{"id":3891,"date":"2013-10-31T13:23:38","date_gmt":"2013-10-31T13:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blackhealthmatters.com\/?p=3891"},"modified":"2025-10-21T14:44:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T18:44:30","slug":"dealing-with-dementia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/","title":{"rendered":"Dealing With Dementia"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>Caregiving advice from someone who has been there<\/h4>\n<p>Here&#8217;s my advice based on my experience as a daughter, caregiver and health journalist, but I am not a medical expert:<br \/>\n<strong>Cherish your time together<\/strong>. Spend as much time with your loved one as possible. Try to call daily if you&#8217;re out of town. Besides strengthening your bond and lifting both of your spirits, you&#8217;ll be better able to monitor any changes. Focus on joy.<br \/>\n<strong>Have the talk(s)<\/strong>. It&#8217;s best to know your family&#8217;s preferences on everything from caregiving to emergency or <a href=https://blackhealthmatters.com/"https:////blackhealthmatters.com//our-health//news-our-health//racial-differences-in-end-of-life-care///">end-of-life care<\/a> long before you need to act on them. Designate a point person to serve as the health-care advocate, and complete the necessary paperwork to ensure that medical personnel will share information with you.<br \/>\n<strong>Do your homework<\/strong>. Learn as much as you can about dementia, its symptoms and its relation to other health conditions.<br \/>\n<strong>Know your options<\/strong>. Investigate resources and support services in your area.<br \/>\n<strong>Roll with it<\/strong>. Enjoy the conversations, and make the most of the journey. Allow them to be the adults that they are, without patronizing them. Avoid finishing their sentences or cutting off repetitiveness.<br \/>\n<strong>Don&#8217;t take things personally<\/strong>. Anticipate various outcomes, and expect the unexpected. Some things might be beyond your parent&#8217;s control; not necessarily on purpose.<br \/>\n<strong>Focus on safety<\/strong>. Think about cooking, falling and driving for starters. Talk to a professional for strategies, if necessary, especially if there&#8217;s a problem separating your parent from the car keys.<br \/>\n<strong>Pace yourself<\/strong>. I have friends who feel guilty if they enjoy themselves while a relative is ill, but it&#8217;s important to <a href=https://blackhealthmatters.com/"https:////blackhealthmatters.com//mind-body//recharge-your-batteries///">recharge your batteries<\/a>\u2014unless you, too, want to be ill or worse. (It happens to caregivers all the time.) Keep in mind that you can give more, not less, if you <a href=https://blackhealthmatters.com/"https:////blackhealthmatters.com//health-conditions-hub//alzheimer//dementia-takes-toll-on-unpaid-caregivers///">take some time for yourself<\/a>. You deserve a break, and you need it\u2014especially if you&#8217;re a primary caregiver.<br \/>\n<strong>Build your angel network<\/strong>. Lean on family and friends. Consider joining a support group. Two childhood friends, Pam and Elizabeth, who have been there and done that when it comes to caregiving and dementia, were\u00a0my rocks. They were\u00a0my ride-or-die chicks who were\u00a0ready for whatever\u2014prayer, meals, visits, laughter, adult beverages, reality checks, diversions. My mother loved them as much as I did.<br \/>\nAt my lowest point, Pam whisked me away for a free dance class at the community center in our old neighborhood. It worked wonders. I focused only on my feet and the beat for an hour or so. I felt rejuvenated, and I did the same for another friend when I returned home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Caregiving advice from someone who has been there Here&#8217;s my advice based on my experience as a daughter, caregiver and health journalist, but I am not a medical expert: Cherish [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6550,6548,1957],"tags":[704,1313,706],"class_list":["post-3891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alzheimers-dementia","category-condition","category-health","tag-alzheimers","tag-caregivers","tag-dementia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dealing With Dementia - Black Health Matters<\/title>\n
<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=https://blackhealthmatters.com/"https:////blackhealthmatters.com//dealing-with-dementia///" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dealing With Dementia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Caregiving advice from someone who has been there Here&#8217;s my advice based on my experience as a daughter, caregiver and health journalist, but I am not a medical expert: Cherish [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Black Health Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/blackhealthmatters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-31T13:23:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-21T18:44:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dealing-With-Dementia.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"506\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"338\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Black Health Matters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BHMinfo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BHMinfo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Black Health Matters\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Black Health Matters\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fe74ac2cd86e246ac090dc9325ccc844\"},\"headline\":\"Dealing With Dementia\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-31T13:23:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-21T18:44:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/\"},\"wordCount\":446,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dealing-With-Dementia.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alzheimer's\",\"caregivers\",\"dementia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alzheimer's\/Dementia\",\"Condition\",\"Health\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2013\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/\",\"name\":\"Dealing With Dementia - Black Health Matters\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dealing-With-Dementia.