Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Now or Never: Long-Term Care Strategy is a podcast for all those seeking answers and solutions in the long-term care space. Too often we don’t fully understand the necessity of care until it’s too late. This podcast is designed to create solutions, start conversations and bring awareness to the industry that will inevitably impact all Americans.
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: But
inevitably we know that it's
possibility for all of us now if
there is a familial history of
it, we have a higher chance of
developing it does not mean that
we're going to get it we just
are more predisposed to it but
we have some control over it to
be able to say, Okay, I'm going
to try to live the healthiest
lifestyle I can, with the
ability to lower my risk.
Caroline Moore: Welcome to Now
or Never Long-Term Care Strategy
with Kosta Yepifantsev a podcast
for all those seeking answers
and solutions in the long term
care space. This podcast is
designed to create resources,
start conversations and bring
awareness to the industry that
will inevitably impact all
Americans. Here's your host
Kosta Yepifantsev.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Hey, y'all,
it's Kosta. today. I'm here with
my guest. Dr. Jennifer Stelter,
clinical psychologist, dementia
expert in John Hopkins press
author specializing in dementia
care. Dr. Stelter is a certified
dementia practitioner, certified
Alzheimer's disease and dementia
care trainer recognized by the
National Council for certified
dementia practitioners. Today
we're talking about dementia,
mental health and how to lower
the risk of Alzheimer's. Dr.
Stelter, as a clinical
psychologist, you've spent the
majority of your career
researching, developing and
experimenting to provide
innovative solutions and
treatments in the dementia care
space. How did you start working
in this field?
Dr. Jennifer Stelte: Absolutely.
First, thank you for so much for
having me on, I appreciate it.
You know, my journey is quite
different than a lot of
healthcare providers, or, you
know, caregivers who move into
this space. I'm a clinical
psychologist by trade, as you
mentioned, and the earlier part
of my career actually was spent
strictly in mental health. And
so I work with a wide variety of
clients, you know, anywhere from
folks with me, you know, minor
depression all the way through
severe, you know, cognitive and
psychotic, you know, events and
things like that. And so, you
know, when I was in my postdoc,
actually, I started a project
with Northwestern here in
Chicago, Illinois, and the Heinz
VA, where we were looking at
helping seniors to live a
healthier lifestyle. So that was
kind of my first exposure to the
senior population. And I just
absolutely fell in love with
working with them, spending time
with them, talking hours with
them about their, their life
experiences, and I learned a
tremendous amount. And so to
myself, I said, you know, I
really think I have something
here in terms of where my
interest might lie for the rest
of my career. And so, after my
postdoc had completed, I
actually entered into senior
living, and helped in the
behavioral health realm. And so
here in Illinois, a lot of
individuals who have mental
health challenges do end up
seeking services in nursing home
kinds of settings, because it
isn't available mental health
services, you know, to the
spectrum that it used to be. And
so that's kind of where I
started in senior living, and
then quickly transitioned into
working in memory care. And so
you know, in the same realm,
when I was working with seniors,
at the Heinz VA, Northwestern, I
absolutely just fell in love
with folks living with dementia.
They're, they have so much fun
during the day, and they are
just the sweetest folks. And so
when I started to kind of embark
upon that journey, I realized,
wow, I really can make a
difference here. And where I
started to kind of unravel the
onion was talking to a lot of
nurses, certified nursing
assistants, family members, and
they just struggled with
understanding what the disease
was about how it progressed,
what happens to the person, and
what can you actually do to
connect with people living with
dementia, because many of them
were struggling with how to do
this. And also further, I
learned that there wasn't a lot
of quality education out there
for people seeking the need to
be able to care for people
living with dementia. And so at
that point, I said, I can take
my psychology, experience and
education and really apply it to
this world of dementia, and be
able to really make a
difference. And, you know, most
people they enter into this
industry because they have a
loved one or someone that they
were very close with who
developed the disease. And I
actually quite the opposite
actually entered it because of a
love and passion and a calling
for it. And then later on
actually had a grandmother in
law who developed Alzheimer's
disease and was able to be a
good asset to the family. So
it's kind of a reverse for me,
and I just really haven't looked
back ever since.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Well, let's
give our audience some
background information for the
rest of the episode. How does
dementia affect the brain?
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: Yes, so
when we talk about specifically
Alzheimer's disease, Um, because
there are many forms of
dementia. So with Alzheimer's
disease being the most common,
we'll kind of start there. You
know, there are I like to really
kind of talk in, in, you know,
words that anybody can really
understand, right? So there's
plaques and tangles that form in
the brain that are called
protein deposits, right, they
can kind of they can glom
together like a, what I like to
call like termites on wood,
right. So, you know, we know
when termites affect wood, they
actually eat away the wood until
it's gone. So the protein
deposits are actually doing that
they're eating away that portion
of the brain work formed. And
unfortunately, several protein
deposits kind of form around the
brain. Now, the reason that
these Protein Protein deposits
form are from many different
factors. Some are lifestyle
factors, some are genetic
factors, okay? And when these
protein deposits form, they
don't break up. Okay. Now, you
and I may have protein deposits
formed in our brain, but
they're, they break up, right.
Okay, interesting. And so what's
happening is they don't, they're
forming together, and they're
eating away parts of the brain.
Now, those parts of the brain
that are being kind of eaten
away, are, you know, they how
has many functional skills for
us that keep our brain and our
body going. And when that part
of the brain is gone, the person
can no longer use those skills
are no longer present anymore.
And so that's like kind of high
level what's happening with
Alzheimer's disease. Now, there
are other forms of dementia that
we, you know, more commonly know
about now, because of folks like
you who are spreading the word.
Many different kinds of gurus in
dementia care myself, and so on
and so forth. Right. So things
like we've learned more recently
about frontal temporal dementia,
right? We've learned about Lewy
bodies dementia, right? We've
learned about vascular dementia,
right? These are all forms of
dementia. And they affect the
brain differently. But when we
talk about Alzheimer's disease
being the most common, that's
really what's going on as the
disease progresses.
Kosta Yepifantsev: So the other
forms of dementia and believe it
or not, I did not know that
dementia was a symptom of
Alzheimer's, even though I've
been in this industry for a
decade. That is a misconception
that a lot of people get wrong,
you know, and so I've been
educated as well. And I'm glad
that people that tune in they
get an opportunity to understand
the difference. So if
Alzheimer's is caused by the
proteins, the built up of the
plaque, and the tangles, are the
other forms of dementia, the
Lewy Body, the vascular
dementia, are those also caused
by the same plaque buildups in
the brain? Or is that is that a
different? Cause?
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: There are
different causes related to
that. So for example, when you
talk about, like Lewy bodies,
dementia, or I'm sorry, like
vascular dementia, with vascular
dementia, it's brought on by a
series of strokes. And so
depending on where the stroke
was in the brain, that is going
to impact those functional
deficits. Now, if the person has
multiple strokes that affect
various areas of the brain, then
of course, the brain is more
impacted. Right. Okay. And so
yeah, it depends. I mean,
obviously, you know, we can go
into each one of those. But I
think that what's important to
know is that these various forms
of dementia do impact the brain
in different ways. And
unfortunately, it does cause
what is a loss of mental
functioning, which is what
dementia is. And that loss of
mental functioning can cause
deficits and orientation,
memory, language learning
ability and judgment, right. And
so depending on which symptoms
they have, that can equate to
this form of dementia. And as we
were saying, you know, dementia
is just an overarching term that
it can be shown up in all of
these various diseases. So when
folks say something like, my mom
had Alzheimer's disease, she
didn't have dementia. That's not
accurate, right? Because if she
had Alzheimer's disease, she had
dementia. Right. But when
someone has dementia, they may
not have Alzheimer's disease, it
might be something else. Yeah.
Kosta Yepifantsev: So let's
focus on Alzheimer's. Two
questions. What are the stages
of Alzheimer's disease? And at
what stage? Is it normally
apparent to the people around
you?
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: Sure,
absolutely. So for simplicity
purposes, there's early middle
and late stages. Okay. Now, for
any folks who are turning and
who are tuning in who might be a
little more clinical, I like to
use the functional assessment
stage called the fast
assessment, and that breaks it
down into seven stages. And that
just allows us as clinicians to
be able to pinpoint a little
more fine tuned ly where they
might be in in the progression.
But for early, middle and late
stages, where we start to
actually see some changes where
other people can notice is
definitely in the later parts of
the early stage. Now, early on
folks who are living with it, do
notice that there's a difference
but they may not want to talk
about it, they may not want to
admit it, right. But they know
something's different. Where
again, where it's picked up on
with from other people is when
it's later in that earlier
stage. And so what loved ones or
even clinicians might start to
pick up on is, you know, when
the person has repeated their
stories, you know, over and over
again, and they are saying it as
if they have never said it
before, right? It's not apparent
to them that they're repeating
it, right. They're losing things
quite often. So it's not where
you lose one thing. So people,
you know, they freak out, like,
oh, my gosh, I lost my keys
today, do I have dementia?
Probably not. Right. But you
know, if you start to lose
subsequent amount of things,
driving to places and not
knowing how to get home,
especially places that they've
driven to quite often, and it's,
you know, what we call a skill
of procedural memory, where it's
almost automatic, you know, how
to drive to and from, and now
you struggle with that, right?
When there's problem solving
challenges, right, you're not
able to kind of work through
some of the day to day things
that we are normally can. When
there's challenges around
compliance of medication, right,
they're either not taking their
medications or they're
overtaking them. Financially,
there's challenges where we
start to see that either they're
not paying bills, or they're
overpaying bills, right? Or,
unfortunately, we see quite a
number of seniors being scammed
financially, and falling into
kind of those buckets, right.
And so when we start to see an
impact, like I said, on driving
skills, medication management,
financial management, you know,
problem solving organizational
skills, some short term memory
deficits, that's where we start
to say, we need to start to seek
help.
Kosta Yepifantsev: And I see a
lot of people, in my opinion,
think that this is a very small
population that are going to
develop a some form of dementia.
But individually, how do we come
to terms with the fact that
roughly one in five will have
some kind of cognitive
impairment in their life?
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: Yes. And
even after age 85 is wanting to
why. So how do we come to terms
with this? I think that we have
to understand, you know, one,
that we have the ability to
likely prevent this. Okay.
Right, by lifestyle changes,
and, you know, various health
entities that we have control
over okay. to, I think it's to
stay educated, the more educated
we are on this disease, and, and
we're willing to talk about it,
and we're willing to learn more
about it. I think that can only
make us more powerful, right. So
I think that inevitably, we know
that it's a possibility for all
of us. Now, if there is familial
history of it, we have a higher
chance of developing it does not
mean that we're going to get it
we just are more predisposed to
it. But we have some control
over it to be able to say, Okay,
I'm going to try to live the
healthiest lifestyle I can with
the ability to lower my risk,
right?
Kosta Yepifantsev: Can you
expand on that healthy
lifestyle? Like, what do you
believe are the key tenants? And
I know most people say diet and
exercise, but I want you to go a
little bit deeper than that.
What are the things that we can
kind of start right now in terms
of creating a healthy lifestyle?
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: Yeah, so
there's a lot of clinical
evidence around this. And you
know, we've a lot of research
has been spent on trying to find
a cure for Alzheimer's and other
forms of dementia. But I know a
lot of entities are shifting
towards brain health, right? And
so if you do see any educational
forums or discussions or blogs
around brain health, read it.
Okay, take the time to read it.
Right. So where do they
pinpoint? Right, I will start
with diet and exercise, but I
will be more specific, the
Mediterranean diet has been most
studied to help with you know,
lowering the risk for cognitive
impairment. It also has shown
some great entities for our
physical health, as well, as
well as our mental health. It's
actually shown to lower
depression and anxiety in men
and women. Wow. So the
Mediterranean diet is a focus a
lot on like leafy greens, foods
that are high in omega three
fatty acids, and if you don't,
like you know, fish is kind of a
big one for that. If you don't
like that, you can always take
supplements, you know, that kind
of thing. There's a point
towards you know, nuts and
lagoons, you know, various kinds
of beans, you know, things like
that. Staying away from you
know, lots of like a high sugar
diet and whatnot. You can have
like red meat but you know, in
moderation, you know, those
kinds of things. So, I highly
recommend looking up the
Mediterranean diet and actually,
the mind diet and that's it An
acronym mi n. D, was studied
extensively by Russia University
here in Chicago. And so if you
Google that you'll find some
clinical evidence wrote.
Absolutely. So that's diet when
we talk about exercise. And
looking at the evidence around
it, there actually pinpointed
having about two and a half
hours a week, at a rigorous,
like a rigorous rate. That'd be
like a brisk walk could actually
lower your risk for developing
dementia. So two and a half
hours a week, you break that
down as maybe 30 minutes a day,
five days a week, right? Where
you're walking briskly around
your neighborhood, right? So it
doesn't have to be something
where you have to go buy an
expensive gym membership or
anything like that, you can
actually use the resources at
home to be able to do this. And
so it can be implemented if
you're carving out the time to
do that.
Kosta Yepifantsev: So one more
follow up question. Yeah, go
ahead and finish your thought
first,
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: I was
going to add to that, because
there are a number of other
things that we can do to lower
our risk too. And I do want to
try to spread the word on being
able to stimulate us
cognitively. Though, a brain
games is a really great way to
do this. And you have to kind of
pick and choose what your
favorites are, whether it's to
duco, whether it's crossword
puzzles, word searches, right.
And these are easily accessible
apps on your phone. Now, I'm
still old school. And I really
do encourage folks to still use
paper and pencil versions of
these because you're actually
utilizing other parts of your
brain that you may not otherwise
when you're using just the
phone, like maintain your
writing skills and things like
that. Absolutely, it's very
important, we do that. And
unfortunately, we're seeing a
lot of, you know, fine motor
skills, kind of struggling for
our younger folks, because
they're so used to using
computers and phones and things
like that. So it would be in our
best interest to still use paper
pencil as much as we can. But
you know, the research is
actually pinpointed to about
three times a week, 30 minutes
at a time, engaging in some form
of cognitive stimulation. Okay,
now that can come from those
games that I mentioned, but can
also come from things like using
your baking and cooking skills,
gardening skills, anything
tactile in nature, can be really
beneficial to your cognition.
The research shows that nothing
less than that, because if you
do less than that, you're not
really benefiting your brain.
But you don't need more than
that, right? So that three days
a week, 30 minutes at a time.
And if you can't sustain
attention for 30 minutes, then I
say break it down to 15 minutes,
right?
Kosta Yepifantsev: Because that
is a problem nowadays. Actually,
we were just yeah, my wife and I
were just talking about that
this morning about ADHD and
they've actually developed to
have children. So going a little
off topic. They've developed a
video game that is meant to
address children with ADHD,
because they can focus on games,
but typically they it works as a
detriment. So now there's a game
that actually is a benefit to
teach them how to focus more. So
anyway, that was a tangent. I'm
sorry. One more follow up
question. When you said that one
in two people over the age of
85, are at risk of developing
some form of dementia. Do you
does that correlate to if you
look back through the statistics
of Americans that struggle with
being overweight or obese? And
that's usually about 48%. does
that correlate to the sense that
because half of Americans, you
know, obviously, put it,
frankly, are either overweight
or obese, that that is why one
in two people when they get to
the age of 85, and you know,
closer to the end of life that
they develop this disability or
this disease, there's not a
direct
Dr. Jennifer Stelt: correlation.
obesity is a risk factor for
developing dementia. Things like
diabetes as well that make you
know, type two diabetes that may
go along with that. But the
reason that those folks aged 85
and older may develop it more
readily is because age is the
number one risk factor for
developing Alzheimer's. So just
as we get older, we are at a
higher risk. But folks who are
obese whether they are younger
than 85 or not, they it is a
risk factor for developing
dementia as well. Unfortunately,
Kosta Yepifantsev: speaking to
caregivers, specifically, what
do you think are some
misconceptions about dementia
and Alzheimer's disease that
even the caregivers of those
living with the symptoms might
not understand?
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: Yes, so I
think we hit on a big one
earlier, which is, you know,
dementia is an overarching term,
many forms of dementia. And so
we have to just understand that
right in terms of what might be
going on with our loved ones. I
think another one is in the
earlier stages, this is more
towards the later part of the
earliest dangers we start to
see. And then you know, medium
moderate, we start to see
challenges around speech, right?
Where the person is just really
trying to find that word. And
what something's called, like,
it's almost like that feeling of
like the tip of the tongue.
Right? It's right there happens
to me a lot. And worse things
where it's, I know, right? So
it's kind of one of those things
where you start to see that a
lot. But what caregivers start
to think is, well, if they can't
remember these words, that means
that they really don't know
what's going on. And that is not
true. Because although we lose
the ability to grab those words,
they can understand meaning for
a very long time, a lot into the
later stages of the disease.
I'll give you an example. I'm
gonna pull something from my
desk here, right? This is a pen
we know is identified as a pen,
we know that is used to Write
Right. So they may be thinking
of what does that call, I need a
pen, right? But that can't say
the word pen. And as a
caregiver, you're like, oh, my
gosh, how does she not know what
it's called? Right? So then we
assume mom is confused, doesn't
know anything, right? But
really, if you just show mom the
pen and say, Were you looking
for this mom, the pen? Oh, yes,
that's what I was thinking.
Right? She will know what this
does for a very long time and is
independently able to use it
without any assistance needed.
Right. So we have to understand
that, you know, there are really
we need to dive into what
happens during these stages. And
that may be for another podcast.
But also, when we get to that
it's what happens early, but
what happens later on. Right. So
I think that's one thing that we
have to understand is so you
know, at face value, you know,
there are yes, some challenges,
but there are a lot of things
that they can still do, we
should focus on what they can
still do, and reinforce those
skills as much as possible. So
they can hold on to them for as
long as they can. So So I think
that's that's a big
Kosta Yepifantsev: mess. I
agree. And so essentially, just
to summarize into one complete
thought, instead of just
throwing the baby out with the
bathwater, like, oh, they can't
remember the name of for pen or
the word for a pen. You know,
that's it, it's over. Right?
Instead, I think you're saying
reinforce, even the fact that
they recognize the pen, and they
can still use the pen, they may
not remember what it's called,
or they may need help being
prompted. But overall, let's not
just throw in the towel and say,
Oh, my gosh, you know, I'm I'm
at stage seven. Right, when
you're still at stage three.
Right. Good point. Right. So
aside from diet and exercise,
because I know we touched on
that earlier, are there any
other effective treatments for
dementia? And more importantly,
how do you think that these
treatments will evolve over the
next decade?
Dr. Jennifer Stelte: Absolutely.
So we know that there's no known
medical treatment right now for
dementia, it's definitely you
know, when we talk about
approach to care, it's about
socialization. And so we talk
about our health 70% of our
health is actually made up of
our social determinants, meaning
that how we socialize and relate
to others, our relationships,
our interpersonal skills, right?
I mean, as humans, generally
speaking, we are social
creatures, right. And I think we
all learn that during the
pandemic of how much
socialization is a key to our
mental health, right, and our
cognitive health. And so a lot
of approaches to care that have
been developed in this industry
are around socialization and
around that ability to be
stimulated, myself included, I
developed the dementia
connection model, over a 10 year
period, really focusing on how
our brain works, and how stimuli
from the outside coming in and
can impact our brain in positive
ways. Okay. And you know, so a
lot of treatments or a lot of
approaches to care out there are
around this kind of
socialization and utilizing the
skills that are still present,
to reinforce them in order for
them to stay as independent for
as long as possible. Okay. We
talk about some of the recent
medications that have come out.
So there are two sets of
medications that have been
involved in this field one is
neuroleptic medication, which is
medication that allows for the
brain to have a little more
functional ability. As the
disease is progressing. It does
not resolve dementia, it's not a
cure. And actually, it's a bit
controversial because of the
side effects to these
medications. Even Canada
actually has stopped prescribing
these kinds of medications
because the risks have
outweighed the benefits right
over time. Then the other set
are these newer medications that
just came out. Lucano Ma was the
lit the most Most recent
medication that came out, the
very first version actually was
a medication where it was IV
therapy, it was about 45 to 60
minute infusion that can only be
done in hospitals or in
treatment centers. And so for
some of them who have dementia
to be able to sit that long and
to take in this infusion was
quite cumbersome. And the
efficacy rate was very low is
low in like the mid 20
percentile with lots of side
effects. The second version
Lucano mob is the most recent,
as I mentioned, that come out
pill form, which is great. The
controversy here is that it
still has a lot of side effects
and efficacy rate is in the
higher percentile rate of you
know, it being effective. So the
challenge is is you know,
Medicare has been looking at do
we cover this medication? Do we
not? If you're thankful for the
work of the Alzheimer's
Association, they have verbally
agreed to cover it? It just has
not gone into kind of written
formal agreement, what is
Kosta Yepifantsev: it meant to
do? What does the medication
actually meant to address? Like,
how does it How does it react
once it's in your body?
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: Yes, the
great thing is it's meant to
break up those protein deposits.
Kosta Yepifantsev: And what are
the side effects? Yes.
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: Lots of
side effects. So. So the
highlight Yeah, no, no, no,
yeah, no, it's okay. So,
unfortunately, there's been edge
atheria to the brain, there's
been, you know, kind of, I want
to say seizures to the brain.
There's been looks at you know,
different kinds of like, you
know, your typical your dry
mouth, your diarrhea, that kind
of stuff. There was in the study
for Luca anima, there was one
death that had occurred. So I
think that there's some delicacy
around it, obviously. But this
medication is specific only for
Alzheimer's disease is not for
other forms of dementia, it has
to be started early on to have
an impact. Because if it's
breaking up those protein
deposits, it's not known yet to
be able to break up all their
protein deposits in the brain
that form as a disease
progresses through moderate late
stage. So it has to be done
started. What
Kosta Yepifantsev: about like,
every day, when I turn on the
TV, I see a commercial for no
Riva plus, or any other you
know, vitamin that's supposed to
increase memory, D, you know,
decrease the risk of cognitive
decline? How do you feel about
those types of vitamins?
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: You know,
I mean, I'm, I'm a bit
controversial on the whole FDA
approval thing, because I'm, I'm
big too. I'm big into
alternatives. As you can see, I
use essential oils, I've used
aromatherapy with a number of
folks living with dementia, I
highly encourage, and I teach
folks about this type of
stimulation. And so FDA approval
is not a requirement for me in
terms of being able to look at
it for a, you know, a person
living with dementia, I think we
have to look at the clinical
evidence behind it, their
efficacy rate, you know, I don't
know specifics around you know,
what each one has to offer. But
I always say, number one,
discuss this type of
intervention with your
physician, or if you're already
working with a neurologist to
talk with them about the
benefits of this, because these
types of supplements are not for
everybody. And not everyone
receives the benefit of it. So
we have to kind of look at short
term versus long term benefits.
And also look at what other
medications you're on to make
sure there's no
contraindications. So, you know,
the thing is, is make sure you
do your research before you take
anything that you can order
offline or online, excuse me, or
that, you know, someone
recommends to you that maybe not
not, you know, who's not a
clinician in the industry. Just
make sure you do your research
before consuming
Kosta Yepifantsev: anything. Are
you optimistic that in the next
1020 30 years, we are going to
be able to find an effective
medical treatment for
Alzheimer's and dementia, and
all and 100% Okay, good. Good.
So, you know, there are a lot I
mean, I'm assuming there's a lot
of people working on this
because I think it's, it's safe
to say that this is going to
become a lot more of a topic of
conversation because we're
becoming more of an aging
society. More people are
developing this disease, it's
affecting more and more families
and, you know, if you really
can, if you really think about
it, in my This isn't this is
just purely my opinion, when
someone suffers a physical
disability like a fall, right?
So they're going to need a lot
more support with, you know,
transitioning, you know, in
terms of like, you know, from
bed to chair, wheelchair, all
that stuff, and that could be
very difficult for a family to
reconcile with when somebody
starts Getting you, you know, as
a son or a daughter or somebody
from for starts forgetting you
as a spouse, or a loved one or a
partner life partner, that's a
lot harder to reconcile. When
people disconnect from the life
that they've spent 40 5060 years
building. I mean, you can't it's
hard to rationalize it
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: is it is
and that caregiver, you know,
and or family member, they
really will start to go through
the grieving process, right. And
so it's an it's unfortunate that
it's a long bereavement process,
especially with Alzheimer's
disease being a longer
progression, that this person
will be in kind of this morning
phase, because they're losing
the person that they fell in
love with, or they got to know.
And it's, it is unfortunate,
because it's very difficult on
both ends.
Kosta Yepifantsev: So we always
like to end the show with a call
to action. How can we start
building communities more
knowledgeable about and
accessible to those with
dementia?
Dr. Jennifer Stelter: Yeah, so
I, for folks who have who follow
me on my socials and all of that
out, I always promote, educate
yourself. Because when we
educate ourselves, we have more
knowledge and power to be able
to understand this disease
better. If we are helping
someone who living with
dementia, we know how to and
what's available for treatments,
you know, treatments, approaches
to care, those kinds of things.
We are more knowledgeable on how
the disease is going to
progress. And then we can better
connect to that person living
with dementia. And so staying
educated is important. And
there's so much out there now,
you know, wonderful folks like
yourself that have podcasts
around this. There are our
blogs, you know, there's a new
show that actually came out that
deepest note was a part of you
know, that people can actually
watch it on TV. There's
commercials now about getting
tested earlier. Right. It's
phenomenal to see a commercial
about dementia. So I think that
we're headed in the right
direction with advocacy work. I
think the Alzheimer's
Association amongst many
healthcare professionals and
organizations are taking a stand
to say, Let's educate ourselves.
Let's have information out
there. Folks, don't even go to
my website dementia connection
institute.org. I've got a
resource page with podcasts that
I've been in blogs that I've
done articles, I've written
those kinds of things. So
there's a lot out there. And I
think that the more that we can
stay educated and knowledgeable
about this, we're going to be
able to recognize symptoms and
our loved ones or patients,
whatever it might be. We can
intervene earlier, which a lot
of the treatments that are out
there right now in terms of the
medications that we've talked
about, you have to start early
for it to be effective, right.
So I think that it's really
important that we continue to
just talk about it. Let's let's
let's not, let's let's kill the
stigma. And we can do that by
talking about it. And that's me
really important.
Caroline Moore: Thank you for
joining us on this episode of
Now or Never Long-Term Care
Strategy with Kosta
Yepifantsev.If you enjoyed
listening and you wanna hear
more make sure you subscribe on
Apple podcast Spotify or
wherever you find your
Podcasts,leave us a review or
better yet share this episode
with a friend. Now or Never
Long-Term Care Strategy is a
Kosta Yepifantsev
production.Today’s episode was
written and produced by Morgan
Franklin. Want to find out more
about Kosta? Visit us at
kostayepifantsev.com