Dementia Resilience with Jill Lorentz: Recent Episodes
Jill Lorentz
July 17, 2024
Today my guest is one of my best friends Amelia Schafer, who is the Area Director of Memory Care for Ascent Living Communities. She has an innovative project that has launched for people with various dementia’s who are not ready for a memory care yet and she wants to “Bridge” the gap so that they may live a purposeful life for as long as possible without a locked community binding their freedom.
May 30, 2024
I had the extreme pleasure of having Joe Wallace on my show recently. Joe is a journalist and photographer who spent a significant amount of time capturing the stories and essence of people living with Alzheimer disease. His exhibit is traveling around the country and is breathtaking and powerful to view. Listen as Joe describes the process of meeting the participants, gaining their trust, and capturing their feelings about their journeys.
Portraits of Dementia is toured by ExhibitsUSA, the traveling exhibition program of Mid-America Arts Alliance, one of the six nonprofit regional arts organizations. Learn more about this exhibition at eusa.org/exhibition/portraits-of-dementia.ExhibitsUSA provides access to enriching arts and humanities experiences for communities of all sizes. To learn more about hosting an exhibition or to donate, visit eusa.org.This exhibit date is for the Littleton, Colorado area only.
February 27, 2024
Many states have approved allowing people to transition their death in a way they want, if they have a terminal disease. However, this does not apply to people with dementia diseases. The reason is because the criteria includes someone being in their last six months of life, able to say they know what is happening and can give life ending medications themselves. None of this applies to my friends with a diagnosis. What can we do and who can help? Do laws need to change? I for one say yes!
February 13,2024
No one wants to be pitied, they just want to be understood and loved. How to navigate through sadness and grief and do it in a positive way!
May 16 , 2023
When you are living with someone who is in advanced stages of a dementia disease and every day is a constant fight, how do you manage? It is stressful and emotionally taxing. Here is some help for you!
May 9,2023
Working through emotions and acting instead of reacting can help ease tension and open lanes of communication.
April 25, 2023
This show is dedicated to discussing cognitive impairment and memory loss with children. They are smart and adaptable when they are informed, and often look for ways to address the situations in ways we never even considered.
March 28, 2023
Caregiving is hard, and having cognitive and memory loss is probably even harder. We need to remind ourselves to take steps that help us stay emotionally stable through this journey. I have loads of ideas for you today! Help is just a click away!
March 14, 2023 Sometimes when we are living with or caring for a person with a dementia disease, the days can seem long, tiring and tough. This podcast is devoted to helping you through these difficult times and helping you to find joy. It is possible my friends!
February 21, 2023
A deep look at the way a person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s feels about the way they are treated and how they perceive the world.
February 14, 2023
Today I am exploring the perspective of a person with Alzheimer’s and how they feel about how they are treated after diagnosis. Extremely eye opening!
February 7, 2023
Catching up on shows – so sorry my friends!!!! This show is about focusing on people with dementia who may be violent, or those who are not safe with their care givers. Very important information!
January 23, 2023
After the holidays are over, snow and rainy weather are the norm, we have new challenges as care partners. This show aims to help you during these difficult months!
Jan 5, 2023
Today’s show is about dealing with abuse situations that need to be dealt with head on and forthright. Please don’t put your head in the sand when you see someone who is neglected or being abused.
December 29, 2022
This holiday season has shown you some things you didn’t want to see or know if you visited someone displaying signs of memory loss and cognitive impairment. Everything seems immediate! Let’s get help! What do we do 1st? Well, first – breathe! Doctor appointments are six months out, filing for Medicaid for the less fortunate takes months. Don’t get stressed out, I have some ideas for you!
December 6, 2022
My guest in studio today is Sarah Thompson, a PHD student at the University of Colorado Anschutz in Denver. She is conducting a studio on music therapy and how it benefits people who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and their care partners. She is looking for a team of 20 people for the study which begins in January. If you are interested, please contact Sarah as soon as possible to register.
To load music from Youtube, open the APP on your phone or tablet, then, on the lower right corner, you will see Library. Click library, the hit playlist. It will give you an option to create a new play list. Then hit the search magnifying glass at the top right to look for songs. When you find a song that works, touch the three dot bars on the right and it will ask if you want to save it to a playlist. TaDa! You’re done!
Sarah explains about the study:
Music processing stays intact during the Alzheimer’s disease process, even though language and other functions deteriorate.
Based on this, I developed the first caregiver training program to teach caregivers how to use music to reduce sundowning.
The whole study is remote and takes place online, via phone, and via Zoom. We are targeting home-based caregivers of individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease who have sundowning behavior. No musical skill is required
For more information, please call
Sarah Thompson at 303-817-0231
February 23, 2021 - I thought today would be a good day to explain the differences between Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care. When people look to move someone who is often elderly and with memory problems, they sometimes think they can go to an assisted living to keep the cost down. Most of the time this will not work for very long, as the staff at the community see about 70 % of people in their home suffering with cognitive impairment and can spot memory loss from a thousand paces. Independent living means the person can get around on their own, go the the store, run errands, and live on their own terms without help. I will break all of this down for you. Understanding it from the start will save you money and heartache, as well as time moving your person from here to there.
