RESOURCES

Whether you or a loved one has been diagnosed with dementia, we can all benefit from being physically, socially, and cognitively active! Research shows that patients who have dementia and stay active in their communities, continue to exercise, and keep their minds busy experience slower and more gradual cognitive decline. Other important protective behaviors include getting adequate sleep (and treating sleep apnea, if you have it), eating a well-balanced and heart-healthy diet, and treating any mood problems like depression or anxiety. While we’re at it, it’s also important to treat vision or hearing loss and many medical providers recommend adults take a daily multivitamin to avoid any vitamin deficiencies.

What follows is a list of books, services, and products that can be helpful for people living with cognitive problems. There is a wealth of information available online and these are some of the resources that Dr. Kleman has found to be most informative and helpful. We have many of these products on display in our office if you are curious to see them in person. We may earn a small commission for purchases made through some of these links.

BOOKS - SOCIAL/COGNITIVE - MEDICATIONS - AROUND THE HOUSE - EDUCATIONAL

BOOKS

If you are interested in reading a book about keeping your brain healthy, here are some great options:

High Octane Brain by Michelle Braun, Ph.D.
Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age by Sanjay Gupta, M.D.
Dementia Prevention: Using Your Head to Save Your Brain by Emily Clionsky, Ph.D. & Mitchell Clionsky, Ph.D.
Keep Your Wits About You by Vonetta Dotson, Ph.D.
Disrupt Aging: A Bold New Path to Living Your Best Life at Every Age by Jo Ann Jenkins

There are countless books available for caregivers; here are two of the most comprehensive and well-researched.

The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias by Nancy Mace, M.A. & Peter Rabins, M.D.
What If It’s Not Alzheimer’s? A Caregiver’s Guide to Dementia by Gary Radin & Lisa Radin

SOCIAL / COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

Remaining socially active doesn’t have to mean going to parties or large social gatherings all the time. Meeting a friend for coffee, going to church, or having family over to play cards or a board game are wonderful ways to keep those social relationships strong. Here are some ideas for products and activities that can help your loved one stay socially active.

Relish Games, Puzzles, & Painting Kits: this company offers all sorts of activities, games, sensory items, and other products geared toward people with dementia or other forms of cognitive impairment.
- All About Us Dementia Board Game
- Hobbies Conversation Game
- Golf Target Game
- Wordsearch and jigsaw puzzles
- Aquapaint and Coloring Books
Ouisi Games of Visual Connection: this company offers multiple sets of “visually connecting photo cards” that can be used to play all sorts of different games. The sets include pictures of common objects, nature, animals, fine art, etc. These games are simple to understand and enjoyable for all ages.
Stay Sharp Kits through the Spokane County Library: these are curated kits on specific topics such as space, football, art, fishing, etc. that include puzzles, books, games, and other activities that you can do with your family. These kits are a great way to interact and reminisce with your loved one.
Dementia/Memory Cafés: offered through the YMCA, the Spokane County Library, and the Alzheimer’s Association, dementia café’s are gatherings for people with cognitive concerns and their caregivers or other family members. Typical meetings are centered around an activity or game that changes week to week; some recent examples include playing oversized yard games, taking an imaginary trip to Hawaii, or listening to a speaker from NASA talk about his career. These are fantastic opportunities for folks with dementia and their families to get some social interaction outside of the house and support from others who are dealing with similar issues.
Tales & Travel Memory Programs: these programs are offered through different organizations in the community (the SCLD Dementia Café is one I have seen), but the idea is to take an imaginary trip to a specific location. They offer 12 excursion guides on their website that you can use that include folklore stories, food and music suggestions, and souvenirs or coloring pages.
AMC Sensory Friendly Films: Does your loved one enjoy movies but going to the movie theater is just too overstimulating or agitating? Check out AMC’s schedule for movie options shown with the lights on and lower sound volume. These movies are shown without previews or trailers and attendees are free to get up and move around during the show whenever they want or need to.
Powerful Tools for Caregivers workshops and classes offered through YMCA

MEDICATIONS

Taking medications as they are prescribed might be one of the best things you can do for your health, but remembering to take them on schedule can be difficult for patients with dementia. Using a device like a pill organizer is a great first step to simplifying your daily routine and reduce the risk of missing a pill. There are weekly and monthly pill organizers, as well as ones that use the days of the week versus the days of the month.

