23: Navigating Dementia: Practical Organizing Tips for Caregivers
This week, we talk about how to help individuals with memory loss or dementia navigate their world in a more organized fashion, giving you, the caregiver and your loved one easy to implement tips. Our guest, Adria Thompson, Speech Pathologist & Owner of Be Light Care, shares great tips on how to reduce distractions, simplify their technology, and create custom solutions to help them navigate their devices. We also explore the importance of understanding their perspective, as well as the different stages in this life event.
In this episode we talk about:
- What is Dementia, exactly?
- Caregiving for Someone with Dementia
- Techniques for Helping Individuals with Dementia
- Understanding Dementia and Simplifying Life
- Solutions to keep you and someone with dementia organized
Where to find Adria online:
Web: www.belightcare.com
IG:https://www.instagram.com/belightcare
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@belightcare
Email: [email protected]
You can contact Adria at
to learn more about Adria and her services, please go to
—
The Organized & Productive podcast is brought to you by The Organized Flamingo and hosted by Stephanie Y. Deininger! For those of you who love the thought of organizing & being more productive, but don’t know where to start or constantly up against hurdles that don’t let you advance the way you want to, this podcast is for you!
Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast
Connect with Stephanie
https://www.instagram.com/theorganizedflamingo/
Review the Transcript:
Stephanie
All around here, we always say that being insane organized has to fit into the life that you live, not the other way around. So it's not about finding the party bins and having an organized system, and then figuring out how it works into your life. Usually there is a problem that you're trying to solve. That is what being an ST organizer is all about. It's finding the solution to a problem. And sometimes it could be as simple as you're tired of being late all the time, and you are finally ready to get organized so that you don't have to struggle every morning and be late to work. But sometimes it can be a lot more complicated than that. And that is what today's episode is about. It's for those complexities in life that sometimes come in as a bump on the road that you may not have expected, or maybe you were prepared for this, and you just need a little bit more help. So today's episode is for the caregivers for those individuals who have to make sense of it all. More specifically, we are focusing on a type of caregiver today, and it is caring for someone with dementia. For our guests. Today we have Adria Thompson, who is a speech language pathologist and the owner of B light care consulting Adria has worked with hundreds of individuals with dementia in long term care communities, providing one on one speech therapy services. But from there, her specialty and passion quickly grew into the dementia care specifically. And if you're familiar with Adria from social media or just any other platform out there, you know that she has a true passion for this topic and making it easier to understand what potentially the patients are going through your loved ones are going through and helping you as a caregiver navigate through this very difficult time. Now this episode is focused for the caregivers of dementia patients. But if you listen closely, you actually can and will take some tips about staying organized as a you know everyday person to be honest. But just know that her tips are a little bit more centered towards the caregiver and helping their loved ones their patients navigate through the difficulties of dementia so but more specifically, their their surroundings, their things, what are some ways to ease into simplify their surroundings so that they don't feel so overwhelmed. And also you as a caregiver aren't feeling overwhelmed, either. So I hope you enjoy this episode, and that it brings you comfort knowing that there are people out there like Adrienne like myself who do understand and see you caregivers and understand that you may be facing through some really difficult times. And we just want to make life a little easier, a little simpler, so that you don't have to navigate it alone. Welcome to the organized and productive podcast with organized grooming go. I am your host, Stephanie, a professional organizer and productivity expert, ready to explore the right organizing and productivity solutions for you. Yeah, well then let's go. Hey, Adrian. Hello. Welcome. Welcome. Thank you so much for being here with us today.
Adria Thompson
Thank you, Stephanie. I'm so excited to get into dementia and organization, this is going to be fun.
Stephanie
Yes. So as our guest and community knows we get straight to the nitty gritty of the topics of the day. And today it's all about dementia. So love to put you on the spotlight to kind of give us that overview for people that are either just starting the journey of of this, learning more about it or there's interest level to learn more. So what is dementia? And what is the what are the stages that just for like a quick overview for someone who is starting on this journey or need and maybe they need a refresher?
