Bobbi talks with Lynn Posluns, founder and president of the Women’s Brain Health Initiative . Lynn shares with us the six pillars of brain health, giving us proven ways to reduce our risk of dementia, as well as habits to break that contribute to cognitive decline. Find out how women’s hormones affect brain health and how we actually have a lot more control over our cognitive destiny than we may realize. Don't forget to subscribe, download, and review to share your thoughts about the show! To fi...
Nov 30, 2021•28 min•Season 2Ep. 109
Bobbi & Mike chat with professional artist and Certified Dementia Practitioner, Siobhan McDonald , about her work connecting and communicating with dementia patients. With the use of art and photographs as a means to engage someone with memory loss, Siobhan is able to draw on the person’s creativity and imagination to trigger special memories. With humility, compassion and respect, she shows us how we can more effectively encourage those living with dementia to express their unique stories a...
Nov 23, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 108
In this informative episode, Bobbi & Mike take a deep dive into Denise Brown’s Six Stages of Caregiving . Throughout the caregiving journey, these tips and insights can help any caregiver manage what they must face today and better prepare for what is yet to come. Once armed with a better understanding of the role, caregivers can focus on making the experience more meaningful for the one they are caring for, their family, as well as themselves. Don't forget to follow, download, and review to...
Nov 17, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 107
Bobbi & Mike talk with Geriatrician and Primary Care Physician, Dr. Aaliya Amer . A caregiver for both her grandmother and mother with dementia, Dr. Amer understands the needs of her patients and those who are caring for them. From understanding family traditions and customs to balancing quality of life and safety, she believes Geriatricians should take the whole person into consideration as they provide treatment for patients with dementia. This conversation opens our eyes to the importance...
Nov 09, 2021•29 min•Season 2Ep. 106
This week Bobbi & Mike talk with author, inspirational speaker and caregiver, Loretta Veney . When caring for her mother with dementia, Loretta found that her mother had more lucid moments when they built with LEGOs together. So, Loretta took these valuable lessons and developed LEGO themed events for caregivers and those with dementia. Her story is one of resilience, forgiveness and meaningfulness, and infectious joy will have you rolling with laughter, right along with Bobbi & Mike. Do...
Nov 03, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 105
After 4 years of strenuous caregiving, Christina Keys had a choice to make--figure out how to change her life and live while caring for her mother or give up and make arrangements for her mom’s care after hear own death. Christina chose to live. Turning a mess into a message, her mission, through Loving Them Forward , is to make sure caregivers everywhere are seen, heard, valued, appreciated and are Never Alone. Don't forget to follow, download, and review to share your thoughts about the show! ...
Oct 26, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 104
Breaking down the walls of traditional roles, Stephen Peck of Caring Men Global gives men the tools needed to transition into and persevere as a caregiver. Steve cultivates empathy and compassion to help those who are directly or indirectly trying to fight their way out of the challenges of a difficult diagnosis. Bobbi and Mike’s discussion with Steve reveals how important it is for caregivers to be comfortable in their roles and that courage, empathy and powerful advocacy are skills that can be...
Oct 19, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 103
Join Bobbi & Mike as they talk with Keisha Jackson, Founder of Encouraging Stories , a collaborative space where caregivers, carees, and creative artists find community through expressing “emotion as art.” As a caregiver for her mother and brother, Keisha experienced the joys and sorrows of caregiving and found healing through storytelling, music, and poetry and sharing these creative expressions with others. Don't forget to follow, download, and review to share your thoughts about the show!...
Oct 12, 2021•27 min•Season 2Ep. 102
Dr. Chiadi Onyike is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His practice focuses on conditions that develop in midlife or earlier, including frontotemporal dementias, young-onset Alzheimer diseases, prion diseases, leukodystrophy, and other atypical conditions that cause cognitive and behavioral impairments and dementia. Don't forget to follow, download, and review to share your thoughts about the show! To find out more ab...
Oct 05, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 101
Susan Dickinson, MSGC, is the CEO of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD). A genetic counselor, she brings more than three decades of experience facilitating communications among lay, scientific, and medical communities. FTD is the most common form of dementia for people under age 60. It represents a group of brain disorders caused by degeneration of the frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain. “The experienced caregivers and care partners are the experts on day-to-day manag...