January 12, 2021 - Engagement and activities are designed to be fun, concentrating on participation, not perfection, when working with a person with memory loss. Make sure the time spent lessens stress and encourages positive enlightenment for everyone. Make communication and participation enjoyable and if it's not, make the process more simple for all of you. I have 150 fun activities that I have documented which will help and will be happy to send to anyone who asks. Today I will go over a huge part of my list.
Enjoy friends!
Jill
October 6, 2020 - Denial, anger, depression, bargaining, acceptance, these are the stages of grief. Grief doesn't have to be connected to a death to affect us. The loss of jobs, independence, our alone time, can devastate us. Loss of being around coworkers and being forced to work from home can be disheveling. We have so many emotions that are arising and upsetting us. Do you recognize it as grief? A loss of what was and the never ending changes and restrictions that are taking over our lives. No hugging, no touching! People with diagnosis are struggling too - what is this mask and why do I have to wear it? Why are you so mad at me? I hate being a burden? Did I just ask you that question? It goes on & on. I address the stages and I will try to help you through these stages, but first you must recognize them.
September 29, 2020 This show is a tribute to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. She was a remarkable woman, who gave her all on behalf of equality for all people, and changed our country in numerous ways.
September 22, 2020 Today my podcast is geared toward overcoming the frustrations we are all feeling after months of this Covid 19 pandemic. I also discuss how to engage kids with a person with dementia during this time. How can we help them to be a part of the care? Teach kids how to successfully communicate with a person with memory loss. What other ways can we avoid frustration and integrate strategies and techniques for the whole family to utilize? Listen and find out!
September 15, 2020 ~ This show is timely as I discuss the importance of effective communication when working and living with cognitive loss and language issues. Memory loss is troubling enough, but adding word salad and miscued conversations can be rough on the nerves and maddening at times. We need to let go of perfection and live in the moment, go with the flow, let the river run its course. There will come a time soon enough when language is lost and visual recognition no longer exists, which is heartbreaking by itself, and we must do all we can to mitigate the way we act, and not react, to the chaos. I dive deep into techniques and thoughtful strategies to guide you through this process.
September 7, 2020 Today my show is about taking control of your life with Parkinson's and it can be easier than you think. The disease takes a lot from you, but it does not have to take everything. Get up! Move round! Make yourself a list of things you enjoy and figure out how to start enjoying your life and adding engagement activities which will make the day go faster. People with Parkinson's have a tendency to have disrupted sleep patterns and you can end up sleeping during the day instead of the night. When this happens, no one is getting any rest. This podcast is for you and I will help you turn you bad habits around to live a more productive life.
This week I am going through books I have read over the years which will be of help to you as you care for your folks with various dementia's. I used to read the books for the Colorado Alzheimer's Association, which they sold in the lobby on Sherman street. I would read them for the efficacy and how valuable they would be for our customers. This should be a lot of fun!
June 2, 2020 is a show where I answer a listener question about who I am and how I began my company and this worldwide podcast!
May 26, 2020 Ths is a long over due and much needed conversation as I discussed various medication with Pharmacist Ross Phan. She goes into depth about vaious household and allergy drugs we use, as well as pain killers, sleep aids, dementia drugs, and more! She also talk about medical marijuana and questions surrounding its efficacy. You are going to enjoy this show and I suspect you will learn a lot! Ross works directly with her clients and after taking a close look at the drugs you are taking, coupled with genetics, and can guide you to a safer way to utilize the system to most effectively keep you safe.
To contact Ross Phan:
Ross T. Phan
PharmD, BCACP, BCGP, BCPS
Founder | Pharmacist
P: 805-391-7974
F: 805-292-0281
www.offscriptconsults.com
“Thinking outside the pillbox”
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May 19, 2020 I am using this opportunity this week to address the letters and emails from my #Caregivernation, regarding extremely hard situations that trouble them. It is distressing when you live or work with a person with a type of dementia which causes memory loss and cognitive impairment, and on top of it all, tenses run high, family dynamics add additional drama, and emotions run high. I will try to help all sides maneuver through this difficult terrain. Warning – this podcast may contain some offensive language.
May 12, 2020 This is a very candid conversation about everything you will need to know when your loved one with Alzheimer’s or other closely related dementia’s are in the activitely dying stage. My client’s generally just want the truth, I in no way want to skirt the issue and most definetly want you to know the truth so you can address all of the challenges that will arise.
May 5th, 2020 I discuss the real struggle with the reopening of cities and having your person with dementia walking around with a mask on and having to social distance. How in the world do we explain this to a person who cannot learn new information and retain it, and will not be able to understance rules when jidgment and reasoning is impaired?
Also how do you stay joyful when tension is high and you are sturggling with your emotions, and the person with the diagnosis has lost their cognition abilities and feeds off of your energy?
