Services for ageing and dementia

Brain Health, Ageing, and Dementia Care

Dementia-related issues can include a variety of concerns including but not limited to changes due to a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Ageing and dementia are major and anxiety-producing concerns for many, if not most people. But how to approach ageing, support healthy ageing and brain health to reduce the risk of dementia, and remain independent may seem a challenging task.

Heike Dumke (doctoral candidate) provides care and guidance in a safe, compassionate, and non-judgmental environment. Services will allow you to learn about and assist you in addressing your specific challenges and implementing your new knowledge about ageing and brain health in everyday life, thereby improving your quality of life.

Similarly, for caregivers, services can include information, resources, and counselling on challenges such as:

  • How to approach and communicate with a loved one who is suffering from a dementia-related condition,
  • Identifying your stressors associated with your loved one’s cognitive decline due to aging or dementia, what you can do to address it, and how to implement strategies that can reduce the daily stress associated with these changes, and
  • Promoting caregivers’ rights and needs.

Understanding the Cognitive Ageing Process

  • Guidance and education around healthy and/ or compromised cognition, cognitive strategies and exercises, and how to utilize these effectively, as well as information on how to promote and optimize your brain’s health, i.e. reducing your risk of dementia
  • if you either feel or think that your cognitive functioning is compromised due to the ageing process (e.g. cognitive difficulties due to normal cognitive changes in ageing), OR
  • if your goal is to be proactive in keeping your brain healthy through keeping it active, but your search for information and the number of potential brain exercises available has proved confusing and frustrating for you.

Evidence exists supporting the notion that cognitive rehabilitation can be utilized to benefit healthy ageing adults (see for example Cognitive Training- Influence on Neuropsych and Brain Function in later life or ACTIVE study) . This means that utilizing services to promote your own healthy cognition can support you in building up your cognitive reserve, thereby most likely decreasing your risk of developing dementia (for independent information, see for example

Brain Health info from Alzheimer’s Research UK AND How to attend to your brain’s health and empower yourself throughout getting older

To understand what cognitive rehabilitation is, please, click the following link to the article ‘Cognitive rehabilitation- what it is and what it should be’.

Can Cognitive Rehabilitation be utilized to help people with cognitive ageing issues?

There is scientific evidence available to support the use of cognitive rehabilitation treatment (CRT) to support healthy ageing, see for example CRT in Aging nr 2 2007. CRT can also be effective in bringing improvements for people with mild and moderate dementia: 2013 review on CRT effectiveness in mild dementia.

How do I know whether Services provided by ‘Mind your Brain’ are appropriate for me?

To further assist with this question, I have embedded a youtube video on the topic of cognitive ageing and brain health, ‘Brain Health Strategies’:

More information on the concept of successful cognitive ageing, how the brain and mind change as we age, and how to support your own successful cognitive ageing process can be found here: Cognitive Aging Article

If you would like to learn more about the healthy versus pathological ageing concepts, please click Healthy versus Pathological Aging overview

More resources on topics such as Caregivers’ rights, understanding what is normal and what is not normal age-related memory loss, dementia myth busters, the difference between “true” dementia and temporary/ pseudo dementia, and more, click here

Summary

  • Service Type Rehabilitation and Psychological Services
  • Provider NameMind your Brain,
    400-601 West Broadway,BC-V5C 4C2 ,Telephone No.16048027291
  • Area British Columbia incl Greater Vancouver, and Yukon
  • DescriptionRegistered Counsellor Heike Dumke (RCC, PhD cand) provides services for ageing and dementia care through relevant information and strategies. Services provided are tailored to your needs and can include: Cognitive Rehabilitation as appropriate, therapeutic care and counselling to address challenges resulting from ageing and caregiving. This can include emotional counselling to address issues arising from anxiety, depression, and stress.