Adria Thompson
Yeah. So Dementia is a term that's a kind of like an umbrella term. So this is dementia just basically means that someone has experiences changes in their brain that is affecting their daily life. Now these changes in the brain can be many different symptoms. We most often think of dementia we think of memory loss, right then forgetting things repeating things. But that is not the only symptom of dementia. There are many types of dementia, so specific diagnoses. under that umbrella term of dementia, the most common type of dementia is Alzheimer's disease that accounts for anywhere from 60 to 80% of people with dementia. And that symptom that has most prevalent in Alzheimer's disease is forgetfulness. It's short term memory loss. So That's often why we think of that. But there are many other types of dementia like Lewy body dementia that has symptoms like sleep disturbances and visual hallucinations. There's Frontotemporal dementia that reveals For most mostly language deficits and behavior changes, there's vascular dementia, which usually is in individuals who have had a past medical history of strokes or mini strokes. So there's, I think over 100 different types of dementia with various symptoms. But in general, we know that dementia is just a change to the brain that is now affecting someone's life. Regardless of what type of dementia someone has, it will get worse over time, that's also part of the definition. And so because of that, there are many stages. So there's a progression that kind of happens at the very beginning, usually, when someone's first diagnosed, that could be considered having mild dementia. And so there are many scales that exist that describe that progress over time, many doctors will just say mild, moderate, and severe, or early, middle and late. There are other skills that put numbers like stage four, stage six. And that's not super relevant to this conversation today. But it's just important to know that dementia does get worse over time. And so we have to care for individuals and treat that a little bit differently based on what type of dementia someone has and what stage they're in. So we for the purposes of today will just reference, mild, moderate or severe dementia.
Stephanie
Thank you. Yes. And this is how we came together, right, because this is a life event for families and caretakers that will change the trajectory of the person's life all everyone involved, and there will be a few stages. So that's how you I connected with Adria, because I realized she was just so good at explaining how there will be progression, but each stage is its own, and it needs to be treated as so versus just clumping it all into this one pool, that can be very overwhelming for caretakers, and friends and family. So you breaking it down in this way allows I think people to organize their thoughts, their life and how it will change going forward. So so thank you for that. Okay, so let's because there are different stages that we that you just mentioned, let's talk about how caretakers can help their loved one or the person they're caring for navigate through their space and their life in an easier form. So some organizing tips. And I noticed you mentioned that there's different steps, I know, you'll have some tips that have that will depend on the severity of where the person is at. So Adrian is going to go through some of the tips both in the physical space and the digital because it nowadays it affects both. We live in a world that has both. So we'd love to hear you know, from from the different levels, how can people help their loved ones and the people that are caring for get a little more organized
Adria Thompson
in their space? Yeah, absolutely. And I think starting out, it's important to note that this is true, not just for organizing someone with dementia, but this is probably true across the board. But sometimes we need to add things to their life. And sometimes we need to remove things from their life. So we're kind of gonna jump back and forth between adding something and then removing something. So my first tip would be very practical for people in the very early stages of dementia, or even people who might be considered having mild cognitive impairment, which is kind of the step before dementia. So many of these individuals might still be using technology. And so one, my first tip is to remove digital clutter. So removing programs or apps that are unnecessary or unused, clearing out clutter will simplify the person's experience and navigating to what they need. And it's also going to decrease opportunities for making mistakes, right so when someone has a brain change and it's affecting their life, it's going to also affect their ability to navigate through technology, whether it maybe it's a phone or a tablet or a computer and so removing things that are unnecessary that they're not using anymore is just going to simplify that process for them. So if they if there are some apps that that need to be there you know for like system operation or it's some files that are just necessary for whatever you know piece of technology it is even just putting them in a folder and labeling it do not open or like ignore this like being very straightforward and simplifying their experience can really go a long way because I don't know about you but I really like a simple layout when I when I get on my phone but not everyone does. My dad's for example, there's like a 1000 notifications on every single thing, and it's just overwhelming. And so when someone's having difficulty with complex things, why continue to make things that complex? So removing unnecessary things is probably the first step if someone is experiencing some changes in their brain,
Stephanie
yeah, I love that. And this, you mentioned something so like, sometimes you just have to remove and sometimes you will need to add and adding that instruction, that very direct action that needs to take place within that parameter, the file system, what are the app or whatever it may be you in our daily lives would think that that's, that's, that's going too far. Like that's an addition. But in reality for someone who is needs like a little bit more direction, that is going to simplify someone's life incredible. Incredibly, so you mentioning that was like, Oh, I was over here cheering like, yes, some movement, sometimes you need to add, so thank you for adding that gap.
