Wanting to yell “help mom has dementia” can be a common plea of people across cultures, countries, and backgrounds. Alzheimer’s disease and dementia do not discriminate and can bring equal hardship to everyone they affect. To help caregivers gain a better understanding of the effects and challenges of living with someone diagnosed with dementia, this video depicts a modern-day Latino family as they struggle with a spouse and parent affected by dementia. Seeing them in action may be familiar to what you and your family are experiencing.

Help! Mom has dementia! Living with dementia can be a challenge for people with dementia, as well as people who are caring for them, whether they are direct care health providers or family members. Caregiving can present an emotional, physical, and – for family caregivers -- financial stress. It is not unusual for caregivers to experience frustration, anger, guilt, isolation, and exhaustion. In this video, Maria Wellisch presents caregivers with practical information and solutions to living with and taking care of someone with dementia. It’s a video every caregiver should watch.

This video discusses an important aspect of elderly care and managing a patient’s dementia: Determining decision-making capacity. This capacity is based on one’s physical and mental ability to provide food, clothing, and shelter; attend to physical needs; and manage finances. By watching this video, viewers learn how self-assessment, proxy reports, evaluating performance, and direct observation can help measure a loved one’s capacity and determine best options for their care. 

Presenter: Dr. Thomas Weiss
Caring for and even visiting someone with dementia can generate many questions about what to do and how to act. In this video, the presenter gives a complete overview of dementia, detailing its history, definition, genetics and risk factors. The presenter also discusses evaluation, current and future treatments, and the support that caregivers themselves need when caring for someone with dementia.

A challenging yet common aspect of caregiving is handling delirium in elders. Delirium is a quick change in an older adult’s mental state, causing them to experience changes in alertness, perceptions, and sleep patterns. Their speech may become incoherent and or they find themselves disoriented to time and place. Delirium can be confused with other mental states associated with aging. To clear up confusion, in this video Dr. Lichtenstein explains delirium in elders, helping caregivers understand the condition, its possible causes, and best responses.

When it comes to communicating with someone who has dementia, education is really important. In order to best prepared for dealing with those with dementia, you can watch the below video to get started.