Sep 28, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 100
Chris Price is a family practice physician whose work with hospice has taught him that those who change their views about dying seem to live so much better. His first novel, Allison’s Gambit, was inspired by patients of his who have been caregivers to those with dementia and his continued observation that these family members often end up with tremendous guilt. “What we want is the best care for our loved ones, and sometimes in the end, a home caregiver just can't do it anymore. And if they can'...
Sep 21, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 99
Marianne is a registered nurse, author, and co-founder/manager at AlzAuthors.com . When not writing she works as a campus nurse at a community college. “What I would encounter in many cases are families that were completely over their head and not tapping into the caregiving resources that were available to them. Across the country, people can find different agencies to help, whether it's an Alzheimer's Association office or a state eldercare office,” Marianne says. “Caregivers are usually too b...
Sep 14, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 98
Jennifer has over 10 years of experience caring for her parents and grandfather. She launched her own business, Brave Caregiving, in 2019, where she helps caregivers who are struggling and professionally. She is a certified life coach, as well as a Certified Caregiving Consultant, Educator, and Support Group Facilitator. “There is so much to do. Appointments to coordinate. Supplies and equipment to order. Medications to track. People to keep an eye on. Forms to fill out. Asking for help can feel...
Sep 08, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 97
Dr. Laura Mosqueda is a professor of Family Medicine and Geriatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at USC. She is a widely respected authority on geriatric and family medicine, elder abuse, and care of the elderly and underserved. “I’ve always had a real affinity for older adults, even as a little kid,” Laura says. “Part of it, I’m sure, is because I had wonderful grandparents.” “I still remember vividly in my practice the time a patient’s husband kept saying, ‘Well, she should do this and she's...
Aug 31, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 96
Christopher A. Szpryngel is an associate faculty professor in the Malcolm Baldrige School of Business at Post University and an adjunct professor at The University of Bridgeport. Chris is completing his PhD in Human & Organizational Systems at Fielding Graduate University and his dissertation is titled Dementia in the Workplace: Employee experience after diagnosis. “Everyone's dementia is different, everyone experiences dementia differently, and you never really know what can happen. If you ...
Aug 24, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 95
Patty Collamer is a retired teacher and became a certified yoga instructor in 2017. She is also the author of Grace on the Ledge , a memoir of her childhood growing up in the ’60s and later caring for her mother after a stroke, and Grammy’s Eyes , a children’s picture book about a family adapting to changes caused by a stroke. Her most recent book is called One Simple Breath: A Caregiver’s Guide to Inner Peace . Patty introduces Bobbi and Mike to the four Brahmavihārās found in ancient Buddhist ...
Aug 17, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 94
Emily Ong is a passionate advocate for the rights of those with dementia and a prominent activist in the global dementia community. As one of the newly elected members of Dementia Alliance International’s (DAI) Board of Directors, she shares how her advocacy started and her hopes to make an impact for those affected by the condition. She was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment with the probability of young-onset dementia in 2017. DAI believes that in all matters concerning dementia the phil...
Aug 10, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 93
In her role at Honoring Choices Virginia, Laura coordinates and guides the efforts of their partners and volunteers to better meet the advance care planning needs of their community. HCV develops and provides inclusive, accessible educational resources and programming designed to support community members wherever they are in the planning process–whether learning about it for the first time or updating an existing plan. Laura brings a deeply humanistic approach to her work and is a certified Fir...
Aug 04, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 92
The Father: Anthony (Academy Award Winner Anthony Hopkins) is 80, mischievous, living defiantly alone and rejecting the carergivers that his daughter, Anne (Academy Award Winner Olivia Colman), hires to assist him. Yet help is also becoming a necessity for Anne; she can't make daily visits anymore and Anthony's grip on reality is unraveling. As we experience the ebb and flow of his memory, how much of his own identity and past can Anthony cling to? Supernova: Sam (Academy Award winner Colin Firt...
Jul 30, 2021•26 min•Season 2Ep. 91
Clare is a professional orchestral flautist, mother of 3-year-old twins, and the caregiver for her mother, Christine, who was diagnosed with vascular dementia at age 67. Christine, now 70, currently resides in a nursing home in Harpenden, UK. In 2019, after she discovered how her mother and others responded to music, she started a sing-along group, Sing from the Heart. Since going online in 2020 due to Covid they have over 200,000 views of the dozens of sing-a-long videos posted on YouTube and s...