Adria Thompson
Yeah, and sometimes even just taking apps that, that maybe they don't use as often and moving it to a page, you know, especially like on an iPhone, like moving it to a separate page, it still exists in case, we need to get to it as caregivers, but just making sure that what they see when they first go to interact with that piece of technology, that it's just as simple as possible.
Stephanie
I have a quick question for you here. The are there types of technology that you would recommend without maybe not necessarily naming any specific product? But is there something that is easier to lean towards like a, you know, more of a tablet versus a phone versus something flipped in today's age technology? Are there some recommendations that would go along with this tip?
Adria Thompson
That's a great question. I think overall, my recommendation here is to stick with what's familiar. So most, like I said, a lot of times we think about memory loss when it comes to dementia. And although that's not a symptom for everyone, it is a symptom for most people, because Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, and that's the primary symptom. So short term memory loss, it means that they are going to forget things that they've learned most recently. So if we think of someone's timeline between today, and you know, birth, they start when they lose memory, they start to lose memory and the things that are most recent. So the saying here is last thing in first thing out. So the last thing they learned will be the first thing that they forget. So we need to stick with the two pieces of technology that they have the most interaction with. Now, sometimes that means that, you know, if they've been using an iPhone for 10 years, it's likely that they're going to remember how to use it for a good amount of time. But if they just learned it last year, and now they're starting to show signs of dementia, that's likely going to be something that goes out the window. So maybe we need to think about well, what were they using previous to that, maybe a flip phone, or maybe a landline phone, right? And so we just need to go with what's familiar. Often we see these fancy smartphones that are meant for individuals with dementia, and they're great and everything. But if someone has never even had an experience of touching a screen, knowing how to swipe knowing how to hold down a button, then this is not the time to teach them something new. So I just say overarching ly, there are products out there. But the best, the best kind of product is going to be the one that they are most familiar with already.
Stephanie
Thank you. Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Okay, so what are cups as we head into the deeper, you know, more advanced stages, what are other tips that you would
Adria Thompson
recommend? So that's kind of focusing on removing things digitally. So the next tip I'm going to give you is how to add something digitally for people who just removing things is not enough. Okay, so we remove we simplified but they're still struggling. One of my favorite things to do is to add and create a custom background for whatever piece of technology they're using. Now, I often will use Canva for something like this. But let's say that someone is using a laptop or even a desktop computer and they love playing solitaire. They love checking the weather, and they love watching sermons from their grandson's church, okay, those are the three things that they love doing. And they're having difficulty navigating to find where those things are, if even though we've already removed things, they're still struggling. So what we can do is we can go on a program like Canva and we can create a custom background. My recommendation is that it's a solid color. I know we like pictures of grandbabies, and dogs and sunflowers, but that's just visually really distracting. So we can just create one With a black background, and then what I will do is make like four, three squares for this example. So three big squares that are going to be on the background that are a contrasting color. So let's say lime green. And then next to that, on this custom background we're making, we will write the three things that they want. So the weather, Solitaire, and then sermons from First Baptist Church, okay, so then once we can save that picture, and then apply it as the background of our desktop computer, and then drag the icons that are going to be those things into the boxes that you created on that backdrop, that is going to make it super obvious where they need to click. So it's highlighting the whole background is showing them exactly what they need to do. And we can be as creative as we want. When it comes to creating backgrounds. This is possible for tablets, phones, and computers. But there are times where I might make a bet custom background that has their username and password information for certain bank information. Right. So instead of trying to always find a post it note or something it is on their actual computer, when it opens exactly what they need to do. Maybe it has a direct instructions as to what order they clicked. So it might say, we might have a step by step 123 directions of click this button, then click this, this is going to pop up do this. So we can use custom backgrounds to just add clarity, and explain exactly what the person needs to do.
