Neuro Note 4

For Neuro Note 4, I chose to watch Beth Malone’s Ted Talk, How My Dad’s Dementia Changed my Idea of Death (and Life). I chose this Ted Talk because we recently covered this topic in my Neurological Aspects of Occupational Therapy class. This topic is also close to my heart because my grandfather has early/middle stage Dementia due to Parkinson’s disease. I thought this video would be interesting when I read the title, but what I did not know is how much I would actually relate to what Beth Malone had to say.

Beth starts off this TED Talk with a statement that can only be described as morbid. She says, “ I am going to kill my dad.” To someone who has never witnessed the reality of this condition, this seems unthinkable, but to someone watching this condition take hold of their loved one, it may seem like the only practical way out.  Beth Malone's father was diagnosed with Frontotemporal lobe Dementia at the age of 65.  In her talk, Beth describes the harsh realities of Dementia. Having to move her father from his house to a nursing home, watching his personality change, and watching his physical and mental states decline, these things not only take a toll on the individual diagnosed, but on the loved ones that care for them.

While my grandfather’s case of dementia is quite different to that of Beth’s dad, I can relate, in a sense, to her thought process. It is unbelievably hard to watch someone that you have seen as a strong caretaker, slowly turn into someone who is fragile and needs to be taken care of. Like I said previously, not only does this condition affect the client, but it affects the family as well.

Another thing that Beth talks about in this video is the importance of death preparation and education. Death is not necessarily a fun topic, but it is something that needs to be talked about. In the video, Beth talks about how her family discusses her father’s death frequently after his diagnoses. She also mentions how her family was not prepared, and how she wished they had talked about death when everyone was healthy. This is just another reason why educating and preparing the family and caregivers is so important.

From an Occupational therapy perspective, I think this is why it is not only important to take care of your client, but  also to take care of their family as well. While we need to educate our clients and make sure adaptive equipment and other resources are available, we also need to be sure that the caretakers and family are educated on the condition. When a client is diagnosed with a condition of this nature, it is so important that their loved ones be prepared for what the condition looks like and what the future of the client may hold.

In the case of my grandfather, I am so thankful that he has made his final wishes known. He is currently in the middle stages of Parkinson's disease, but has made sure he has everything written down and in order before his condition progresses, even down to the songs he wants to be played at his service. My grandfather was a medical doctor who practiced general medicine in our little community for 50+ years. When he realized he had Parkinson’s disease, he made sure that everyone in our family knew what the future held and was prepared for it. I believe that because of this, it has made his diagnoses just a little bit easier to cope with, especially for my grandmother and his children.

Overall, I think this TED Talk did a great job of explaining the harsh realities of dementia and what families dealing with this diagnosis may go through.  Beth Malone did a great job sharing her story and relating it back to a topic that is so important, death education and preperation. I would recommend this video to all future OT practitioners. This video is a great example of how important it is to empathetic towards our clients and their families, as well as how important client/caregiver education is.  Diagnoses such as Dementia are hard for everyone, especially the client and their families. This is why it is so important that we as practitioners do everything we can to help them process it and prepare for the future.

References:

Malone, B. (n.d.). How My Dad's Dementia Changed My Idea of Death (and Life). Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/beth_malone_how_my_dad_s_dementia_changed_my_idea_of_death_and_life/up-next#t-233447