. When I started working part-time after school, I couldn’t bake with her as often. And the cookies changed even more. She started forgetting small details things, not remembering…

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Questions for your doctor when seeking a diagnosis

Questions for your doctor when seeking a diagnosis

My mother is 82 years of age and she is becoming much more forgetful. She constantly repeats herself and forgets everything that I say. She is also more argumentative lately and when I ask her what is wrong, she gets upset and says she is fine. What can I do? Many families are forced to confront difficult situations like this when their aging parents display signs of dementia.  It’s best to see your doctor for help and a diagnosis. According…

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