Mom is no longer in our orbit of care. Neither I nor my father—who still visits her everyday—can know what befalls her during her day.

Are bed rails a hazard or are they helpful devices in a dementia ward? I’ve seen horrifying photos recently on Facebook groups of loved ones with bruises and breaks due to falling out of bed. One woman in England wrote about a bed tent that was given to her grandmother to use instead of a restraint. This is a tent that zips up and around a bed and encloses someone inside. An interesting idea, but for someone with dementia, who would be unable to unzip the device, it caused he

With the very first note, Mom was standing by the piano. As “Somewhere” from West Side Story took shape and became familiar, Mom started singing with such feeling, such strength, that it brought tears to my eyes. Here was the exuberant mother I was missing. I’d taken Mom to my friend Hannah’s house for a “concert.” Hannah teaches piano, and though Mom can’t learn music anymore, I wondered if she would enjoy singing along to songs and music that she knows. The answer was overw

At what point does the life of a caregiver become the focus in a relationship with a patient? What are the caregiver’s obligations to her loved one? Is a caregiver allowed to question his methods of care? Are they adequate? Do they allow for the caregiver to also live fully? In Contented Dementia,* Oliver James calls this the “tipping point.” He advises caregivers to define this emotional scenario well in advance of it occurring so that arrangements can be made to move the pa