- With Mayo Clinic health education outreach coordinator
Angela Lunde
read biographyclose windowBiography of
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.
Latest entries
- 10 warning signs of Alzheimer's
Oct. 31, 2009
- Alzheimer's crisis emerging, but progress being made
Oct. 3, 2009
- Taking action gives hope for those with memory loss
Sept. 9, 2009
- Strategies for dementia caregiving
Aug. 4, 2009
- Use grief over Alzheimer's loss to transform yourself
July 11, 2009
Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Alzheimer's blog
-
July 16, 2008
A caregiver tip for defusing awkward situations
By Angela Lunde
I thought I'd share a quick tip that has been circulating through our caregiver support groups. I believe the idea originally came from a caregiver and wife, Lela Knox Shanks, in her book "Your Name is Hughes Hannibal Shanks." This is now a strategy brought up routinely in our support groups.
Here is a situation that may arise for caregivers at some point: You want to take your loved one out to a restaurant, grocery store, family reunion, etc., but you are reluctant because you think that your loved one may say something or act in a way that is embarrassing to you, or may put others in an uncomfortable situation.
These are real and valid concerns. Keep in mind, persons with Alzheimer's experience a decline in judgment and language as well as other symptoms that can include disinhibition, irritability, delusions, compulsive and repetitive behaviors — all of which can be challenging to the caregiver especially when in a public place.
So, the strategy is to carry a supply of business sized cards with a saying similar to the following:
"Please excuse my (husband, wife, father, mother), they have a diagnosis of a memory impairment (or you can say Alzheimer's disease, brain impairment) and may say or do things that are inappropriate. If this is the case, please accept my apology on his/her behalf. Preserving his/her dignity is my overall goal. Thank you for understanding."
These cards can be given out discretely anytime you feel it would be helpful. The caregivers I have spoken with find that once a card is handed to someone, a potentially awkward situation is alleviated. In most cases when people understand the circumstances behind the behavior they are genuinely accepting, and often kind and accommodating. By telling others, you are emphasizing that the behaviors are part of the disease and not who the person is. In my mind, this is a way of offering the person with Alzheimer's the respect and dignity they deserve.
19 comments posted