Welcome to the BRIGHT Workshop
This website is offered as a companion to the BRIGHT Workshop offering an opportunity to provide you with more information about the topics covered in the workshop, along with e-copies of the manual and forms that will be used during the workshop.
This workshop is for caregivers who care for individuals who have memory loss. No matter what your relationship to the individual with the memory loss (spouse, partner, significant other, adult child, or friend) all are welcome. This group will meet for four weeks. Please note the time and day of these meetings on your calendar.
Time
This group lasts for 90 minutes. Since there is a lot of information to share and a limited amount of time, we may need to move on even though it might be nice to keep talking.
Privacy
Anything of a personal nature that is mentioned in group should be treated as private and should not be repeated outside of group.
Surroundings
Please make sure others in your environment cannot see or hear your screen. Limit distracting background noise if you can by using your mute button when not speaking.
Voluntary Participation
Participation in the group is voluntary. You can decide to take part or not take part in any activity. However, the best way to learn is to join in as much as you can!
WORKBOOK, POWER POINTS, & PRACTICE RECORDS
Workbook
This is the workbook which accompanies the BRIGHT Workshop: Building Resilience & Inner Strength for Caregivers of Persons with Memory Loss. This e-copy of the BRIGHT Workbook is available for the participants of the workshop.
Power Point PDFs
This is the workbook which accompanies the BRIGHT Workshop: Building Resilience & Inner Strength for Caregivers of Persons with Memory Loss. This e-copy of the BRIGHT Workbook is available for the participants of the workshop.
Practice Records for Week 1
Click on the name to download a PDF of the Practice Record.
1.1 Mapping Stress
1.2 Mindful Breathing
1.3 Power of Balance
Practice Records for Week 2
Click on the name to download a PDF of the Practice Record.
2.1 Positive Activities Log
2.2 Shared Positive Activities
Practice Records for Week 3
Click on the name to download a PDF of the Practice Record.
3.1 Atlas CareMap
Practice Records for Week 4
Click on the name to download a PDF of the Practice Record.
4.1 Tips Memory Loss
4.2 Tips Family
4.3 Tips Health Care Professionals
Additional Resources
If you would like more information about any of the topics discussed in BRIGHT: Building Resilience & Inner Strength for Caregivers of Persons with Memory Loss, the following resources are available for you to explore.
These recommendations have been gathered from trusted sources and many times have been suggested as useful by caregivers themselves. While the URLs are checked regularly, if you find a broken link please notify Dr. Bilbrey at ann@optimalagingcenter.com
Stress
Website: Office on Women’s Health: Caregiver Stress
A website with a comprehensive coverage of caregiver specific stress. While not limited to caregivers for persons with Memory Loss it contains valuable information.
Article: Caregiver Stress: Tips for taking care of yourself
A Mayo Clinic Healthy Lifestyle – Stress Management article for caregivers of older adults covering risk factors, recognition, & strategies.
Article: Caregiver Stress
Alzheimer’s Association’s article specific to dementia caregivers on recognizing and managing stress.
Article: Chronic Stress: Effects of Stress on Your Body
The beginnings of a series of articles from the Healthline website on chronic stress, this is a review of the effects of stress on each part of the body.
Peer Reviewed Article: The effects of chronic stress on health: New insights into the molecular mechanisms of brain–body communication
This is an open access in-depth discussion of the effects of chronic stress on health.
Relaxation Techniques
Website: Relaxation exercises, Techniques, Music, and Meditations
Interesting website with a few different techniques. Jump to Breathing Techniques & Other Relaxation Exercises to find alternatives to mindful breathing.
Article: Multiple Sclerosis Trust – Relaxation
Although written for those struggling with MS they clearly explain different exercises.
Commercial Site (Relax the Back): Relaxation Techniques You Can Practice Anywhere
Reviews 5 relaxation techniques with brief instructions. Suitable for an initial review to see if any of these might fit your life.
Article: Six relaxation techniques to reduce stress
An introduction to 6 techniques offered by Harvard Health Publishing, no practice instructions included
Article: Stress Management: Breathing Exercises for Relaxation
University of Michigan-Michigan Medicine’s article on different breathing techniques.
Video: Calm
YouTube channel for the Calm app, which hosts a series of different guided breathing mediations.
Video: 10 Percent Happier
YouTube channel for the 10 percent Happier app, they offer a series of guided meditations.
Book: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story
The story behind the 10% Happier, Dan Harris talks about his path as a skeptic and what he gains from meditation.
