I've known from a very young age that my goal in life is to eradicate this horrible disease.
In High School while most of my friends were working at the Mall, I completed my CNA and went to work in a nursing home. While there I met an amazing woman who changed my life. You see Elizabeth had "Organic Brain Syndrome" or what we now refer to as Alzheimer's or a related dementia. Unfortunately Elizabeth relived a traumatic event, from her childhood, over and over again each day. She was once again an inconsolable 7 year old child, watching the death of a parent, and knowing no one was going to help save her life.
My CNA training (remember this was the 80s) taught me to remind Elizabeth of the year, that her mother had been "Dead for 100 years" (Elizabeth was 107!) and basically, to "Get over it"."
Even at 16 years old I knew this was wrong, and so very cruel. I knew the practice of "Reality Orientation" was not helping this woman-child heal from her trauma. Thus began a lifelong commitment to improving the lives of people living with dementia and those who love them. Please join me on this decades long journey, there is still so much more work to be done!
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