- With Mayo Clinic health education outreach coordinator
Angela Lunde
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Angela Lunde
Angela Lunde is a dementia education specialist in the education core of Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the Abigail Van Buren Alzheimer's Disease Research Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Angela Lunde
The transfer of information about dementias, as well as understanding the need for participation in clinical trials, is an essential component of the education core.
Angela is a member of the Alzheimer's Association board of directors and co-chair of the annual Minnesota Dementia Conference. She is a member of the Dementia Behavior Assessment and Response Team (D-BART), a multidisciplinary outreach service assisting professional and family caregivers in understanding and managing difficult behaviors often present in dementia. She facilitates several support groups, including Memory Club, an early-stage education and support series, and more recently, helped to develop and now deliver Healthy Action to Benefit Independence and Thinking (HABIT), a 10-day cognitive rehab and wellness program for people with mild cognitive impairment.
Angela takes a personal interest in understanding the complex changes that take place within relationships and among families when dementia is present. She is particularly interested in providing innovative and accessible ways for people with dementia and their families to receive information and participate in valuable programs that promote well-being.
"Amid a devastating disease, there are tools, therapies, programs and ways to cope, and it is vital that families are connected to these resources," she says.
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Alzheimer's blog
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Nov. 17, 2007
Caregivers can find silver lining
By Angela Lunde
A primary caregiver of someone with Alzheimer's disease is faced with tough decisions at a time when they are feeling loss, grief, resentment, fear, and sometimes depression and exhaustion.
The toughest decision I see caregivers faced with is moving their husband or wife, mother or father to a care facility. As one writer said, "trying to decide when to pass the torch is a heart wrenching dilemma."
Feelings of obligation and/or guilt often delay their decision to move their loved one with dementia to a care facility. But, who can blame these husbands, wives, sons and daughters? Letting go, even when it is clearly the best thing to do, is nonetheless devastating.
Just possibly, and with time, these once primary caregivers may come to see a "silver lining" in their decision to move a loved one. Once a loved one is placed in a care facility, the stress of providing daily cares, constant supervision and worrying about safety and wandering is lessened.
Instead, the role of "caregiver" is relinquished while the role of husband, wife, son, or daughter is restored. Now time spent together can include taking walks, reminiscing, listening to music, watching favorite movies, and just being in one another's company. This can be a time both enjoyed and cherished.
People will forget what you said,
People will forget what you did,
but they will never forget
how you made them feel.- Maya Angelou
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