Aging Care Coach

It's June again and another Father's Day is upon us. With the holiday less than a week away, I find myself scrambling for gift ideas for my Dad and my Father-in-law. Both of these men are fortunate to have the resources to purchase all of their needs and most of their wants so this leads to the annual struggle with coming up with a gift to honor them and show appreciation on this 'holiday'. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a living father - who is healthy, with whom they have a good relationship, who loves and supports them through ups and downs. For those of you whose hearts sink when Father's Day is on the horizon, my heart breaks for you. There are many reasons this holiday may cause grief for you, dear readers. Since this is a blog that focuses primarily on dementia, I'm going to focus on those of you whose fathers are living with dementia. If your father is living with dementia this Father's Day, my 'challenge' coming up for a gif...

Recently, I returned to Phoenix, AZ where I work as an independent contractor/consultant with my former employer Hospice of the Valley. I previously lived in the Phoenix area for 9 years, originally moving there for graduate school then staying an extra 7 years until my husband's work took us on our next adventure. Since my dementia work all started in Phoenix, returning feels like a return to my roots. Collaborating with my original mentors again feels comforting in a sense because they helped shape the foundation of my career. These women also keep me on my toes because they have continued to evolve and strive to elevate dementia care efforts. They are truly special humans. There will always be new ideas and approaches in dementia care because as the saying goes "when we know better, we do better". There is still so much to understand about dementia, so we are all learning together. With that said, there are also some truths that remain true over the years and de...