280 Tips for Living with Dementia

AFTER putting a beautiful beef bourguignon in the fridge and then going out to do some shopping, the wife was frustrated to find her husband had feed the dish to the dog.

But for someone with dementia it could also be seen as excellent problem solving skills, explains Associate Professor Colm Cunningham, director of dementia care, Hammond Care.

Free copies of the book My Home, My Life with tips for living with dementia will be available on the book launch tour at the Scone Bowling Club on Thursday at 10am. See Community Calendar: My Home, My Life.

“The husband had done all the right things in terms of problem solving, there was a hungry dog, they keep their dog food in t fridge, there was food in the fridge, so he gave it to the dog,” said Assoc Prof Cunningham.

“Thankfully the wife was able to laugh about it and then clearly marked a box “dog food” which she placed to be the first thing he would see when he opened the fridge and kept the beef bourguignon on the bottom shelf,” he said.

“I often describe dementia as if someone is paper shredding all of your recent memories and therefore when you go to the filing cabinet it is more and more dependent on your earlier memories that you draw upon to make sense of something,” Colm Cunninghamd said.

Colm Cunningham has heard many stories of dementia carers finding innovative solutions of their own to make living with a person with dementia a little easier for everyone and has co-written a book to share the ideas with others.

“There’s no one solution for everyone or every situation and that’s what’s wonderful when you hear some of these stories,” he said.

“Leaving the bathroom light on of a night and making sure you switch off the porch light can help focus the person with dementia on where they need to go if they get up in the middle of the night.

“How to plan a holiday, an outing or be ready to go to hospital is also something people can plan for to make the experience easier.

“When people are pregnant they often have a bag ready for the hospital and it is handy to do the same for someone with dementia in case they get a urinary tract infection or chest infection and have to go to hospital.

“It is much easier for the carer if they have some familiar things packed like some photos to make them feel more at home in hospital and have them ready to go, so that they are not running back and forth from the hospital to grab things,” he said.

“There are lots of helpful tips people have shared with us and we wanted to share with other carers,” Assoc Prod Cunningham said.

Colm Cunningham co-authored the book “My Life, My Home” with Natalie Duggan which has more than 280 tips for improving the quality of life of people with dementia and their carers.

Free copies of the book will be available on the book launch tour at the Scone Bowling Club on Thursday at 10am: See Community Calendar: My Home, My Life.

There also a website where people can contribute their stories: www.dementiacentre.com/myhomemylife.

Related stories:

• Dementia Care at Home – March 9, 2017.
• Expert Eye for Care – March 8, 2017.

Authors of “My Home, My Life”, Colm Cunningham and Natalie Duggan.