Description

Summary - In this episode, Lisa Hamilton shares her experience of transitioning her father from assisted living to memory care. She discusses the challenges of moving belongings, managing logistics, and navigating the emotional aspects of the transition. Lisa emphasizes the importance of keeping things simple and not projecting our own feelings onto our loved ones with dementia. She also highlights the significance of small gestures of kindness and connection from the caregivers in the building. Overall, the transition went better than expected, and Lisa encourages family caregivers to ask for help and remember that each family's experience is unique.

Keywords - transition, assisted living, memory care, logistics, emotions, dementia, caregivers, kindness, connection

Takeaways -

• Transitions in care can be challenging, both logistically and emotionally.

• It is important to keep things simple and not project our own feelings onto our loved ones with dementia.

• Small gestures of kindness and connection from caregivers can make a big difference.

• As family caregivers, it is okay to ask for help and not try to do everything on our own.

• Each family's experience with transitioning to memory care is unique, and it is important for practitioners to remember that.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

04:46 Transitioning to Memory Care

06:51 Managing Emotions and Language

14:07 Changing Language and Communication

19:20 Perspective and Heartache

24:36 Keeping it Simple

29:19 Acknowledging Observations

31:36 Connections and Humanity

34:00 Small Gestures and Support

37:55 Lisa's Mother's Transition will be Part 2!