Power of Balance (Gratitude)
Article: The Neuroscience of Gratitude and How It Affects Anxiety & Grief
This article is a great summary on the science showing the benefits of gratitude. It covers a variety of topics which include how gratitude works, the neuroscience, and touches on gratitude and grief, anxiety, and stress among other topics.
Article on Books: 5+ Best Books on Gratitude + Oliver Sacks’ Gratitude Book
There are so many books out there about gratitude but if you want to hear from the experts this list contains many excellent books about the whys and how of gratitude.
Power of Balance (Kind Act)
Article: Kindness Makes You Happy… and Happiness Makes You Kind
This article explores the feedback loop that exists and the research that examined it when a person does a kind act.
Website: Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
Everything you wanted to know about random acts of kindness.
Power of Balance (Forgiveness)
Article: The power of forgiveness – The REACH method teaches how to overcome lingering bad feelings toward someone who did you wrong.
This article from Harvard Health’s Mind & Mood introduces the REACH method of learning to forgive.
Video: TedTalk play list on Forgiveness
This webpage offers a series of TedTalks on the topic of forgiveness.
Power of Journaling
Article: The Art of Journaling: Benefits of Journaling
This is a long article with many interesting facts but the part that is important to this workshop is in Part I. The Benefits of Journaling.
TED Talk: A Simple Trick to Improve Positive Thinking
An excellent talk that explains the tendency to look for the negative and suggestions to improve positive thinking.
Caregiving and Your Mood
Fact Sheet: Emotional Side of Caregiving
Fact sheet by the Family Caregiving Alliance. This fact sheet discusses multiple different emotions that make arise during caregiving, including depression. Strategies on coping are offered for the emotions covered.
Article: Mental Well-being of family caregivers
An article by the Dana Foundation (a private philanthropic organization dedicated to advancing understanding about the brain) discussing the research and current knowledge on depression and anxiety in family caregivers.
Article: The Surprising Benefits of Being a Caregiver
An article focused on the positive benefits of caregiving from the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement.
Article: How to Cope with Caregiver Depression
Everyday Health’s Resilience Resource Center offers an article which discusses Caregiver depression and explores the author’s own experience.
Article: Caring for the Alzheimer’s Disease Patient
An article from the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation explores the many of the issues families and caregivers may have when caring for someone with dementia. Many of the sections in this article offer practical options. It has a section on caregiver depression and a unique section on the five reactions of families adjusting to a diagnosis.
Help Line: Alzheimer’s Association Help Line
The Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 Helpline (800.272.3900) is available around the clock, 365 days a year. Through this free service, specialists and master’s-level clinicians offer confidential support and information to people living with the disease, caregivers, families and the public.
Help Line: Friendship line
Institute on Aging’s 24-hour toll-free Friendship Line (800.971.0016) is the only accredited crisis line in the country for people aged 60 years and older, and adults living with disabilities.
Help Line: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals (800.273.8255). Veteran can select option 1 to speak with caring, qualified responders with the Department of Veterans Affairs, many of them Veterans themselves.
Positive Activities
Article: Behavioral Activation Targets Depression
This article in Today’s Geriatric Medicine reviews basic information regarding behavioral activation and its effects on depression.
Article: Participating in Activities You Enjoy
This article from the National Institute on Aging focuses on the effects of positive activities in maintaining healthy aging.
Article: How Pleasant Activities Scheduling Helps Reduce Depression
This excellent article reviews how it works, the research and examples illustrating the use of pleasant activities.
Article: Depression-Creative Activities to Try
This article from Blurt It Out offers some creative activities to add to your activities list.
Article: Depression and anxiety: Exercise eases symptoms
Mayo Clinic’s article on exercise and its impact on depression.
Article: The Mental Health Benefits of Exercise
An excellent article on effectiveness of exercise on mental health.
Article: The Exercise Effect
An article focused on the benefits of exercise in the treatment of depression.
Video: The Brain Changing Benefits of Exercise
An 13 minute TEDTalk by neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki talking about the benefits of exercise.
Assessment: California Older Person’s Pleasant Events Schedule (COPPES-R)
If you are finding it difficult to find 10 activities, the COPPES-R is one method of discovering additional activities. Both the assessment and scoring instructions can be found at the following url, just scroll down.
Memory Loss and Depression
Article: Alzheimer’s or depression: Could it be both?
Mayo Clinic article discussing the differences between Alzheimer’s Disease and depression.
Article: Dementia and Depression
BrightFocus Foundation’s article discussing the depression and dementia. At end of article are links to other articles on the website on the topic.
