Summer 2025

Hanover, MA: (781) 659-1877

269 Hanover St., Hanover, MA 02339

Helpful Dementia Communication Techniques

Conversations with someone who suffers from dementia or Alzheimer's can be difficult, emotional, and exhausting - especially when that person is a close relative. Learning some simple yet effective communication techniques can make it much easier to connect and enjoy meaningful time together.

1. Ground yourself. Before engaging in conversation, take a moment to prepare yourself for the encounter. Understand and accept that you may experience a wide range of emotions during the visit. Don't lose sight of the fact that the person you care about is still inside - and that s/he still cares about you, too.
2. Stay positive and calm. Those with dementia can pick up on our emotions, even if our feelings don't match our tone of voice. Try to convey warmth and acceptance. Remind yourself that you want to express how much you care about your time together.
3. Eliminate any distractions. What may be a simple distraction to us (like a TV or kids running around) can be torturous to someone with dementia. It's best to minimize distractions during your conversation by leaving a noisy area or requesting that all electronics are off or in quiet mode.
4. Identify yourself. It can be difficult for someone with dementia to remember who you are and what your connection with him or her is. Gently remind him or her of your name and of how you are related. This will help to make the individual feel safe and will bring back memories.

Learn more on our blog...

6 Hygiene Tips for Bed-Bound Seniors

Being confined to your bed, whether due to chronic illness, injury, disability, or advanced age, comes with many challenges. Personal hygiene can often top the list. Feeling clean and presentable is important for both physical and mental health.

Here are some helpful tips for caregivers assisting those who are bedbound with hygiene issues:

1. Bathe regularly. In most cases, bedbound seniors will need someone else to give them a bed bath. Begin by gently washing the eyes and face with a moist hand towel or sponge; avoid using soap so the face doesn't get irritated. For both modesty and warmth, only expose the part of the body that you're actively cleaning.
2. Trim nails. It's important to trim long or jagged nails on older people regularly to prevent them from accidentally scratching and hurting themselves. Equally as important, they can pose as a health risk when dirt and bacteria get trapped under the nails and transfer to the skin, potentially resulting in infection.
3. Change bedding. While those who aren't bedridden can wait a week or two in between changing their bedding, those who are bedbound don't have that luxury. When a person lies in the same bed 24/7, it's easy to accumulate food crumbs, hair, sweat, and dead skin cells.
4. Brush teeth after each meal. Unhealthy teeth and gums can lead to disease, especially in older adults. Be sure to help seniors clean their mouths after each meal. They should also floss and rinse twice a day to remove any trapped food particles.

Learn more on our blog...

Why It's Not Okay to Compare People with Dementia to Children

Occasionally, dementia caregivers can be heard saying people with dementia are like children, or are childlike, or - worst of all - that you have to treat them like children if you want to overcome challenging behaviors.

It is dangerous to give anyone in a caregiving role such a framework. If we think of the person in our care as childlike, we give ourselves permission to put the person with dementia in a subordinate role, which can erode trust and threaten dignity.

We encourage children to "do better" because it is part of our role to encourage them to stretch and grow, which they are capable of doing.

With dementia, however, this "childlike" framework invites us to use language that is judgmental or corrective, when the truth is the person is doing the best that they can in any given moment. Any language that is not fully supportive will only frustrate or hurt him or her.

Most importantly, attending to a person with dementia as we would a child negates a lifetime of experience, an advanced sense of identity, and centers our attention on the mechanics of care rather than the emotions surrounding care needs.

Maya Angelou's words apply beautifully to this topic: "People won't remember what you said or did, but they will remember how you made them feel."

People with dementia are not children. They are adults with rich histories who deserve dignity and respect. Let's meet them where they are - with compassion and understanding - so that each moment can be meaningful. And when the opportunity arises to guide or educate other caregivers, let's share this truth gently and with kindness.

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Anniversary Celebrations!

Please join us in congratulating the following colleagues on their work anniversaries:

Darlene Kelly - 8 years

Marion Brown - 7 years

Terry Bassett - 6 years

Billie Bates - 6 years

Maria Luz Walsh - 6 years

Paula Calkins - 5 years

Eunice Dodenhoff - 5 years

Smiralda Joseph - 5 years

Christine Salvato - 5 years

Sheila Parenteau - 4 years

Anette Roberts - 4 years

Jelfiline Rodriguez - 4 years

Kimberly Burr - 3 years

Celia Hamilton - 3 years

Maria Silva - 3 years

Martha Hofer - 2 years

Elizabeth Littlefield - 2 years

Sarah Moniz - 2 years

(Congratulations on passing the NCLEX!)