Jul 20, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 90
Dr. Jennifer Bute was a highly qualified senior doctor in a large clinical practice whose patients included those with dementia. Then, 10 years ago, she began to notice symptoms in herself and was diagnosed with dementia. She now lives in a dementia inclusive retirement village in England and passionately educates about the disease through books, radio, TV, and podcasts. “I want to help other people and don't want them just to think that I am an interesting woman with dementia. I want to help ot...
Jul 13, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 89
Michelle Papka, Ph.D., has nearly 31 years' combined experience as a researcher and clinician specializing in the field of aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia. She is currently the director and founder of The Cognitive and Research Center of NJ and serves as the principal investigator on over 35 recent clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease, memory impairment, or mild cognitive impairment. “It's not funding, money, or other obstacles to finding a cure. It really is people willing to be in ...
Jul 06, 2021•26 min•Season 2Ep. 88
Susan is a national speaker, author, linguist, and medical professional passionate about communication, quality of life, and enabling other people’s voices. She began her career as a translator/interpreter for the Italian Ministry of Defense, later moving to clinical work as a speech language pathologist. Her firm, SpeakSkill LLC, brings together linguistic, cultural, and medical expertise to provide training and therapy in comprehensive communication skills enhancement. “People who are dealing ...
Jun 29, 2021•31 min•Season 2Ep. 87
Matt Perrin is a family caregiver for his mother, who is living with Alzheimer’s, and his father-in-law, who is living with Lewy Body Dementia. His personal experience led him to co-found Ro & Steve, a senior care review site and caregiving blog, acquired by Carely in August 2020. He currently serves as Carely’s Head of Growth and lives in southern New Hampshire with his wife, Lindsay, their three daughters, and Lindsay’s father, Steve. “The process of trying to learn from other people and f...
Jun 22, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 86
Dr. Winston Chiong is an Associate Professor in the University of San Francisco Department of Neurology Memory and Aging Center and is principal investigator of the UCSF Decision Lab. His clinical practice focuses on Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, and other cognitive disorders of aging. On June 7 the Food and Drug Administration granted conditional approval to the first new Alzheimer’s drug in 18 years Aduhelm, also known as Aducanumab. That approval is broad, making no distinctio...
Jun 15, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 85
Rory brings to his practice more than 30 years of elder law, estate planning, asset protection, and special needs planning experience. He not only understands the complex legal issues involved as a professional but also the intense emotional issues as a caregiver. His father, a World War II veteran, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for 11 years and eventually had to reside in a memory care facility. His mother battled Parkinson’s disease for 14 years. The movie I Care A Lot is about a crooked l...
Jun 08, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 84
Elisa Bosley is nondenominational Christian chaplain and the founder of SpiritualEldercare.com. She has more than 35 years of ministry experience in both church and parachurch settings. Her deep desire is to make it easy for anyone to provide much-needed spiritual care to loved ones with dementia. “Familiar faith rituals, words, and songs bring back hopeful, comforting long-term memories. Even those who can no longer speak or seem lost to the fog of dementia respond profoundly to old-time hymns,...
Jun 01, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 83
Susan Wehry, MD, is a geriatric psychiatrist with over 35 years of experience as a clinician, educator, public administrator, and long-term care advisor. She is currently Chief of Geriatrics at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she directs AgingME: Maine’s Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) and the new TeleHealthy program. “Once you get on an anti-psychotic, there is a fear among the caregiver, either staff or family members, that the behavior is g...
May 25, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 82
Dr. Emilie R. Bartolucci is currently the executive director of Private Duty Home Care at NAHC. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership and organizational development from the University of New England, a master’s in public administration from Villanova University, and she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, with a concentration in psychology. “My personal mission is to make sure that we're doing more to provide care, support, and information to...
May 18, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 81
Brooks Kenny serves as executive director of the Women’s Network at UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. She also directs the organization’s consumer–facing brain health education and engagement programs as the general manager for BrainGuide, the organization’s newest initiative focusing on bringing state-of-the-art technology to consumers across the country. Brooks has spent her career applying marketing and business know-how to social causes and has become a national speaker on women’s brain health, Alzheim...
May 14, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 80
