Services

Support and Resources for Dementia Caregivers

If you are caring for a loved one with dementia, you deserve support on your journey. You deserve expert guidance and practical tools to help you cope with present stressors and what’s coming next. And you deserve professional guidance to help you feel balanced — and even hopeful — again.

I created Rainwater Consulting because I noted a lack of resources that provide dementia caregivers with this level of support. I look forward to helping you navigate the various dementia related challenges you’re facing.

Following are three ways I can assist you:

  1. Understand the Disease

Every journey starts with the first steps. And that’s where I often begin with my clients.

There are dozens of types of dementia, each with their own distinctive attributes and trajectory.

Knowledge is power — and I can help you go beyond generalizations to gain a deep understanding of the disease.

  • Forms of Dementia

    The most common forms of dementia: Alzheimer’s Disease, Vascular Dementia, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, Frontotemporal Dementia, and Parkinson’s-related Dementia, among others. 

  • The Course of the Disease

    The expected course of your loved one’s specific condition, with attention to the unique aspects of that sub-type of dementia. 

  • The Effects of Dementia

    How dementia will affect the person’s life and abilities, referred to as Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) and Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).

  • Behaviors & Challenges

    The most common behaviors and challenges related to dementia: agitation, resistance, paranoia, wandering, anxiety, anger, and aggression.

2. Plan for the Future

Caring for a loved one with dementia can be rife with worry and insecurity. There’s no one-fits-all blueprint for how to progress as a caregiver.

That’s where our work together comes in. We’ll map out real-world strategies that provide peace of mind and greater clarity about the stage of the disease you are navigating now as well as what comes next. We’ll explore solutions that include:

  • Planning

    A roadmap and plan of care for each stage of the disease (early, mid/moderate, and late/severe).

  • Family Meetings

    Family meetings to plan for balanced and optimal care. This includes working through disagreements about care to help you and your family get on the same page.   

  • Behavioral Approaches

    Behavioral approaches that help reduce symptoms of the disease, including frustration, agitation, resistance, confusion, paranoia, and pacing.

  • Navigating Driving Cessation

    Discussions about driving cessation: When it’s time for your loved one to retire from driving... and what to do if my person won't surrender the keys.

  • Assisted Living Planning

    Planning around when, how, where the person with dementia might move to an assisted living or memory care facility, or an adult care home. 

  • Navigating Transitions

    Advocacy and support navigating the system for transitions of care such as hospitalizations, skilled nursing home stays, returning home, moving to memory care. 

  • Advance Care Planning

    Advance care planning to help people make decisions about their future medical care when they’re unable to communicate their wishes or make decisions for themselves.

  • End of Life Planning

    Clarifying goals of care and goals of life: quality/quantity conversations, guidance for completing Medical POA (Power of Attorney)/Advance Directive, POLST (Physician’s Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment) and MOLST (Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment) forms. 

  • Hospice & Palliative Care

    Discussions about hospice and palliative care: understanding the differences between them... and when/how to enact services. 

3. Take Care of YOU (Dementia Caregiver Wellbeing)

The onset of dementia creates a ripple effect, washing over everyone close to the individual with the disease. And no one is more impacted than the direct giver(s) of care.

You can only do your best for your loved one when you prioritize your own physical health and emotional needs. Together, we’ll focus on your wellbeing, including how to:

  • Identify and Hold Boundaries

    We'll explore strategies for maintaining your resilience by setting healthy boundaries.

  • Protect Against Burnout

    Explore ways to reduce burnout and examine task redistribution.

  • Grief & Trauma Support

    Navigate dementia-specific grief/loss issues, including ambiguous loss, anticipatory grief, and trauma.   

  • Connect to Resources

    Connect to local, regional, and national resources.

  • Build Your Support Team

    Build your support team, which may include an Aging Life Care specialist (formerly referred to as a Geriatric Care Manager), a therapist/counselor, connection to support groups, etc.

Shoshawna Rainwater

Book a Free Introductory Phone Call

Let’s spend 15-20 minutes together on the phone so I can get an understanding of your situation and challenges, answer any questions you have about me and my services, and ensure that working together is the right fit for you.

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