Teepa Snow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Dementia care specialist, Occupational Therapist |
| Website | https://teepasnow.com/ |
Teepa Snow is an American dementia care specialist and occupational therapist. She is a fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association. [1] [2] [3]
Snow graduated in Zoology from Duke University and completed her Master of Science degree from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Soon after, she worked as a part of Duke University Medical Center's Neuro-Rehabilitation Team. Snow has held a clinical appointment with Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Medicine for over 20 years. [4] [5]
She also worked at UNC-CH's Geriatric Clinic, as an OT director in a head injury facility, as a clinical specialist in geriatrics for a Veteran's Administration Medical Center, and as a therapist and restorative care coordinator for long term care facilities. [6]
Snow is the Education Director of Eastern North Carolina's Alzheimer's Association, where she created a DVD, entitled Accepting the Challenge: Providing the Best Care for People with Dementia. She has also served as the Program Director of Durham Technical Community College's OTA program. She is also a part of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America. [4] [7] [8]
In 2007, Snow founded Positive Approach to Care (PAC), a dementia care company. It is collaborating to improve dementia care in over thirty countries. [9] [10] [11] She first developed PAC technique early in her practice career and introduced it to others in continuing education workshops for nursing in the late 1980s. By the mid-1990s, she was providing training about working with people with neurological impairments and brain failure across the South through the regional continuing education network known as AHEC. She collaborated with her fellow clinicians at UNC-CH to produce her first book, entitled Geriatric First Aid Kit. It was designed as a quick reference guide to help interns, residents, nurses, and other healthcare providers with a tool to provide better care for elders. [6] [12]
Snow has delivered over 8,000 in-person training sessions across the US, Canada, Australia, Poland, and the U.K. She has also delivered over 500 dementia care webinars, authored over 35 dementia care DVDs and has published several books around dementia care and caregiver self-care. She also gained recognition on the social media platform, TikTok. [13] [14] Snow helped retired actor Bruce Willis with his dementia. [15] [16] [17]
Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that impacts a person's ability to perform everyday activities. This typically involves problems with memory, thinking, behavior, and motor control. Aside from memory impairment and a disruption in thought patterns, the most common symptoms of dementia include emotional problems, difficulties with language, and decreased motivation. The symptoms may be described as occurring in a continuum over several stages. Dementia ultimately has a significant effect on the individual, their caregivers, and their social relationships in general. A diagnosis of dementia requires the observation of a change from a person's usual mental functioning and a greater cognitive decline than might be caused by the normal aging process.
Martin James Schreiber is an American politician, publisher, author, and lobbyist who served as the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin from 1971 to 1977, and as the 39th Governor of Wisconsin from 1977 to 1979. Schreiber has become an advocate on issues related to Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
The Alzheimer's Association is a nonprofit voluntary health organization that focuses on Alzheimer's disease care, support and research.
A caregiver, carer or support worker is a paid or unpaid person who helps an individual with activities of daily living. Caregivers who are members of a care recipient's family or social network, and who may have no specific professional training, are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commonly assist with impairments related to old age, disability, a disease, or a mental disorder.
As populations age, caring for people with dementia has become more common. Elderly caregiving may consist of formal care and informal care. Formal care involves the services of community and medical partners, while informal care involves the support of family, friends, and local communities. In most mild-to-medium cases of dementia, the caregiver is a spouse or an adult child. Over a period of time, more professional care in the form of nursing and other supportive care may be required medically, whether at home or in a long-term care facility. There is evidence to show that case management can improve care for individuals with dementia and the experience of their caregivers. Furthermore, case management may reduce overall costs and institutional care in the medium term. Millions of people living in the United States take care of a friend or family member with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.
Family caregivers are "relatives, friends, or neighbors who provide assistance related to an underlying physical or mental disability for at-home care delivery and assist in the activities of daily living (ADLs) who are unpaid and have no formal training to provide those services."
