by Joyce Lee
Those who haven’t experienced it might not realize, but caring for someone with dementia can be a grieving process, Alison Lynn, assistant director of care programs at Penn Memory Center, said last month at the Ralston Center’s workshop for family and caregivers of older adults with dementia.
As a social worker at the Penn Memory Center, Lynn explained she often helps caregivers with three major tasks:
- building feelings of self-worth and self-care
- communicating personal needs to family and friends
- managing the behavioral needs of their loved ones.
With the last point, Lynn said she often asks caregivers to be “behavioral detectives” and observed that behavior can be the patient’s way of communicating.