“Conversation is a way we build community.“
Our desire with this podcast is to create a welcome listening space for you…the caregiver. Your listening space may be your kitchen table, a patio, front porch or fire pit. Your best listening space may be found while taking a walk, running an errand, or sitting beside a loved one. Welcome to our community!
We want to…connect with you, encourage you, offer resourceful suggestions to equip you, inform you, answer your questions, and educate each other from our own life experiences by sharing concerns and laughs.
Most of all, to communicate to you, the caregiver…we understand, and we care.
We share a common bond in this community…we are caregivers to individuals living with dementia.
Listen to all the episodes here, or click below to find the Dementia Caregivers Community on your favorite app:
Episode 17: Difficult Discussions and Decisions: Safety Concerns with Driving & Wandering
Many times individuals and families believe a dementia diagnosis immediately means a person should retire the car keys. As a primary caregiver or care partner, it is our job to address safety issues like this.
When can we expect wandering as a behavioral expression to begin?
Will driving challenges and wandering behavioral expressions occur in every journey?
Join us as we discuss seeking physician’s help, Silver Alert, tracking technology, and other community resources.
For more information on Tennessee's Silver Alert System go to www.alzTennessee.org/SilverAlert
Episode 16: Sincerely, It's Not What You Think
Sincerely: a letter from a former family caregiver and 25 year dementia care professional and supporter. Tracey Wilson, Regional Director with Alzheimer’s Tennessee shares one voice with a collective message from supported caregivers who attend Alzheimer’s Tennessee’s support groups. They would like to deliver a message to others who are perhaps a little uncertain about reaching out for assistance or encouragement... It's not what you think.
To find a support group, virtual or in person, go to alzTennessee.org/SupportGroups , or call our 24/7 Helpline.
Episode 15: The Six A's of Dementia
Communicating with a person living with dementia subtypes can be challenging and difficult to understand at times. Memory is only one factor in terms of cognitive decline. Introducing yourself and gaining a better understanding of all of the A’s can help you overcome some of the challenges and try to formulate a game plan.
Episode 14: Marketta's Musings, Blind Fear and Blind Faith
Marketta shares what she learned about caregiving by facing her own fears and watching a small child do the same at North America's longest pedestrian cable bridge.
As Marketta tells us, fear can affect our decisions as a caregiver. It's also easier to face your fears when you are not alone. Alzheimer's Tennessee's Caring and Coping Caregiver Workshops are a great way to see how others face the challenges dementia care puts in our way. Learn more and sign up for a free Workshop near you at alzTennessee.org/Workshop.
Episode 13: A Caregiver's Journey, Brady Part 2, Tough Decisions
This episode is the second of a two part conversation with Brady about his Caregiver's Journey. Marketta and Tracey pick up the discussion as Brady is faced with a tough decision about his father's care and living situation. Like many family caregivers, Brady realized his father could no longer live in his own home. Tracey, Marketta and Brady discuss the emotional, practical and financial issues that come with this milestone on the Caregiver's Journey.
Those facing a similar milestone in the Caregiver's Journey may benefit from an Alzheimer's Tennessee Caregiver's Workshop. These half day events take place across Tennessee and Southwest Virginia to help in Caring and Coping with all the issues caregivers face. Go to alzTennessee.org/Workshops to learn more.
Episode 12: A Caregiver's Journey, Brady Part 1, Role Reversal
This episode is the first of two following the journey of Brady as he cares for his father with dementia. In Part 1, he shares the difficulty he faced when the roles reverse and the son finds himself forced to make decisions for the father. Plus, hear how finding the right Support Group made all the difference.
Learn more about Alzheimer's Tennessee support groups at www.alzTennessee.org/SupportGroups .
Episode 11: Difficult Discussions and Decisions - Behavioral Expression
As the disease progresses in a person with dementia, their behavioral expression often change. These changes may be alarming or even embarrassing for a family caregiver. While every person and every disease is different, some expressions are very common. Tracey and Marketta share a far reaching discussion that will help caregivers to be ready for whatever happens along their own journey.
To learn more about behavioral expressions go to the Alzheimer's Tennessee Caregiver Academy at alzTennessee.org/Academy.