April 29, 2020 A Candid conversation about the cost of living with various dementia’s from a financial and emotional impact. I get real about how to prepare and how we haven’t got a clue of the risk of not learning as much as you can, when to ask questions, how to do your research and more!
April 7, 2020 As we struggle learning new ways to live with the coronavirus, many of us are noticing that her family members with various types of dementia are struggling as well. Many people struggle with collecting items in their home and keeping them for years and years. This can sometimes lead to issues of hoarding. What do we do when we are faced with this issue and the person with the dementia will not let you remove things from home? Other issues are rummaging through drawers, cabinets, closets, and other areas of the house, strewing objects haphazardly on the floor. Why are they doing this? What can we do to stop it? How do we address it without being angry? We will talk about this and many other issues on today show. In addition, I will provide techniques for assessing your own reactions as a caregiver. I will show you how to make checklists that will assess how you are addressing these situations. What are you doing well, and what can you do better? I hope you will find the subject helpful and give you some clear-cut strategies for managing your own emotions as well as the situation at hand.
Today I recorded a 2 part show. The first 1/2 hour is dedicated to living with and surviving the Coronavirus /COVID19 and what we can do to engage our people experiencing dementia and ourselves in constructive activities. The second 1/2 hour is concerning getting down to the nitty gritty of what the future holds and how to adapt to the many changes. You do not want to miss this show!
Today, March 24, 2020 As we struggle through shelter at home and the intimidating Coronavirus, I offer a view thoughts on this situation and then I had a riveting and candid conversation with my friend, Dr. Peter Pressman, about FTD. This is a difficult, scary disease that often leaves the person diagnosed and family members with a shell of the person who once was. Behaviors are off the chart disturbing, from lack of judgment and reasoning, to sexual issues, lack of empathy and extreme apathy about others feelings. The person experiencing this type of dementia (PED) generally doesn’t accept that there is a problem, and from the viewpoint of others they may appear as if nothing is wrong. Family members and caregivers will tell you this disease is even more difficult to live with than Alzheimer’s. The (PED) has a short attention span, laser focused attention on certain subjects, and loses intimacy with partners. Spontaneous interactions get lost over time and interest in friends and family relationships are often lost during this journey. They often have trouble with money, spending too much, too often, and even yours if you’re not careful. There is no cure for this dementia and we now know Aricept can be an enhanced agitator which should not be given to the PED.
Dr. Pressman is a neurologist with the University of Colorado Anschutz Rocky Mountain Center for Dementia. He came to Denver after working at University of California, San Francisco, with DR. Bruce Miller for many years. UCSF is leading the nation in Frontotemporal Degeneration studies.
A few weeks ago, I went in-depth talking about the early and mid stage of Alzheimer’s and the symptoms that come with the territory. This is a candid and hopefully optimistic look at the journey of the late mid stage and the late stage, and what we as caregiver’s can do for our loved ones when symptoms arise. Also, what do we as caregiver’s bring to the table? Our friends and family with Alzheimer’s feed off of our emotions. We set the emotional tone every time we enter the room and they are present. There are ways we can make everyone’s life easier, using strategies and techniques which I am happy to share with you during this podcast.
Today my guest was Dr. Carey Candrian from University of Colorado Hospital, discussing a new research project and study she is working on. Dr. Candrian is performing a research study, funded by the National Institute of Health, looking into the unique caregiving needs of people 55+ with dementia who identify as LGBTQ.
Presented by
University of Colorado Hospital and The national Institute on Aging
***Will you help us be part of
improving communication and health outcomes for LGBTQ individuals with
Alzheimer’s or related dementia?***
Dr. Carey Candrian and team have funding from
the National Institute on Aging to better understand the experience of people
caring for a person who identifies as LGBTQ, is 55 years or older, and is living with Alzheimer’s
disease or related dementia about your experience.
What to expect:
- Interviews are done in-person or by phone
- Interviews will last ~ 45 minutes
- Participants will receive a $50 gift card
***Ultimately, our goal is to let the stories and
experiences of actual caregivers inform the solution(s) to improving this
experience for LGBTQ people.***
Have questions?
Contact: Sue Felton
Email: sue.felton@cuanschutz.edu
Phone:
303-724-2253
Today my show was about the alarming rate of Suicide in our country, among those who are depressed and people with various dementias. I spoke with dr. Stacey Friedenthal, an expert in this subject about what we can do to recognize signs and help our friends who are struggling.
This show, February 25, 2020 is about exploring the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, cognitive impairment and memory loss. The first signs of symptoms of forgetfulness, no longer being able to learn new information and retain it, and how fear grows that someone will see how we are beginning to struggle. I talk about Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and early stage in this show. This is one you need to listen to if you need help understanding what is happening and why!
On this show, February 18, 2020, I am talking about how we speak with physicians about memory loss and cognitive impairment. What are they looking for in terms of diagnosis, and how do we describe what we are seeing? Also, how do we work with our family and friends when symptoms start to appear? How do we keep them, and ourselves calm when it seems we are losing our grip on our situation? We will talk about all of this and more!