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Dementia Careblazers

Dementia Careblazers

Dr. Natali Edmonds 188 Episodes Jul 2, 2026

This podcast prepares dementia caregivers for success by providing real tips, strategies, and solutions to make caregiving easier. Hosted by board-certified geropsychologist Dr. Natali Edmonds, it aims to reduce overwhelm and struggle. Listeners can also sign up for a free training on caring for a loved one with dementia.

Episodes

Why Someone With Dementia Keeps Asking the Same Question Jul 2, 2026 17:16 If your loved one with dementia has asked you the same question five, ten, or forty times in the last hour, you know the kind of patience it takes to keep answering. And you probably know the guilt that follows when you finally run out of it. What most caregivers don't realize is that something very specific is happening inside the brain to drive this. Understanding it changes both how you respond
Shadowing In Dementia: Why They Follow You Everywhere Jun 25, 2026 12:02 Shadowing in dementia is one of the most exhausting behaviors caregivers face, and almost no one warns you about it. You can't walk to the bathroom alone anymore. The moment you stand up, they stand up. You step into the kitchen for five minutes and there they are in the doorway, watching you. The private phone calls are gone, the personal space is gone, and then comes the guilt for even wanting a
This Surprising Sign of Dementia Shows Up 6 Years Before Diagnosis Jun 18, 2026 14:59 Before the memory problems, confusion, and obvious dementia symptoms, many families notice something else first: money problems. Missed bill payments, unusual purchases, giving money away, falling for scams, or struggling to manage finances can sometimes be among the earliest signs of dementia. Research now shows these financial changes may appear years before a dementia diagnosis is ever made. In
Alzheimer's Drugs Don't Work? What Caregivers Need to Know Jun 11, 2026 12:46 If your loved one with Alzheimer's disease is on one of the new treatment drugs, or you have been weighing whether to try them, the headlines from this spring may have stopped you cold. A major review from one of the most respected research organizations in the world concluded these drugs show no meaningful benefit. Researchers immediately fired back. And you are in the middle of all of it, as a c
Surprising Reason Why Dementia Gets Worse In the Evening Jun 4, 2026 11:26 Have you noticed your loved one with dementia seems like a completely different person every evening? The confusion, the agitation, the restlessness — and then the nights when they're up convinced it's morning — it's exhausting in a way that's hard to put into words. It is not something you caused or something you missed. New research published in December 2025 finally gives us a neurological expl
5 Reasons Dementia Caregivers Struggle Making Hard Decisions May 28, 2026 12:43 Making caregiving decisions is hard in a way most people around you won't understand. The stakes are real. The information is incomplete. And somewhere in the back of your mind, you're already afraid of being wrong. If you've been circling a decision for weeks — or months — and still can't seem to make a move, your brain isn't broken. There are five specific thought patterns that make caregiving d
How to Respond When Someone with Dementia Accuses You of Stealing May 14, 2026 13:23 Being accused of stealing by the person you are giving everything to is one of the most quietly devastating things that happens in dementia caregiving. It does not just feel unfair. It strikes at your identity, your dignity, and the relationship you had before all of this. And because it can happen over and over, with no memory that it happened before, many caregivers absorb these accusations alon
When Family Doesn't Believe the Dementia Diagnosis May 7, 2026 15:51 When your family doesn't believe the dementia diagnosis, it can feel like you are grieving two losses at once. Family denial is one of the most painful and isolating experiences a dementia caregiver can go through. In this episode, I'm going to explain why it happens and what you can actually do about it. If you'd like to see this episode on video, you can hop on over to my YouTube channel here. G
The Blood Test That Detects Alzheimer's Years Before Symptoms Apr 30, 2026 14:56 A new Alzheimer's blood test was just approved by the FDA and it changes everything about how families get answers. For years, confirming Alzheimer's disease meant expensive brain scans or invasive procedures most people couldn't access. Now a simple blood draw can detect Alzheimer's markers in the body... up to 3 to 4 years before symptoms even begin. In this episode I break down what the Alzheim
Why Someone With Dementia Stops Doing Things Apr 23, 2026 10:28 If your loved one used to fix things, run the household, stay busy and now they just sit there, you're probably wondering what happened. Are they depressed? Have they given up? Do they even care anymore? They do. And what's happening is not what it looks like. In this episode, I'm breaking down why someone with dementia withdraws from daily life, why their brain learns to stop trying, and why noth
What Causes Bathroom Problems In Dementia Apr 16, 2026 12:56 Bathroom challenges are one of the most common, and least talked about, parts of dementia caregiving. You've tried asking. You've tried reminding. You've tried everything. And it still isn't working. This isn't defiance. It isn't stubbornness. What's happening in the brain is making the bathroom one of the hardest spaces for someone with dementia to navigate. The bathroom requires more brain syste
Dementia Caregivers, You Don't Have to Wait Until It Gets Worse Apr 9, 2026 11:21 The number one mistake dementia caregivers make is waiting.  Waiting until things get harder. Waiting for the right moment. Waiting until they feel like they really need support. And it makes complete sense why. When difficulty builds slowly, your brain adapts. What felt overwhelming six months ago becomes your new normal. And before long, you stop being able to accurately measure just how much yo

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