A lot of what we’d like to know about Alzheimer’s and dementia can be asked in the form of empirical questions. By empirical, we mean that the best way to answer the question is to get the best information possible from the most appropriate source.
Here’s an example of an empirical question–the kind of question we can answer if we have enough information of the right kind. If you click on this question, it will take you to an account of one way we have determined what Leslie was thinking and feeling when she could no longer speak.
“If she can’t talk any more, how can you tell what she’s thinking?”
Below are some other empirical questions people have asked us. Over time we’ll try to provide answers to these questions based on what we learned from Leslie, her fellow memory care residents and their care-givers.
- Do people with Alzheimer’s or dementia still have friendships?
- Can Alzheimer’s change someone’s personality?
- How fast does the disease progress?
- Is Alzheimer’s really a disease or is it just what happens when you get old?
- What might make it easier for people with Alzheimer’s or dementia to understand?
- What benefits can come from exercise or physical therapy?
- What role can music play while visiting someone?
- What can you do while visiting people when they no longer talk?
- Is there anything you can do during a visit if she’s asleep?
Just because a question is empirical, that doesn’t mean that we can answer it (or even shed much light on it) from what we learned from Leslie, her care givers and fellow memory care residents. Here are several empirical questions, for example, for which visitors to this site can probably develop answers for the people they are interested in. But answers to these questions will differ from one person to the next because the course of Alzheimer’s or dementia also varies from one person to the next.
- Should I read her stories, show her photos, make jokes, watch TV, or take her outside?
- If we walk somewhere, where should we go?
- What’s the best way to make sure she doesn’t fall or otherwise hurt herself?
- Would bringing the dog cheer her up?
- How can I help her keep exercising her mind and memory?
- What changes would make her living situation more comfortable or engaging?
- Is she better or worse than the last time I saw her?
- Is she getting the right medical/health care for her ailments?
- How can you tell what she’s thinking or feeling?
- If I visit, how long should I stay?
Even though we don’t have specific answers to these questions, there’s a strategy we can recommend for all of them. The strategy is called “trial and error,” and the posts below describe and illustrate what we mean by that.