For years, The Caregiver’s Voice featured Caregivers of the Month and people with dementia in our Voices with Dementia column. Both proved rewarding as we learned more about people who are inspiring. Unfortunately, administering these two monthly columns grew beyond our capacity of time, energy, volunteers, and mostly personal funding.
If you’re like me, in your fleeting moments of calm, you wonder about people who have touched your life.
When I find myself thinking repeatedly about a person, I will contact that person. It’s not always easy. We lose touch and I can’t find them. Online, their profiles have not been updated for months. Even so, my efforts to contact them sometimes prove fruitless.
What Happened to the People (VOICES) with Dementia?
For instance, four people in the graphic above have passed. Another four have moved, including one who found a new partner.
Remarkably, of the remaining dozen, a few are holding on. They are engaged in activities at home or contributing their experiences to organizations. Among the 16 featured above, a few have received revised diagnoses—e.g., instead of Alzheimer’s, one received a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and another, fronto-temporal lobe dementia.
Of the 11 images in the collage below, seven people have remained active. Not only have they worked hard to raise awareness in living with dementia, they also serve as resources for those seeking to gain a greater understanding of dementia. Some, have written books and articles. Some speak at conferences. Others have stepped back from their longtime organizational commitments to focus their limited time and energy on their own lives.
What happened to The Caregivers of the Month?
Among those Celebrating The Caregiver’s Voice Caregivers of the Month, two have let their friends know via social media of their spouse’s passing. After deep grief and lost meanderings, they’ve found love again and remarried. One of them has grandbabies that fulfill her life with abundant joy and make me smile.
I would love to receive your updates. Please share in the comments section. Research studies only go so far. You’re the real thing—the living example for others.
Bottom Line Updates: LIFE goes on after diagnosis. LIFE goes on after caregiving.
Consider, when one hesitates to reach out to someone, or postpones making the connection, it, it may be too late. Pick up the phone. Send an email, a text message, or a private message via social media, and then share your own Walk Down Memory Lane.
The post Where are the Caregivers and People with Dementia, Now? first appeared on The Caregivers Voice.
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By: Brenda Avadian, MA
Title: Where are the Caregivers and People with Dementia, Now?
Sourced From: thecaregiversvoice.com/voices-with-dementia/where-are-the-caregivers-and-people-with-dementia-now/
Published Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2022 15:30:01 +0000
