Ever since Donna and John met at work three decades ago, they've had the kind of smooth, comfortable relationship that comes when attraction is accompanied by compatible interests as well as strengths and weaknesses that balance each other. They pictured their senior years as an extension of what Donna Dean calls “this nice, easy life. We didn't see the calamity that was coming.”
Brookdale Senior Living, the nation's largest dementia care provider, has created new resources for care partners as part of National Alzheimer's Awareness Month in November. The candid discussion of many of the disease's most difficult challenges includes an up-close look at Donna's and John’s lives since he developed dementia.
The couple shares on video how following John's diagnosis, they adapted and sustained daily routines, emotional connection and affection. Donna speaks of her uncertainties about how to manage her reactions to behavioral expressions, the adjustment to John's move to a dementia care community and how keeping a journal helped her logistically and emotionally.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7722131-brookdale-alzheimers-awareness/