Auvon Weekly Pill Organizer: this organizer can be used weekly or monthly, depending on how many doses you need throughout the day. These are also handy because you can remove one day at a time if you will be away from home when you need to take your medications.
Auvon One Week Pill Organizer: this is a simple one week pill organizer.
Monthly Pill Organizer: here is an example of a pill organizer using the month’s date, rather than day of the week. It has room for two doses per day and each day can be removed separately if needed.
PillMap Visual Pill Planner: this is a visual tool to help keep everyone up to date on what medications your loved one is taking. It can be particularly useful when multiple family members or caregivers are keeping an eye on medications and is easy to take to medical appointments to make sure your medication list is up to date.
Medication Tracker & Reminder: for new or infrequent medications, using these trackers on the pill bottles themselves can be a nice way to keep track of whether you’ve taken your medication.
Pill Popper Tracker: here’s another device that can be attached to individual pill bottles and help you track your administration.

There are also organizers that have alarms and clocks on them to help remind you to take your medications.

Weekly Pill Organizer with Timer: this organizer has room for up to four doses per day and can be set to alarm for each individual administration time.
Monthly Pill Organizer with Timer: this organizer holds up to one month’s medications, depending on how many doses are needed each day.
Monthly Pill Organizer with Talking Alarm: this is Dr. Kleman’s favorite “manual” pill organizer that includes an alarm with large, easy-to-read date and time. It is organized by calendar date rather than day of the week and has red numbers on one end of each case and green numbers on the other end, so if you flip the cases over after you’ve taken them, you can quickly see which date is next. The clock will also speak the date and time if needed and each day’s box of pills can be removed and taken with you if you will be away from home.

If you are concerned about your loved one accidentally taking too much medication, using a device like the Hero or MedaCube medication dispenser make life even easier by simply dispensing the pills that you need, when you need them. They do require a caregiver or another trusted individual to set them up and refill them.

Hero medication dispenser: the Hero has room for up to 90 days worth of pills and is programmed using an app on the caregiver’s cell phone to automatically dispense your medications at the designated times. It sends alerts to your phone as well as has an alarm on the device itself, PLUS it allows caregivers and medical providers to check if you’ve taken your medications. The Hero is not cheap, but some insurance companies may cover it and it can also be paid for using medical flex spending accounts.
MedaCube medication dispenser: the MedaCube works similarly to the Hero and appears to have a larger capacity, but may not be able to communicate with your medical provider’s office. Similar to the Hero, the MedaCube can be pricey but check with your insurance to see if they will cover it.

Another way to simplify your routine is to get your pills packaged into separate packs for each dose or day. Each pack is labeled with the day/time to take it as well as what medications are inside, so you can also verify if your loved one took their medications based on the empty package. Some services will even include non-prescribed supplements as well, like fish oil, melatonin, or a multivitamin.

PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy: a free service that offers automatic refills and ships your pill packs directly to your home.
Accupac: another free pill packaging service available online.
Check with your pharmacy to see if they offer pill pack service. The Medicine Shoppe is a local Spokane pharmacy that may offer these services.

AROUND THE HOUSE

Regardless of your living situation, different aids around the house can dramatically help people with dementia continue to live semi-independently. Agitation and unwanted behaviors are often precipitated by confusion or change, which means keeping the home environment calm, familiar, and sticking to routines can go a long way toward helping a person with dementia feel their best.