Episode 10: Sincerely, a Letter from Loved Ones
This letter is written by a former family caregiver. Her husband received a diagnosis of Early Onset Alzheimer's the same year her father passed away from complications due to Alzheimer's. Her caregiver's journey as a daughter and wife lasted almost 15 years.
A feeling of deep admiration for the consistent kindness her husband and father displayed compelled her to write a letter from their voice of influence over her life. She conveys their message as if written by them to all caregivers.
Episode 9: When the Casseroles Stop Coming
When we learn of a family in need we want to butter up a baking dish and make them a casserole. But for caregivers of those living with dementia the need for help goes far beyond what a hot dish can provide. In this episode of Dementia Caregivers Community hosts Marketta Puckett and Tracey Kendall Wilson discuss the best ways to offer help. Perhaps more importantly, they help families to get comfortable with accepting and even asking for help.
Episode 8: Adapt for the Holidays
The Holidays are full of joy, but they can be stressful. Caregivers may be doubly stressed trying to make the season bright for their loved one with dementia and for the rest their family and friends. Two of Alzheimer's Tennessee's dementia care experts, Tracey Kendall Wilson and Cheryl Blanchard, have wrapped up a big box full of practical advice to help you ADAPT your celebration to a new reality. Plus, some bonus tips from people actually living with the disease.
For even more resources to help you have a Merry Christmas, go to www.alzTennessee.org/Holidays .
Episode 7: Duck DNA
Ducks thrive in almost any situation. They swim in freezing water, fly in the air and walk on the ground. These ordinary looking water birds use their diverse traits to cope with whatever the environment requires.
What can dementia caregivers learn from that? Host Marketta Puckett explains how you can use your own varied traits and skills to deal with what ever comes your way.
Episode 6: A Caregiver’s Journey: Al and Ellen
Al first saw Ellen beautifully playing a piano with no white keys. For more than 40 years they were husband and wife as well as best friends. Today, Al is caring for Ellen who is living with dementia.
From the first signs "something was wrong" to the tough decisions dementia forces on families, Al bravely shares his "Caregiver's Journey."
Our hope is to bring a sense of community and togetherness for those on their own journey. We hope through these stories you will feel empowered and know you are not alone.
Episode 5: Difficult Discussions and Difficult Decisions - In the Doctor’s Waiting Room
Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia affect the caregiver as well as the person with the disease. The beginning of the dementia journey begins before getting a diagnosis. Marketta and Tracey discuss how a caregiver might know when it's time to see a medical professional.
Contact Tracey at tracey.kendallwilson@tnalz.org.
Episode 4: Sincerely #1 – A Letter from a Caregiver
The Dementia Caregiver Community brings you a letter from a family caregiver, Carol to her sister Sandy, who passed away with Alzheimer’s disease. We hope this letter and others like it will help you connect with each other and find comfort and inspiration from the community of caregivers.
If you have a letter to share or want to learn more about this podcast and Alzheimer’s Tennessee, please use the contact form below.
Episode 3: Dementia A-Z - Normal Aging vs Dementia
Research shows that two out of three people in the United State believe dementia is a normal part of aging. It is not. Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia is a medical condition.
In this episode, Tracey Kendall Wilson with Alzheimer's Tennessee and experienced family caregiver, Marketta Puckett discuss the differences between Alzheimer's and normal aging. Listen and learn when to know when to get help.
Episode 2: Marketta’s Musings - Managing Expectations
Our second episode is the first of "Marketta's Musings." Co-host Marketta shares the "heart blisters" earned on her journey as a caregiver. As Marketta's father was passing from complications due to Alzheimer's disease, her husband had just been diagnosed. In this episode, she looks back at her expectations of being a caregiver of two loved ones at the same time.
Episode 1: Welcome to the Dementia Caregivers Community
You will meet our hosts in this first episode. Tracey Kendall Wilson has more than two decades of experience as a professional working with individuals living with dementia, their families and their caregivers. In addition to her work with Alzheimer's Tennessee, Tracey has also traveled along with five members of her own family on their dementia journeys.
For Marketta Puckett, this podcast is a labor of love. Both her father and her husband had Alzheimer's disease. Marketta sincerely hopes to educate and inspire family caregivers by sharing what she discovered while caring for her loved ones for 15 years.
