Resources
Content with Topic Dementia .
Resources
Engaging Activities for People with Dementia: Boosting Wellbeing and Connection
Dementia remains a highly stigmatized disease, often leading to misunderstandings about the capabilities and needs of older adults affected by it. Caregivers may unintentionally overlook the importance of meaningful hobbies, activities, and pastimes for individuals with dementia due to their perceived disconnection from the world around them. However, it is crucial to recognize that, despite the changes brought by dementia, older adults still require engagement regardless of the stage of the disease.
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Creative Therapies for Loved Ones with Dementia
While dementia does not yet have a cure, there are ways to treat and soothe a person with dementia’s symptoms and make their potential anxiety, stress, moods and challenging behavior easier to manage. If you’re a caregiver for a loved one with dementia, the creative arts are a great option to consider when it comes to supportive therapies. The arts can help engage your loved one’s attention in something stimulating often soothing, while giving them a way to express their emotions and thoughts in a way they may struggle to do verbally. The arts can also be beneficial for loved ones with both intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and dementia, who may be experiencing increasing challenges in expressing themselves and confidently building and practicing skills using other means.
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Recognizing the Symptoms of Dementia with IDD
Diagnosing dementia is rarely straightforward, but can be even more challenging for those in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) community. Many of the most common symptoms of dementia such as language challenges and difficulty with coordination are often things people with IDD already struggle with. This can make it all the more difficult to separate symptoms of dementia from their pre-existing symptoms.
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Preventing Brain Disease: Risk Factors and Early Signs and Symptoms of Dementia
This session highlights preventable risk factors associated with brain disease and stress the differences in signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in the Down Syndrome population compared to the general aging population.
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Understanding and Diagnosing an Older Loved One’s Dementia- or IDD-Related Depression
Dementia, intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and depression can, unfortunately, be closely linked. An estimated 30 to 40 percent of individuals diagnosed with dementia may also suffer from depression. This number includes older adults in the IDD population who also have dementia—and who are already fifty percent more likely to struggle with mental health conditions, according to the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.Â
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