Stephanie
That makes complete sense to some even for me that when you can explain it in that simple format really would probably help a lot of you know, overwhelmed, but I can see how that, you know, that would be easy to make. But also easy to explain to someone without over overdoing it, if you will. Yeah,
Adria Thompson
yeah. And there are some apps that are not as obvious as to like what they are. So for example, like good reads, If you if your mom loves to read book reviews, but she always forgets what that app is called. And maybe the icon doesn't always stand out to her, we can make a custom background for her phone that has an arrow to where we know, we can put the icon and it says Click here for book reviews. Right? So this thinking about how what's the problem that they're experiencing? And how can we make How can we add something to make it more clear?
Stephanie
That makes sense. I love that. Okay. So then as we progress through, you mentioned, and I know you talk a lot about this in on your social media platforms as well. But consistency? Yeah, go into that detail.
Adria Thompson
Yeah. So kind of going along with short term memory often being an issue. As we move through maybe more into the moderate stages of dementia, we're going to see a pattern of forgetting things misplacing things. And what even can happen here are sometimes accusations that things have been stolen. So picture this situation, you have a set of keys, and you can't find them anywhere. Now for you. And I often when we have valuable things, we might be able to remember that we put it somewhere, but we don't exactly know where we put it. But when it comes to short term memory loss, but dementia, not they don't even have memory of ever having it much less where they put it. So if they know that they're looking for something important, and they have no memory of being the one to put it somewhere, then the most rational thought next is going to be well someone took it even though it was them, right. And so then when we have this paranoia of oh my gosh, things, people are taking things, then every time we interact with something we deem is valuable, then we're going to hide it in a place so that those people who are taking our stuff can't get it. But then what happens is we forget where we've hidden it. And then that further makes us think, oh, people are stealing things again. And so it's this cycle that can be really difficult to manage as a caregiver, because often we are the ones blamed for it right? Like where's my, where's my stuff? Did you take it? So consistency is really important when it comes to helping someone keep track of their items. So what we can do is determine a safe place that actually might be a safe, but it could be we need to follow their lead with where they're typically hiding things. I know I've worked with many patients in the past as a speech therapist, that they when we can't find something I know exactly in their room where their tendencies are to hide things. It's a certain drawer. It's under the pillowcase, it's in between the mattress, everyone has different tendencies. So follow their lead and know where they have a tendency to put things down. And then put a sign or create a spot. Sometimes I'll use colorful duct tape to square off a section in the back of a closet, or I'll use a red plastic tub to dit to put in a drawer and be like, this is your safe space, every time you have something valuable, we're gonna put it here. So what we can do with repetition and consistency, walking them through, here's this valuable thing, let's go to your safe space and put it there, we can start creating these patterns and habits. So that anytime they are looking for something, they instinctively go to that safe place and hopefully find it and can decrease some of that paranoia, and some of that, just distrust of the people around them. It's a terrible feeling.
Stephanie
Absolutely. And I think this is a good time to to insert the warning, if you will, or maybe just a heads up that we're talking in Adrian's kind of talking in general speak, but that sometimes there is trial and error for you as a caregiver, because assuming most of the community that's listening, is on the caregiver side. And we're trying to guide you at least or give you some purposeful and some tips that you can implement. But sometimes, like you just said, you might have to do some trial and error. Just giving you examples here. But generically, it's the safe spot, you may have to experiment, right and with with a couple of things that your person is demeaning is the safe spot. And maybe they you know, you just have to play around with that. So
Adria Thompson
Oh, absolutely. And not only does it depend on like, the individual's like the objects that they're hiding, or the the places that the physical aspects of trying to figure out that how to support them in this way, but also the way that we approach that, like how we're communicating with them that can make or break these these tips, right. And so there will be no one tip that's going to fix any one problem. And I am nothing but a problem solver, a trial and error. Er, I mean, that is what I do. And it's okay, if things don't work that gives us information still. But there's always usually something we can try to give us a little bit of hope in those moments of Oh, my gosh, what do I do about this issue?
