Hidden Secret Faces of Dementia and Alzheimer's - Lisa Skinner Keynote @ Global Caregivers Summit

"Truth, Lies & Alzheimer’s – Its Secret Faces" by authors Lisa Skinner and Douglas W. Collins is a concise guide for caregivers navigating the heartbreaking challenges of having a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia.

One of the key components to the books is how Alzheimer’s patients were treated during the #Covid-19 #pandemic both in memory care facilities and nursing homes as well as patients in a home environment. The chapter called 'Bringing Mom Home' details the story of singer/songwriter @PhilVassar and how bringing his mom home to Nashville was the best solution for his family during the Covid-19 pandemic. A detailed chapter is also devoted to the impact that Covid-19 had with many interesting stories and statistics.

The book and the workbook offer original thinking and counter-intuitive solutions for family members, spouses, children, and caregivers. The books provide the effective tools to effectively manage the symptoms of brain disease. You will learn techniques like joining their reality, reminiscence therapy, and techniques for the stranger in the mirror, aggression, aphasia, wandering and sundowning symptoms commonly encountered with Alzheimer’s disease.

Readers of the books will develop a roadmap to return to what matters. Caregivers and family members will feel empowered to work through the difficulties of the disease and enjoy their remaining time with their loved one(s).

Lisa Skinner provides a number of ways that you can increase the awareness of caregivers about Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Skinner’s original thinking and counter-intuitive solutions provide family members, spouses, children, caregivers and others with the tools they need to effectively manage the symptoms of brain disease.

Lisa Skinner has a rich trove of stories culled from her years in the eldercare industry and offers insight into the difficult questions families face, including:

How do I respond to a loved one’s false belief?
- Am I abandoning my parent if I place them in the care of professionals?
- How will the Covid-19 pandemic impact my choice of a memory care facility or at-home care?
- How do we make the best of our time left together?

KEYNOTE SPEAKING TOPICS:
The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Alzheimer’s Patients
Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia – Go Ask Alice!
Doggie Dementia – What Happens as Your Dog Ages
How to Empower Caregivers and Return to What Matters
The Secret Faces of Alzheimer’s Disease
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Lewis Carroll’s popular tales contain some hidden truths about the human brain that are still inspiring neuroscientists to this day. It is now 150 years since Alice first made that journey down the rabbit hole – and Carroll’s tale of Alice, the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, The Mad Hatter, et al., has inspired countless films, paintings, and even a ballet. What is less well known is the way it shaped our understanding of the brain … not just Freudian psychology and analysis, but modern neuroscience.

Truth, Lies & Alzheimer’s draws interesting parallels between Alice’s journey down the rabbit hole and the journey of many Alzheimer’s patients. It is critical to understand their world. You may remember the start of the story Alice sees a white rabbit dressed in a suit, hurry by … and with a pocket watch to boot! She decides to follow him. She enters a new world and no longer knows her way back home.

After drinking a shrinking potion, she walks through a tiny door and meets two jolly fellows, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, who begin to tell her a tale about some Curious Oysters. Alice finally finds the White Rabbit’s house. He was home. She finds a tray of cookies labelled “take one, so she did. Oh, my goodness, the cookie made Alice grow as big as the house as she hit her head on its ceiling.

Alice reached into the white rabbit’s garden and picked a carrot. Eating the carrot made her small again, so she ran in the direction the white rabbit went, once again, trying to find him.

The biggest difference between Alice in Wonderland and “Alice” suffering from dementia, is that Wonderland Alice woke up from her dream. Dementia Alice can’t wake up from her dream because this IS her real world.