Article: Behavior & Personality Changes
This article from UCSF’s Memory & Aging Center discuss multiple behavior and personality changes, of which one is depression and offers strategies to help.
Articles: Alzheimer’s Disease and Depression
The WebMD website offers a series of articles addressing dementia and depression. It is one of the few that address the issue of suicide prevention in the early stages.
Recognizing Your Inner Strength (resilience)
Book: When a Family Member Has Dementia: Steps to Becoming a Resilient Caregiver by Susan M. McCurry.
“This book offers caregivers a set of practical and flexible tools to enable them become more resilient in the face of difficulty and change. McCurry teaches caregivers how to take advantage of their own creativity and inner resources to develop strategies that will work in their unique situations. She presents her set of five core principles and then brings them to life through vignettes.”
Book: The Caregiver’s Guide to the Universe: A Memoir: The Caregiver’s Guide to the Universe: A Memoir by Renee Pirie.
“The Caregiver’s Guide to the Universe is a narrative revealing the humorous and unorthodox methods my father used to care for my mother after she developed early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in her late forties.”
Book: Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help, and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer’s by B. Smith, Dan Gasby, & Michael Shnayerson.
“Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn about dealing with Alzheimer’s day-to-day challenges: the family realities and tensions, ways of coping, coming research that may tip the scale, as well as lessons learned along the way.”
Article: Building Inner Strength: What does it mean to be strong?
This article defines the elements of what makes people strong and offers four components to ponder as a person builds their inner strength.
Assessment: VIA’s Character Strength Survey
The VIA Survey offers a personal and unique profile of strengths. Knowing and applying a person’s highest character strengths is the key to being the best self.
Your Support Team
Website: Altas CareMap
This is the website for the Altas CareMap. It contains videoes that may assist in drawing or adjusting your caremap, along with a download for the manual which gives step by step instructions.
WebApp: Altas CareMap WebApp
The company provides a webapp for people to use to transfer your hand drawn paper CareMap to the computer to make a neater version. However it is important to first draw the CareMap by hand as experience has shown that people gain more by doing it by hand first.
TED Talk: What Makes a Good Life-Lessons from the longest study on happiness
An video on the important of developing and nurturing strong relationships
Empathy: The Foundation Of Communication
Articles: Empathy
A series of articles that discuss empathy. Includes lessons on understanding yourself, understanding others, and nonverbal empathy.
Article: What is empathy?
An article that discuss empathy. Includes material on the signs of empathy, types, uses, impact, barriers, history and tips.
Article: Understanding others’ feelings: what is empathy and why do we need it?
“This is the introductory essay in our series on understanding others’ feelings. In it we will examine empathy, including what it is, whether our doctors need more of it, and when too much may not be a good thing.”
Assessment: Empathy Quiz
This is a 28 item quiz. When complete you’ll receive a score and tips on how to improve your empathy.
Communication And Memory Loss
Articles: Communicating and Language
A series of article from the Alzheimer’s Society UK on communicating and language in those with dementia.
Article: Communicating with Someone with Memory Loss
An article discussing communication tips during the different stages of dementia.
Article: How to Talk to Someone with Dementia, Alzheimer’s, or Memory Loss
An excellent article that not only reviews tips on communicating with someone who has dementia but also contains information on working with their communication strengths. Includes a video.
Handout: Compassionate Communication with the Memory Impaired
Handout that summarizes some do’s and don’ts in compassionate communications.
Handout: When Families do not Agree
Article discussing strategies in minimizing conflict in families.
Article: Caregiving and sibling relationships
Family Caregiving Alliance’s article discussing caregiving and sibling relationships.
Article: Helping Families Through Dementia Care-Related Conflicts
This article describes the steps of how to help resolve a family conflict.
Article: 6 Things That Caregiver Siblings Should Consider When Caring for a Loved One With Alzheimer’s
An article that discusses 6 various problems a family may experience and then offers possible solutions to try out.
Communication With Your Healthcare Professional
Article: How to Talk So Your Doctor Will Listen
A USNews’ Health article on ensuring your voice is heard and concerns addressed during your doctor’s visit.
Article: How to Talk to Your Doctors When They Don’t Listen
WebMD’s article on strategies to use when speaking with your doctor.
Article: Talk to Your Doctor so Your Doctor Will Listen
Written by a doctor, this article offers strategies to use to make sure your doctor hears you.
Article: How to Talk So Your Doctor Will Listen
AARP offers a series of tips for communicating with your doctor.
Article: We Asked a Doctor How to Talk So That They’ll Listen
Oprah interviews a doctor and gets the low down on how to speak so your doctor will listen.