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As people with dementia lose their ability to perform daily tasks, the caregivers struggle to find new solutions to help with these daily activities. It is crucial for caregivers to maintain their emotional and physical health.

Caregivers must prepare themselves and understand what their loved ones are experiencing and seek support, which can be a big help.

You can support and nourish your loved one’s independence and stability, but cognitive and physical regression will ultimately require 24 hour care.
With this difficult outlook, caregiving can become all-consuming as your loved one diminishes over a period of years. Grief, depression, and anger are common, but anticipating and learning about the disease can reduce your frustration and prepare you for new challenges.
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Whether living at home or in a nursing home, visiting your loved one who suffers from any form of dementia can become very challenging. Using the Montessori Methods for Dementia, here are several tips to make your visit more enjoyable and beneficial for the both of you: Read more +

We recently invited Tralee Pearce from The Globe and Mail to visit and she wrote an amazing article reviewing what we are doing here at Dementia Support. You can find the article on The Globe and Mail website or on the front page of the Life section today, January 25th, 2013. Read what she had to say:

L’Chaim is using the Montessori Method for Dementia program, a novel approach to combat dementia that has been rolling out in day centres and nursing homes across the country over the last few years. Taking the principles of the Montessori method created for children in the 1970s and applying them to adults suffering from a range of cognitive diseases, the program is seen as a ray of hope in what is often a heartbreaking reality. More than half a million Canadians are currently affected by dementia, and with an aging population, it is poised to become an even greater concern.

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Everyone becomes forgetful from time to time: forgetting where you placed the car keys, not remembering to pick up an item at the grocery store, forgetting to return a friend’s phone call. And as we age, most of us become increasingly forgetful.

But when does an ordinary memory lapse indicate something more serious, like early Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia? Can you brush it off as “just being forgetful,” or might it be mild cognitive impairment, a more pronounced form of memory loss that sometimes precedes dementia?

it is important to pay attention for signs of being forgetful, and to seek medical attention about early signs of dementia and a possible dementia evaluation and work-up.

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While there is still no cure for dementia there are definitely ways to help improve the quality of life of those who suffer from it. The use of music is one such way that has had dramatic results in some patients. Music and memory do seem to go hand in hand – the way a song can recall memories not thought of in years and can put you into a completely different mood then you were moments prior. Now caregivers are turning to music to improve the memory of those with dementia in a new kind of therapy.

We are firm believers in the power of music here at Dementia Support, with singing and dancing as a regular part of our programming. Each day we do sing-alongs with some of the favourite songs of our participants and it really is amazing to see the energy and positivity that flows when the music is playing. Ambient music while other activities are going on is another way we use music to improve the environment for those with dementia.
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Welcome to the brand new Dementia Support – Dov & Zipora Burstein Senior Centre blog! Allow us to introduce ourselves for those that may not know who we are. We are a senior’s day program located in Toronto that provides targeted support for those with dementia. We are the first day program in Toronto to focus on patients with dementia as well as the first day program utilizing the Montessori Methods for Dementia.

This means that we offer a day program that is specifically tailored to the individual needs of each person attending, ensuring health and well being: physically, emotionally, socially, intellectually, culturally, and artistically. We have seen tremendous improvements in seniors with dementia who entered our program, allowing them to maintain and even restore their capabilities to their optimal functioning potential.

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