Dementia caregivers Archives - A Beautiful Voice

Featured Caregiver - Neal Shah
Breaking News: Is Medicare about to Pay for Caregiving and Respite Care? A New Senate Proposal

Neal K. Shah, a Johns Hopkins- and NIH-funded caregiving researcher and CEO of CareYaya, reveals how bipartisan support, groundbreaking surveys, and innovative policies are converging towards a future where caregiving becomes a covered, accessible service for all. He uncovers why the GUIDE Model - paying for dementia care navigation, [...]

Susan Troyer2026-05-28T23:21:23-05:00May 28th, 2026|Categories: A Sense of Place|Tags: 63 million caregivers, Alzheimer's, Caregiving becomes a covered accessible service, Dementia caregivers, Medicare pays caregivers?, Neal Shah Reports|0 Comments

365 Ways to Say I Care
Way #12: Create a “Summer Bucket List” Together

Why this helps: Anticipation is a form of joy! Creating a visual list of simple, achievable summer pleasures gives your loved one something to look forward to. The list can include tiny things (eat a popsicle, sit in the shade) and slightly bigger ones (visit a relative, water the [...]

Susan Troyer2026-05-28T12:12:32-05:00May 27th, 2026|Categories: Mindful Presence|Tags: Alzheimer's, Dementia caregivers, Simple sensory joy-filled activities for a person living with dementia, Summer activities for a person living with dementia, Using whiteboard to list fun-filled activities for a person living with dementia|0 Comments

Editor's Special Report
When a Neurosurgeon Recommends Journaling for Chronic Pain

A quiet but extraordinary moment in the neuroscience of healing For years, journaling has often been dismissed as “just" expressive writing. But something remarkable happened recently at the end of an interview between Sanjay Gupta and Mel Robbins about chronic pain. When asked: “If the person listening were to do [...]

Susan Troyer2026-05-06T22:50:05-05:00May 6th, 2026|Categories: Mindful Presence|Tags: "100 Journaling Benefits", 50 million Americans live with chronic pain, Alzheimer's, Dementia caregivers, Journaling for chronic pain, Mel Robbins, Mel Robbins interviews Sanjay Gupta MD, Memory Journaling|0 Comments

Food for Life
10 best and worst foods for your brain

Here's a useful tool that lists the 10 best (and 10 worst!) foods for your brain's health. Renowned neurologists Ayesha and Dean Sherzai, both MD's, have helped tens of thousands of people to boost their brain health and wellness. Now they've condensed highlights from their decades of research into a [...]

Susan Troyer2020-10-19T14:19:52-05:00October 19th, 2020|Categories: Food For Life|Tags: Alzheimers caregivers, Ayesha and Dean Sherzai - both MDs, Brain Breakthroughs Masterclass, Dementia, Dementia caregivers, Dementia community, Food Revolution Network, Ocean Robbins|0 Comments

Music as Medicine
What do an opera company and a hospital have in common?

"As part of her role as Artistic Advisor at Large to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Renée Fleming has spearheaded a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health. The Sound Health initiative, in association with the National Endowment for the Arts, explores and brings attention to [...]

Susan Troyer2020-08-27T10:58:06-05:00August 25th, 2020|Categories: Music as Medicine|Tags: "And the people stayed home", "Music - health - neuroscience", Center for life and learning at Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, Dementia caregivers, John Corigliano, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Kitty O'Meara, Music for health and wellbeing during COVID-19, Renee Fleming|Comments Off

Mindful Presence
A personal invitation: “Alzheimer’s – The Science of Prevention”

Currently, about 5.8 million people have Alzheimer's disease in the U.S., and two-thirds of these are women. Though these numbers are staggering and continue to grow each year, the good news is this: You can contribute to your brain health by making some simple diet and lifestyle changes, and this [...]

Susan Troyer2020-08-27T14:57:48-05:00August 24th, 2020|Categories: Mindful Presence|Tags: Alzheimers - The Science of Prevention, Alzheimers caregivers, Brain health, Dementia caregivers, Dr. David Perlmutter, Improve brain function at any age, Protect your brain, Register here, September 9-20|Comments Off

Creating Community
Random Testing in Indiana Shows COVID-19 Is 6 Times Deadlier Than Flu

Home of my alma mater, many weekend reunions, and - at a later point in my life - my workplace: Northwest Indiana - just around the bend from downtown Chicago. Thus, I was well-acquainted with roadmaps to the Indiana University-Purdue University campuses throughout the state since their graduates became a [...]

Susan Troyer2020-07-26T14:28:05-05:00July 23rd, 2020|Categories: Creating Community|Tags: Antibody testing, Coronavirus, COVID-19 death rate, Dementia caregivers, Epidemiology, Health, Indiana, Inequality, Pandemic, Public health, Random sampling, RT-PCR, SARS-COV-2, Statistics, Testing|Comments Off

Mindful Presence
The Self in Dementia is Not Lost

I was offered a “pass.” It was a routine appointment approximately one year following Mother’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in late 1997. The physician quietly handed over to me a written order saying, “Admission to nursing home.” And then he waited silently for my response. Having toured the area nursing homes [...]

Susan Troyer2020-07-27T00:44:05-05:00July 12th, 2020|Categories: Mindful Presence|Tags: Alzheimer's, Author Muireann Irish, Dementia, Dementia and agitation, Dementia caregivers, dementia-care, dementia-care setting, Demise of personhood, diagnosis of dementia, Loss of self, memory loss, neurodegenerative diseases, Thought Leaders and Influencers|Comments Off

Mindful Presence
Compassion Sets Humans Apart

“Like food sharing, health care was part of life for our ancestors—a major aspect of how they worked together to survive hard times. Humans have an instinctive reaction to provide care and empathy for those who are sick or hurt; it works to our evolutionary advantage. It is only higher-level [...]

Susan Troyer2020-07-05T15:33:34-05:00July 5th, 2020|Categories: Mindful Presence|Tags: Caregiver support, comfort those who are in pain, Dementia caregivers, evolutionary advantage, health care, human care, instinctive reaction, interpersonal care, severe pathology|Comments Off

Creating Community
How Being Friends With Someone Who Has Dementia Can Be Good for You Both

This article was written three years ago - July 2017. In the current context of the COVID-19 global pandemic, physical presence has been curtailed to halt the spread of the virus. But as a friend or family member, there is no more important time than this diagnosis to find a [...]

Susan Troyer2020-06-29T14:57:05-05:00June 29th, 2020|Categories: Creating Community|Tags: caregiver roles, cognitive abilities, Dementia caregivers, dementia in a friend, diagnosis of dementia, friendships matter to older adults, interacting well with people who have dementia, prevalence of dementia, social interaction is beneficial for the person with dementia., Talking about dementia, unpaid caregivers|Comments Off