Large Print Wall Calendar: for some people in the early stages of cognitive change, the use of a large wall calendar can be very helpful in keeping track of their appointments and upcoming events. Many folks find that crossing off each day on their calendar can help them stay better oriented.
Day Hub - Dementia Reminder Clock: this clock is offered through Relish, who also sells games and products for people with dementia. This clock is a bit expensive, but it combines many tools into one and can be paired with the Day Connect Dementia Clock to be placed in multiple rooms throughout the home. Staying oriented to the date can be very challenging for folks with dementia (or anyone, actually!) and having a reliable, large-font clock with the date and time is indispensable.
Atomic clocks: another option for a large-print clock that can provide reminders and help keep your loved one oriented.
Dementia Radio & Music Player: another product offered through Relish, this is a simplified radio and music player that makes it easier for people with dementia to play music whenever they would like. You can add a thumb drive with some of their favorite songs as well! Our memory for music can be different than our memory for other types of information, so many people with dementia can still remember the tune or words to songs that they learned and enjoyed many years ago. Music is a fantastic way to connect with your loved one and to help manage disruptive behaviors.
Jelly Drops: these are a sugar-free, candy-like product that can help people with dementia stay hydrated. They come in various fruit flavors and are often more palatable than a glass of water for many folks. Dehydration in people with dementia is a sure-fire way to end up in the hospital, so making sure that your loved one is getting adequate hydration is very important.
CaptionCall: research has demonstrated that uncorrected hearing loss increases your risk of developing dementia. In folks who have already been diagnosed, it is common for them to want to withdraw socially, particularly if they can’t hear most conversations. Social isolation often leads to more rapid cognitive decline, so keeping your loved one connected to others goes hand in hand with correcting their hearing loss. CaptionCall is a free service that provides a telephone with a large-print screen that captions all phone calls and can be used with both landlines and cell phones! It is a phenomenal service and helps make it easier for those who are hard of hearing to have phone conversations. The handset can also be paired to your hearing aids with Bluetooth.

EDUCATIONAL

Aging & Long-Term Care of Eastern Washington: the ALTCEW website should be your first stop if you’re looking for community resources and caregiver support to care for your loved one. Their Dementia Care Specialists can help you determine what services you may benefit for and connect you with those programs. They also offer Caregiver Workshops along with toolkits for legal planning and tipsheets for managing specific behaviors. They are a WONDERFUL resource and always ready to help! Some of their most popular publications include:
Alzheimer's Association: similar to ALTCEW, the Alzheimer's Association has lots of information regarding community education and resources. In addition to their community resource finder, they have a service similar to ALTCEW where you can speak with a specialist about getting connected with the resources you need. They also have an incredible amount of educational materials, including webinars, trainings, and tip sheets on dementia and the various issues that often come up when caring for these folks.
BrainWise: BrainWise is a digital magazine that offers simple, easy-to-understand articles about how our brains work and how to keep them healthy. These articles are a collaborative effort between the National Academy of Neuropsychology (Dr. Kleman is a member) and the National Academy of Neuropsychology Foundation. In addition to articles, BrainWise also produces a podcast called Brain Beat which features conversations with brain experts.
NIA News & Events: the National Institute on Aging indexes new research findings on topics related to aging and dementia. Their newsletters are a great way to stay up to date on the research.
CerebroFit: one of the few online brain-related programs that has solid research backing behind it, CerebroFit is a multi-disciplinary program run by a neuropsychologist that offers online personal training, nutrition services, psychotherapy, and health/wellness coaching to help improve and maintain your brain health. These services are expressly designed to capitalize on the research demonstrating the link between physical exercise, cardiovascular health, and mental health in preventing dementia.
Federal Trade Commission Consumer Advice: unfortunately, older folks and those with cognitive problems are much more likely to fall prey to scams and identity theft. The FTC has numerous articles discussing how to recognize a scam, protect your privacy, and stop unwanted phone calls, emails, and text messages.