He believes families need to REALLY unite together to help their loved one - make sure that not just one person is doing all the work - because in my opinion, that is often a recipe for disaster. It is very important for the primary caregiver to recruit AND educate their friends and family so they don't end up doing this alone. If they do NOT ask for help, and if they are NOT specific about the help they need - they often end up doing it themselves. Tom feels the main thing that family and friends need to learn when they have a loved one with dementia is that "your reality" doesn't matter much to them anymore. The disease has robbed the loved one with the ability to do SO MANY THINGS, and one of those things is the ability to show feelings for others, listen effectively to others, and show true empathy to others. What is now MOST IMPORTANT to them is their own reality - we will call that their "Base Reality" The sooner that caregivers and family members can learn to "live in the loved ones base reality" - the better everyone will be! The parallels of improv and caring for a patient with Alzheimer's or another dementia are many! At its core, communication with an Alz. patient is best when there is no arguing, no chastising, very little negative talk. The best improv scenes are when two or more people are agreeing with the other person's thoughts and feelings, they are advancing the scene with the famous phrase "Yes, AND" - and the less arguing the better for both the improvisors and the audience! To connect with Tom Badger use his email, tombadgerseminars@yahoo.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/tombadger/ Please Like, Share and Subscribe!!!!

You Got This, Teresa