Thursday (3/5)

Today at the CARE Center, I sat down with Sarah to discuss the timeline for the care guides. We decided that we should go through with drafting all of the care guides, and instead of trying to design all of them, I could really focus on creating and perfecting the first one for a final project. I spent the morning working on more information for Volume 2. After lunch, I worked on the beginning of Volume 3. This Thursday was a caregiver meeting and music therapy session. This was probably the largest number of people I have seen at a meeting before. We discussed topics such as: when is the best time to let someone else take over care for my loved one? Should I let the care be at home or at a facility? How will I know to make this decision? I appreciate the vulnerability that takes place in these group meetings because it gives me a chance to understand what caregivers want to know and what unique questions they may have. Each meeting I always find something that can be added to the books. Today, I learned about the Compassion Allowances program for Social Security that I will be adding to the book. I also plan to add more information about decision-making for other care options such as respite or hospice care since this was a big part of today’s discussion. I also learned that you can call the fire department and let them know that you have a person with dementia living in your house and they will keep this information on file in case of an emergency, which is something I plan to add to the books.