According to psychologydictionary.org, a catastrophic reaction is a hostile, highly disorganized outburst by people living with dementia in response to a seemingly inconsequential matter. Many times, these outbursts are provoked by caregivers or loved ones simply because they are unaware of the trigger it may cause. However, we can lower the number of hostile reactions per day by explicitly stating what triggers the individual. In the "Things that Upset Me" section of Your Care Card, you, as a caregiver, can note the known origin of the disturbance to keep your loved one in a more positive mood throughout the day. 



Read more about catastrophic reactions here. 

National Public Radio (NPR) recently published a story about a support group in Nashville that aims to provide relief to family caregivers and those whose loved ones suffer from Alzheimer's Disease. The support group drew much of their inspiration from the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, an organization with a lofty goal of providing support to the estimated 16 million unpaid caregivers in the U.S. through education. Those in the support group gravely address the need for nighttime support in addition to respite caregivers throughout the day, but feel as if it is even more work to train a new caretaker to meet their loved one's specific needs. The organization heavily highlights the importance of sharing not only care needs but also personality and entertainment preferences with all potential caretakers. 
The Care Card is your checklist. With all of the vital information in one place, it is easily shareable for any temporary hire to provide respite relief for primary caregivers. 


For the full story, click here. 

Earlier this year, the NIH hosted a number of experts on dementia at a research summit focused on care, services, and supports for persons with dementia and their caregivers. The summit addressed issues related to "research on care needs and supportive approaches for people with dementia, how to involve dementia sufferers as study participants, and research on models of care for persons living with dementia and their families across the disease trajectory." What came out of this summit was a report with a list of recommendations to "improve scientific priorities for research on persons with dementia and their families." 

This report was meticulous and thorough as recommendations were classified into 12 overarching themes. One of the themes that is particularly relevant to the work we are doing at the Memory Kit through our Care Card is "Technology to Support Persons with Dementia and their Caregivers." Using  The Care Card App, we connect a patient's bio with their daily care needs to their caregivers, family, physicians, and other specialists on the care team. With the Care Card, we bring together a patient's full network of assistance and connect them to provide the highest quality of care.