Care Partners Conversation Guide
Community Conversations bring people together in-person or online to watch a video and engage in a guided discussion on topics presented by us, people living with dementia. We share insights in the videos on topics that are important to us. By sharing our experience, we hope you will learn what it’s like to live with dementia from our perspective and what you can do to help the people in your life live well with dementia.
We provide Conversation Guides for each video to support hosts in creating meaningful, respectful dialogue about the topics we share. We invite you to be open and curious, and keep in mind that those of us living with dementia are the dementia experts. Many of you will come to this conversation with formal and informal knowledge about dementia. We honor and respect your knowledge and experience. Today, we simply invite you to set that knowledge aside for a little while and listen closely to the people living with dementia in the videos and in the room. The lived experience of people living with dementia is the most important teacher today.
People may have different experiences, perspectives, and unique needs, and all of those belong here. We invite you to be open to new ideas and curious about what it’s like to live with dementia from our perspective, the perspective of people living well with dementia.
For facilitators: Before leading a discussion, please take a few minutes to review our Facilitation Guide for helpful tips and best practices.
How to Use These Resources:
- 1. Choose a topic you’d like to explore for your discussion.
- 2. Read the description to learn more about the topic.
- 3. Click Watch Video to view the video.
- 4. Click Conversation Guide to download the PDF guide for your discussion.
Anger & Dementia
Anger can be part of the dementia experience and may be connected to emotions, needs, or experiences that are not immediately visible. In this video, persons living with dementia share what can be behind anger and what helps when it arises. Their insights offer ways to respond that support communication, connection, and dignity.
Anxiety & Dementia
Anxiety can affect how a person reacts, thinks, and responds to what is happening around them. In this video, persons living with dementia discuss reasons anxiety may occur, the fight or flight response, and how anxiety can make it difficult to think clearly. They also share ways to reduce stressors and strategies for managing anxiety when it arises.
Benefits of an Early Diagnosis
A dementia diagnosis does not signal the end of a meaningful and fulfilling life. Persons living with dementia share how an early diagnosis can support quality of life, preserve relationships, and provide time to make important decisions about employment, finances, and the future. The conversation highlights the benefits of knowing sooner and the ability to continue living well.
Cognitive Energy & Dementia
Living with dementia can require more cognitive energy to manage everyday activities, conversations, and tasks. Persons living with dementia share how cognitive fatigue affects the mind and body and why rest may not fully restore that energy. The conversation also explores strategies for conserving cognitive energy, including grouping tasks, reducing stress, and creating calmer environments.
Depression & Dementia
Adjusting to life after a dementia diagnosis can bring many emotions and, for some, may contribute to depression. Persons living with dementia share experiences with accepting a diagnosis and choosing to continue living well. The conversation explores the importance of connection, joy, sleep, daily routines, and making adjustments that support living well with dementia.
Driving & Dementia
Driving with dementia can bring important decisions about safety, independence, and staying connected. Persons living with dementia share experiences with continuing to drive, making adjustments, and deciding if or when it is time to stop. The conversation explores evaluations, family input, vehicle technology, and transportation alternatives that can support independence.
Living Well with Dementia
Living well with dementia means recognizing that there is life after a diagnosis. In this video, persons living with dementia share their experiences and practical strategies for continuing to live meaningful and fulfilling lives. Thse stories challenge the stigma that a dementia diagnosis means immediate decline or end-stage disease, offering a perspective grounded in hope, adaptation, purpose, and possibility.
Prescription for Change
What happens when physicians find themselves navigating a dementia diagnosis firsthand? Six retired physicians living with dementia share personal experiences of receiving a diagnosis and seeing healthcare from both sides of the physician’s desk. Prescription for Change explores challenges within the diagnosis process and a shared mission to improve the healthcare system for people navigating cognitive changes.
Risk & Safety with Dementia
Risk and safety can look different for each person living with dementia and may involve balancing independence with the well-being of yourself and others. Persons living with dementia share experiences with making safety decisions, planning ahead, using transportation safely, and making adjustments that support independence and quality of life.
What Persons Living with Dementia Want Care Partners to Know
What do persons living with dementia want their care partners to know? This conversation explores what meaningful support looks like, including working together as a team, respecting individual voice and choices, communicating personal wishes, and finding a balance between offering help and taking over.
We Value Your Feedback
Your feedback helps us create resources that are meaningful, practical, and grounded in the lived experience of people living with dementia. Please take a few moments to complete the brief survey before you leave today. Your comments and suggestions help us improve future Community Conversations and ensure these resources continue to meet the needs of individuals, families, organizations, and communities.
Use of Our Resources
The resources on this website are copyrighted by National Council of Dementia Minds (NCDM) with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Content may be downloaded, reproduced, or disseminated without change and in its entirety, either for personal use or by nonprofit organizations for educational purposes—provided that attribution is made to National Council of Dementia Minds. To request permission to use resources from this website in any other way, send an email describing the intended use and your contact information to [email protected].
Support with a Donation
If you find our resources helpful, please consider supporting us with a donation.