Marie Sylvain - 2 years

Eliane Da Silva - 1 year

Abigail ("Abby") Jordan - 1 year

Charlotte Morse - 1 year

Brenda Schwartz - 1 year

Amanda Sturman - 1 year

We're excited to announce 11 new members of the Cahoon Care team over the past quarter:

Ana DaSilva

Julie DeRaps

Jacqueline Duarte

Heather Gray

Melisa Henry

Dayna James

Carla Koppes

Connie LeMay

Halie Mathews-Snowman

Exanie Pierre

Kallie Rackliff

Inspirational Quote

"There are only four kinds of people in the world: Those who have been caregivers. Those who are currently caregivers. Those who will be caregivers, and those who will need a caregiver."

~ Rosalynn Carter

September Conferences

Cahoon Care recently attended the Aging Redefined Senior Conference in Plymouth on Sept. 15, 2025.

This excellent annual event brings together seniors, caregivers, and professionals for a day of education, inspiration, and community building.

__________

We also plan to attend the Plymouth Networking Group's golf tournament on Sept. 26, 2025.

This enjoyable fundraiser helps provide grants for the elderly in Plymouth County.

Laughter:

The Best Medicine

Here's a humorous yet thought-provoking story that serves as a good reminder:

At 2:30 a.m., during an overnight shift as a home caregiver for a retired farming couple, the husband - who was a fall risk - suddenly got out of bed. The caregiver, concerned for his safety, hurried to bring him his walker and asked what he needed. His reply stopped her: "The cows are out!"

He explained that he needed to wake his wife to help him get the cows back into the barn. Knowing that would only upset her, she quickly stepped in and said, "I'll help you - let your wife sleep. You just tell me what to do, and I'll help get the cows in."

With that, he gripped his walker, shuffled into the dining room, found his old flashlight, and held it tight in one hand while steadying himself with the other. Together, they searched for those "ornery cows" in the middle of the night.

It was a simple moment, but also a reminder: sometimes the best care we can give is to step into their world, not pull them out of it. Meeting people with dementia where they are - whether it's chasing cows or searching for long-ago memories - brings comfort, dignity, and connection.

Video: Dementia Care Vs. Child Care

Some people compare caring for a person with dementia to caring for a child. While this can help explain the level of supervision or support needed, it's not a perfect comparison.

A person with dementia is an adult with a full history of relationships, experiences, and accomplishments. Children are still learning and gaining independence, while people with dementia are often experiencing loss of independence, which can bring grief and frustration.

This kind of comparison can feel dismissive or demeaning, even if the intention was not. The best approach is to communicate needs clearly while always honoring the dignity and identity of the person living with dementia.

Click here to watch the video.

Video Tips: Teepa Snow on What It's Like to Live with Dementia

Have you ever wondered what it is actually like to live with dementia or Alzheimer's disease?

Can you imagine how it feels when your loved ones get frustrated because you can't remember a conversation you just had?

Teepa Snow is one of the world's leading educators on dementia and the care that's needed to cope with it.

In this eye-opening video, she explains what caregivers and loved ones need to know about what is going on in the minds of those with dementia. Her insights can help you better communicate with and care for your loved one.

Learn more in this video.

$$$ Referral Bonus Recipients $$$

Don't forget that we offer a $300 referral bonus. We know the best caregivers know the best caregivers! Please send them our way, and in turn, we'll send money your way.

Call Tammie at (207) 610-3280 in Maine, or Karen at (781) 635-4968 in Massachusetts with your referrals.

This past quarter, we had four referrals:

Dayna James

(referred by Rebecca Wakefield)

Carla Koppes

(referred by Allissia West)

Halie Mathews-Snowman

(referred by Rebecca Wakefield)

Exanie Pierre

(referred by Billie C. Bates)

6 Ways to Convince Seniors to Take Medication

It can be challenging to get seniors to take their medication, even if it's absolutely essential for their health.

The reasons behind their resistance vary widely, ranging from refusing on principle (such as "I've never taken medicine in my life, and I'm certainly not starting now!"), to being suspicious (such as fears of being poisoned in Alzheimer's patients), to trying to maintain some control over their lives as they become increasingly more dependent on caregivers.

Since this important daily task can't be overlooked, here are six ways to encourage your older adult to take their medication:

1. Focus on critical medications. Pick your battles as a caregiver. Rather than waste your time and energy trying to get your senior to take vitamins or supplements not specifically recommended by their doctor, focus instead on any medications prescribed by doctors that are essential for both health and quality of life.
2. Let the doctor be the messenger. If your senior won't believe or can't grasp the fact that there are serious consequences to not taking medication, ask the doctor to explain what will happen if it isn't taken. Sometimes older adults respond better to experts or authority figures than they do to family members.
3. Check for unpleasant side effects. Find out if your older adult is refusing their medicine because side effects are making them ill, such as nausea, dizziness, or upset stomach. If so, speak to their doctor to see if there are any other replacement medications without negative side effects that they could switch to instead.
4. Change the formula or flavor. If medicine is really hard to swallow because it either gets stuck in your throat or tastes horrible, it's no wonder your senior is refusing it. If this is a problem, check with the drugstore or compounding pharmacy to find out if they can change the delivery of the medication (liquid, crushed pill, whole pill, etc.) to make it easier to swallow.

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