WAM’s video featuring touching stories of caregivers and their loved ones on the frontlines of Alzheimer’s.

Maria Shriver recently spoke with preeminent neurologist Dr. Frank Longo about the promising Alzheimer’s research taking place today.

When you’re lost in the woods, the best thing to find is a friend who knows where the path is, knows where the clearings are, knows how to build a fire to keep you warm, how to forage for food, can take your hand and say, “Let me show you the way.”

When you’re lost in the woods, the best thing to find is a friend who knows where the path is, knows where the clearings are, knows how to build a fire to keep you warm, how to forage for food, can take your hand and say, “Let me show you the way.”

If we care, then perhaps we can find ways to remove the obstructions so that the clear waters of the self can begin to flow again. And even a small sip of the shared inner essence of others and ourselves can be soul–filling for all.

I had a personal experience that I believe demonstrates this. I volunteer to visit three ladies with dementia at a local memory care facility. One of the ladies I was assigned to visit was named Doris.

The truth is, caring for aging parents is an experience that’s hard to relate to unless you’re going through it. None of us can easily imagine just what life is like with a parent who needs help doing the simplest things like eating, getting in and out of bed or god forbid, going to the bathroom.

Eldercare includes everything from caring for a parent’s personal needs to also tending to all the other “stuff,” such as doctor visits, finances, emergencies, mail, groceries, nutrition, pets and much more.

There are so many websites with advice and information for caregivers that it can be hard sometimes to find what you need or to even know where to start. Here are some great sites, organized by topic.

No one gets convicted in a court of law for unexpressed thoughts alone. But many caregivers show no mercy to themselves for their human limitations.

Over the past 9+ years spent as a primary caregiver for my mother in her advanced Alzheimer’s state, I’ve stepped back and thought about the five most important things I have learned so far on the journey.

“His eyes twinkled…and then he was gone. His soul showed up to say goodbye, to prove that Alzheimer’s can steal much from a person, but it can’t touch the soul.”

“I believe that with any chronic progressive illness, we are presented with moments of insight. What we do with them defines us in ways we might never have imagined.”

When relating to a person with Alzheimer’s there are many guidelines to follow. Here are five basic guidelines.

Even with training, it can be very difficult caring for and relating to with someone with dementia. However, there are some practical facets of interacting with someone who is functioning with one form or another of dementia.

“I think it’s time to realize that there are problems for which there are no good solutions. I want to honor the caretakers who give it all they’ve got and decide they have to take action to save themselves, even if it disappoints them in their own eyes.”

“I think it’s time to realize that there are problems for which there are no good solutions. I want to honor the caretakers who give it all they’ve got and decide they have to take action to save themselves, even if it disappoints them in their own eyes.”