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-31T13:23:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-21T18:44:30+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dealing-With-Dementia.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dealing-With-Dementia.jpg\",\"width\":506,\"height\":338},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dealing With Dementia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/\",\"name\":\"Black Health Matters\",\"description\":\"Black Health Matters, News, Articles, Stats, Events\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"BHM\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Organization\",\"Place\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Black Health Matters\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#local-main-organization-logo\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#local-main-organization-logo\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/blackhealthmatters\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/BHMinfo\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/blackhealthmatters\"],\"telephone\":[],\"openingHoursSpecification\":[{\"@type\":\"OpeningHoursSpecification\",\"dayOfWeek\":[\"Sunday\",\"Monday\",\"Tuesday\",\"Wednesday\",\"Thursday\",\"Friday\",\"Saturday\"],\"opens\":\"09:00\",\"closes\":\"17:00\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fe74ac2cd86e246ac090dc9325ccc844\",\"name\":\"Black Health Matters\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6ddb166d87c4b453f069d5181d34c1e792e75d1472560e509c9c0895a695f99?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6ddb166d87c4b453f069d5181d34c1e792e75d1472560e509c9c0895a695f99?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Black Health Matters\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/author\/bhmadmin\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#local-main-organization-logo\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/BHMLOGO_Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/BHMLOGO_Black.png\",\"width\":4657,\"height\":2606,\"caption\":\"Black Health Matters\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dealing With Dementia - Black Health Matters","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dealing With Dementia","og_description":"Caregiving advice from someone who has been there Here&#8217;s my advice based on my experience as a daughter, caregiver and health journalist, but I am not a medical expert: Cherish [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/","og_site_name":"Black Health Matters","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/blackhealthmatters","article_published_time":"2013-10-31T13:23:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-21T18:44:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":506,"height":338,"url":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dealing-With-Dementia.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Black Health Matters","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BHMinfo","twitter_site":"@BHMinfo","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Black Health Matters","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/"},"author":{"name":"Black Health Matters","@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fe74ac2cd86e246ac090dc9325ccc844"},"headline":"Dealing With Dementia","datePublished":"2013-10-31T13:23:38+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-21T18:44:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/"},"wordCount":446,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dealing-With-Dementia.jpg","keywords":["Alzheimer's","caregivers","dementia"],"articleSection":["Alzheimer's\/Dementia","Condition","Health"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2013","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/","url":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/","name":"Dealing With Dementia - Black Health Matters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dealing-With-Dementia.jpg","datePublished":"2013-10-31T13:23:38+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-21T18:44:30+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dealing-With-Dementia.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dealing-With-Dementia.jpg","width":506,"height":338},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dealing With Dementia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/","name":"Black Health Matters","description":"Black Health Matters, News, Articles, Stats, Events","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#organization"},"alternateName":"BHM","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Organization","Place"],"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#organization","name":"Black Health Matters","url":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/","logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#local-main-organization-logo"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#local-main-organization-logo"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/blackhealthmatters","https:\/\/x.com\/BHMinfo","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/blackhealthmatters"],"telephone":[],"openingHoursSpecification":[{"@type":"OpeningHoursSpecification","dayOfWeek":["Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday"],"opens":"09:00","closes":"17:00"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fe74ac2cd86e246ac090dc9325ccc844","name":"Black Health Matters","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6ddb166d87c4b453f069d5181d34c1e792e75d1472560e509c9c0895a695f99?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6ddb166d87c4b453f069d5181d34c1e792e75d1472560e509c9c0895a695f99?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Black Health Matters"},"url":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/author\/bhmadmin\/"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/dealing-with-dementia\/#local-main-organization-logo","url":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/BHMLOGO_Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/BHMLOGO_Black.png","width":4657,"height":2606,"caption":"Black Health Matters"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}