Caregiving for a loved one with dementia can have a person spinning like a top. Navigating daily uncertainties is exhausting.
Will the loved one take the proper medication dosage? Or how does one tell an adult who’s driven cars for decades that he or she no longer can operate a vehicle safely?
Balancing choices is a daily tightrope act.
A recent workshop offered suggestions to help families. A hospice chaplain, a registered nurse, and a social worker specializing in elder care shared insights.
“Seeing someone you love gradually disappear is incredibly stressful,” said Stacy Williams, a social worker in a hospice setting. “Caregivers need to develop coping skills to manage emotions.”
Williams offered these suggestions:
1 Maintain a regular schedule for eating, bathing, napping etc.
2 Do fun things together such as listening to music and creating art.
3 Talk gently and be patient with the loved one who often takes a long time to form sentences.
4 Cognitive impairment may completely change a personality, so don’t take unexpected behaviors personally.
5 Set realistic expectations for what can be done.
6 Don’t feel guilty for self-care and connect with a supportive community.
“Dementia affects everyone in the family,” said Diane Schonauer, a registered nurse whose mom endured dementia for 10 years. “Being a caregiver can be lonely. It’s exhausting to have to make all the decisions.”
Hospice chaplain Josh Corbin mentioned two indicators that the end of life is nearing. “If a person can only speak five to six words a day, then time is short. Another indicator is when someone goes from eating three meals a day to taking only a few bites or sips.”
Corbin explained stages of the disease with the Functional Assessment Staging Test (FAST). A free handout is available from Medical Care Corporation at https://www.mccare.com/pdf/fast.pdf.
He cautioned that a person’s dementia has no set pattern and answers often are elusive. When making caregiving decisions, he advised, “Do what leaves you with no regrets.”
* * *Studies indicate listening to and playing music are valuable counters to cognitive decline. This March 1, 2026 article by Brittany Wong has details:
