This section lists articles that deal specifically with the logistics of incontinence care throughout the three stages of Alzheimer's.  I decided to focus on incontinence care in this web site because that is the greatest barrier to care we caregivers face with this disease and it is the one subject no one wants to talk about. 

We are faced with problems very specific to Alzheimer’s. The very progressive nature of the disease mandates different ways of working with our people at different stages. It isn’t as if we can set a plan and that’s all there is to it. The tasks are further compounded because the demise of the thinking process robs our people of the ability to co-operate with their care and so how we approach them marks the difference between success and disaster. Add this to our natural taboos and our built-in reluctance to enter someone else’s private space and you face a formidable barrier to care. 

The good news is that this barrier is crossed every day by thousands of caregivers facing this illness and this page is here to help you cross it with dignity and resolve.    

On the above title page I offer: 

• how to organize your tools and equipment

• how to see the tasks as tasks  

• how to deal with the needs that develop through the three stages of Alzheimer's 

   

For a quick look at a list of all the articles that deal with incontinence throughout the entire web site, look below.  Some of these articles also appear on the site maps for Ethical Issues and Physical Care Issues.  We are affected by the traditional attitudes towards this disease and it is difficult to separate what are merely tasks from the taboos that surround loss of the ability to communicate.

 

CAREGIVER STORIES

Naomi and Ruth

Excerpt from:  He Used To Be Somebody

A Husband's Perspective on Incontinence Care:  John and Dorothy

Ready  Aim  Fire: A Wife's perspective on Incontinence Care

A Daughter's Perspective on Incontinence Care

*(on ElderCare On Line,  Rich O'Boyle for permission to reprint )