Emma Frances Heming Willis is a British and American model, actress and businesswoman.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens, and is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems with language, disorientation, mood swings, loss of motivation, self-neglect, and behavioral issues. As a person's condition declines, they often withdraw from family and society. Gradually, bodily functions are lost, ultimately leading to death. Although the speed of progression can vary, the average life expectancy following diagnosis is three to twelve years.
Sundowning, or sundown syndrome, is a neurological phenomenon associated with increased confusion and restlessness in people with delirium or some form of dementia. It is most commonly associated with Alzheimer's disease but also found in those with other forms of dementia. The term "sundowning" was coined by nurse Lois K. Evans in 1987 due to the timing of the person's increased confusion beginning in the late afternoon and early evening. For people with sundown syndrome, a multitude of behavioral problems begin to occur and are associated with long term adverse outcomes. Sundowning seems to occur more frequently during the middle stages of Alzheimer's disease and mixed dementia and seems to subside with the progression of the person's dementia. People are generally able to understand that this behavioral pattern is abnormal. Research shows that 20–45% of people with Alzheimer's will experience some variation of sundowning confusion. However, despite lack of an official diagnosis of sundown syndrome in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), there is currently a wide range of reported prevalence.
Wandering occurs when a person with dementia roams around and becomes lost or confused about their location. It is a common behavior that can cause great risk for the person, and is often the major priority for caregivers. It is estimated to be the most common form of disruption from people with dementia within institutions. Although it occurs in several types of dementia, wandering is especially common in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD). People with dementia often wander because they are stressed, looking for someone or something, attending to basic needs, engaging in past routines, or with visual-spatial problems. Other times, they may wander without aim at all.
Caregiver syndrome or caregiver stress is a condition that strongly manifests exhaustion, anger, rage, or guilt resulting from unrelieved caring for a chronically ill patient. This condition is not listed in the United States' Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, although the term is often used by many healthcare professionals in that country. The equivalent used in many other countries, the ICD-11, does include the condition.
The Society for the Arts in Dementia Care is a non-profit organisation, with branches in Canada and Australia, dedicated to knowledge dissemination and education that focuses on improving the quality of lives of seniors living with dementia by using the visual and performing arts.
Arts & Minds is a non-profit organization committed to improving quality of life for people living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.
For patients with Alzheimer's disease, music therapy provides a beneficial interaction between a patient and an individualized musical regimen and has been shown to increase cognition and slow the deterioration of memory loss. Music therapy is a clinical and evidence-based intervention that involves music in some capacity and includes both a participant and a music therapist who have completed an accredited music therapy program.
The Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA), a project of the Tides Center, is a coalition of 35 US national organizations that came together to focus on short- and long-term healthcare workforce issues relating to older adults. The Alliance helped pass the 2018 Raise Family Caregivers Act, supports ongoing funding for the Title VII Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, and advocates for including elder care in government and professional policies, including related questions of educating and maintaining the labor force such care requires.
The Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) is an American nonprofit organization based in New York City whose mission is to provide support, services and education to individuals, families and caregivers affected by Alzheimer's disease and related dementias nationwide, and fund research for better treatment and a cure. AFA unites more than 2,000 member organizations from coast-to-coast that are dedicated to meeting the educational, social, emotional and practical needs of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses, and their caregivers and families. Member organizations include grassroots Alzheimer's agencies, senior centers, adult daycare center, home healthcare agencies, long-term care residences, research facilities, and other dementia-related groups. AFA holds Charity Navigator's highest rating of 4 stars.
Caregiving by country is the regional variation of caregiving practices as distinguished among countries.
Caregiver burden is the stress which is perceived by caregivers due to the home care situation. The subjective burden is considered to be one of the most important predictors of negative outcomes from the home care situation.
Intrapsychic humanism is a comprehensive general psychology and philosophy of mind that provides a new understanding of what it is to be human. Intrapsychic humanism is a nonderivative depth psychology that provides a unified and comprehensive theory of child development, psychopathology, and psychological treatment.
Laura N. Gitlin is an American sociologist. She is the Dean of the Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions.