thoughts about work.

old navy cardigan   ·  merona crepe blouse

j crew factory wool skirt   ·  cl by laundry bol wedges

{ similar cardigan / exact blouse / exact skirt / exact wedges }

something i've thought about for a while is sharing some thoughts on dementia but i haven't been sure if it's too heavy of a topic for a silly fashion blog.  however, it's a disease that affects so many families lives these days and something i'm passionate about, so i thought i would share a little information about it today.

dementia is an umbrella term used to describe the symptoms associated with many forms of cognitive impairment. alzheimer's disease is one type of dementia, characterized by plaques and tangles that slowly destroy cells in the brain.  the other most common forms of dementia are vascular dementia (from strokes) and lewy body dementia (clumps of protein forming on the brain cortex that results in symptoms like hallucinations and rigidity often associated with parkinson's disease.)

what helped me so much early in my career was understanding dementia is a medical condition that affects the brain.  think about everything different parts of your brain do for you - it helps you reason, it helps you remember, if helps you remain oriented to time, it helps you communicate and use language, it helps you make good choices (judgement).  dementia first affects one's memory, then gradually begins to affect  parts of the brain that performs those aforementioned tasks.  it's progressive, the functioning doesn't come back, and it requires the caregiver to enter the world that the individual with dementia is experiencing, which is something that i quite honestly feel can be a gift.

this is the briefest of brief explanation of some characteristics of dementia, but i thank you so much for letting me share.  it is a big part of my life on a daily basis as a social worker on a memory care unit at a nursing home.  i hope someone may have found this interesting or informative - and i promise i won't make it a focus of my posts in the future, but i certainly welcome any thoughts or questions anyone may have.

thanks for visiting!