Stephanie
Absolutely. And that's what we hope that people would get from this conversation that there are people out there on your side, trying to help you figure it out that you don't just have to, you know, start from scratch, hopefully. Okay, so as we progressed, let's keep going.
Adria Thompson
Okay, so let's say someone has a little bit more progressed from that. And that consistencies this really not working or, or we can't really get them to remember that safe space, we can I want to talk about creating salient solutions. So when we talk about saliency, that's just making things obvious. Okay, so let's use the example of someone with dementia that's constantly putting their dirty clothes back into drawers or on a hanger in their closet that can happen sometimes. So they might think, Well, I just wore this one day, so I'm going to hang it back up, when in reality, they've worn it for five days. And it's just an outfit that feels most comfortable to them, it feels safe to them. And so they enjoy wearing it, and they'll keep putting it back. As a caregiver, we don't want to have to fight the battle of arguing with them that, you know, you've actually worn this five times. And we all know how those kind of interactions go we we often don't win and both of us walk away, feeling really frustrated. So what we need to consider is to guide them to make a better choice, right? We would rather than place it in their hamper. But how do we make that hamper and making that decision to put it in the hamper more salient. So consider where they are going to be when they're making this choice. So for example, a lot of people take their clothes off at the end of the day while sitting on the edge of the bed. But maybe they are sitting on the toilet, in their bathroom. Or maybe they're in the middle of their living room who knows everyone has different habits, but consider where they are physically when they are making this decision. And think about how we can make in our eyes, the right decision the most obvious in that moment. So for example, we don't need to put a hamper in a closet behind a closed door and assume that they're going to use it out of sight out of mind is very much true for a lot of people with dementia. So we definitely need to bring the hamper out in the area that they will be experiencing this dilemma. Often we also can use things like signs so we can make a very clear statement. We can make a big bright red sign and I'll often when I make signs for people with dementia I do In first person, so it might say, after I take off my clothes, I put them here, and it has an arrow pointing into the hamper. There are many things we can trial and error here too. So we might need to not use a hamper that has a lid on the top, because maybe if it has a lid on the top, it doesn't feel as inviting. Maybe it needs to be open. Well, maybe they are just completely against the idea of putting their clothes in a hamper because they think they're clean. So maybe we use a nice basket. So they fold up their clothes, and they put it in this pretty basket thinking, Oh, I'll wear that tomorrow. For us caregivers, we know that's a cue that those clothes are dirty. Okay, so think about physically where someone is, what perspective visually do they have in wear in that moment? And how in that moment, can we make the right decision, the most obvious choice,
Stephanie
I love that. And the part about figuring, well, like we mentioned the trial and error, but also you going through the steps yourself as well with how you what what you want you as a caretaker caretaker, what results you're looking for as well. Because at the end, you are the person that will lead or you're the recipient of that action, you are the responsible partner for that person at the end of that action. So you make it obvious, but also simple for you to deal with. is kind of that that balance a little bit that you have to play with? Yeah, so I, I love the partner like, okay, let's make it obvious. So that you both you win, I win. And you can just legally, you know, lead it as simple as possible.
Adria Thompson
And it takes away that confrontational moment of like coming in and telling someone what to do. We're actually allowing them independence by setting up their environment in a way that allows them to make the right choice without a standing over them, and, you know, authoritative or confrontational way, and giving them instruction.
Stephanie
Yes, yes. Yes, yes. Okay, so for our kind of the last of this, these phases, you talk about distractions. So let's talk about that a little bit.
Adria Thompson
Yeah. So then in the later stages of dementia, maybe someone who with moderate dementia or severe dementia, we're going to see often a lot of changes in attention. We've talked about memory already. But attention is very much a component of memory. If we're not paying attention, if I don't pay attention to my husband, when he tells me a story, I sure I'm not going to remember it right. And so attention and we see this, you know, in ourselves a lot of times, based on the mood we're in or the situation we're in, we might be able to really focus on something and have a long sustained attention to a task. And then sometimes we don't, we don't have the ability to pay attention if our lives depended on it. So individuals with dementia, their capacity for attention will decrease over time. And so they will get distracted very easily. So in these very, you know, the later stages of dementia, we need to think about how we can decrease distractions. Now, I think we all try to decrease distractions in our environment at times where we turn off the TV in the background, or we you know, turn off the radio or turn off our notifications on our phones so that that we are not easily distracted. But sometimes there are really small things that we don't think about that we can do. So for example, if someone is having a difficult time, sitting down for a meal, and focusing long enough to eat, maybe they take a few bites, and then they stand up to leave and we're like oh, sit back down back down. In that moment, think about how we can strategically set them up in a way that will make them be able to focus more. So often what that looks like at mealtime is maybe although it makes us happy and it's really beautiful. We need to take centerpieces off the table. Right? Well, maybe we need to take runners off the table, things that can just draw attention away from what they need to focus on, which is their food. I do this with myself, but also we need to consider which direction they are facing. So if my husband and I are going out on a special dinner, I will specifically and strategically seat myself at a table to where I'm facing the wall rather than the rest of the restaurant. Because I am a people watcher. And so I know that if my backs to the wall and I am seeing everything else go on in the restaurant, I'm going to be listening to other people's conversations. I'm going to be figuring out if they're on a first date or if people are fighting. And so in the same way when we seat someone with dementia for a meal and they have trouble with attention, we might need to face them on the side of the table that focuses on the least interesting part of the room, usually a wall or maybe a window and we need to close the curtains. So decreasing visual distractions, decreasing auditory distractions, that's things we hear, maybe we think that you playing music in the background and nice little, you know, ambiance for, for a meal. But for some people, it might be too much. So there's a lot of things we can do to kind of remove distractions from them so that we can give them the best chance of concentrating and making the thing that we need them to do. The most interesting thing in their field division,
Stephanie
yeah, it's that age old, quote, rights that set them up for success. But I think in this case, it's it's them proxy by you by you, you know, you kind of become one at some point as a caregiver. And it's setting yourself up. But then but you and it's this fine balance, so and finding what that is so that at the end, you're both happy, and your bulls are as happy as can be, or as comfortable as can be given the situation. So yeah,
Adria Thompson
and I think you know, many of these tips that I've given, it requires us to see the world from their eyes. And that's often a thing that's brought up when it comes to caring, caring for someone with dementia is to, you know, consider their reality or look at their perspective. But sometimes we have to physically do that we need to sit in the seat that they're sitting and think what here could distract them? Or maybe when we talked earlier about making things salient, we need to sit on the edge of the bed exactly where they're sitting and think, how are they taking this world? And how when we look at their phone, we need to consider through their, you know, their brain that they have, you know, a disease that's affecting them? How is their brain interpreting this, and then how can I make things easier, that's really what what caregiving is all about is just seeing the world through their eyes. And we can be really creative sometimes when we really fully allow ourselves to understand what they're going through. And then, you know, think about ways that we can make them. The three areas typically are more independent, more safe, and more comfortable and happy.
Stephanie
Oh, I, I love that. And for all of our listeners, because I know, I know my community well enough that I think some of as you're listening, you're probably were thinking, hey, I kind of have that a little bit that can help me, you know, or that could help my husband or my child or my aunt or whatever, whoever you love your roommate. But this is a good reminder that in this scenario, in this conversation in particular, we hope that some of these tips will help everyone but that at the end of the day, the Kate caretaker, caretakers for dementia is that it's not going to get better. Right? Yeah. So I think as you know, some of these tips, hopefully they help, but also did this is to ease those caretakers that, you know, but we'll be facing this for the different chapters in the upcoming chapters in their lives. So absolutely, yeah. Okay. So as we start to unwind, I always ask these three questions we want to know, well, first of all, in them, one of the most important questions is, what would you like people to take away from this conversation,
Adria Thompson
I think the most important thing to take away when it comes to dementia, when people are going to start being unable to do things we know that's that's part of the process. But when someone can't do something independently, or they can't do it as well as they did, that doesn't mean that they can't ever participate in it again. And what I mean by that is, let's say someone is struggling with their iPhone, the moment they start saying, I can't ever get this thing to work, don't throw your hands up and think well, iPhone days are over this is it and check it out the window, we can adapt. There's always adaptations. There's always things that we can try, that could still make someone with support, be able to participate in those things they enjoy. Will there be a day that one day we just get rid of the iPhone, of course. But when someone struggles with something at the very beginning, try to make some changes, try to implement some techniques, trial and error and see what can happen. There's a lot of support for caregivers that exist out there. I am a speech language pathologist. I am biased. Yes, but I think that speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists are most unused resources For people with dementia, so if you think that you need some support, I encourage you to ask the primary care doctor, for the person you're caring for, to give them a referral to a therapist, we can sometimes come into your home. Or maybe if they're living in a long term care community, they can see them there. There's so many things, these are the things that I described are things I do every day at my work. So it is important to know that there's always medical professionals out there that can give you some tips and tricks. So you're not alone. You don't feel so alone.
Stephanie
Yeah, you're not alone. Let's head to a fun question, which is, you have a favorite magazine that you'd like to read, whether it's a digital magazine, hard copies, or something that you just really enjoyed a pickup, even if it's at the checkout of the grocery store, you know, the one that you just kind of typically end up grabbing and perusing through.
Adria Thompson
So I don't read magazines very often, I don't think I've ever stood in a line and looked at anything. However, I do have, I do subscribe to some things through my email. And they're not very exciting. But mostly it's information about, you know, current research and dementia. I subscribe to the American Speech Language Hearing Association, magazines that give me all the updated information. So I, when I read usually for leisure, it's usually books, but I still try to be a lifelong learner and, and consume as much information that's going to be helpful to the people I serve.
Stephanie
You are true to your gift. I think it is that, that that's perfect, like you love what you do. And you continue with that, which actually leads us to our next and last question, which is where can people reach you because that is where I found you, which was the social media platforms and you your passion for this is very well presented. And it's beautiful to see. And I'm very grateful that I get to learn some, you know, a lot of new tactics on how on this subject matter. So where can people reach you? Where can people find you and enjoy all that awesome content that you're putting out there for free? But also, where can people reach out if they need further assistance that goes beyond the the free stuff that's out there?
Adria Thompson
Yeah. So yeah, I'm on social media, Facebook, tick tock, and Instagram, all at be liked care. So B, E, L, I, G, H, T, C, A, R E. So yeah, just type and be like care on any of those platforms. I have 275,000 followers across all platforms. So I have hundreds of videos and post giving tips and education about how to care for someone with dementia. And so that's all free. There's tons of information on there there. Especially Instagram, it's very organized there with categories and stuff so you can find what you're looking for. If you want to just contact me ask a question, you can email me at info at B lights care.com. But I also do caregiver consultations via zoom. So if you go to be like care.com, you will see a consultations or services tab. And you can read about what caregiver consultations entail. Basically we just sit on Zoom for an hour you tell me what's going on in your caregiving journey. And I just give you lots of tips and information. And so you can find that on my website if you would like to work with me one on one. Awesome, wonderful
Stephanie
leader. Thank you so much for joining us today and being the light and truly sharing your gift with all of us and for all the listeners that I know will benefit from this conversation. So thank
Adria Thompson
you so much. Thank you for having me. This was a lot of fun.
Stephanie
Thank you for listening to the organized and productive podcast with the organized Flamingo. If you enjoyed today's episode, I would love it if you'd leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps with letting people know that we're here. For full show notes and resources head on over to the organized flamingo.com/podcast Happy organizing