Dementia: From the Wrong End of the Bed: A Caregiver's Guide for Understanding and Responding to Dementia Behaviors

DeeDee Richardson is a CNA, a Dementia Specialist, a Dementia Dialogues Instructor, a Nationally Certified Dementia Practitioner and a Reiki Master. She has training in Validation Techniques, Therapeutic Recreation, has experience as a Cognitive Therapy Interventionist and has a B.S. in Business Administration from Westminster College. She is a Technical Writer and a Dementia Educator/Trainer. After a successful career in corporate communications, DeeDee was thrust into the world of dementia while helping her father care for her mother who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. This was one of the reasons DeeDee got her CNA license. As a CNA she found that her management experience and the demands for creative solutions provided a foundation for communicating with the families and for understanding and communicating with dementia residents, many who could not communicate for themselves. DeeDee has retired as a Care Manager and Life Enrichment Manager but remains active with teaching, lecturing and writing and is a member of the North American Validation Association and the State of Utah Dementia Task Force. Sheryl Bagshaw is a Geriatric Social Worker and Dementia Specialist with certification as a Validation Worker through Naomi Feil’s Institute and has her Eden certification, as well as a national certification as a Dementia Practitioner. Sheryl holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and B.S. in Sociology from Utah State University where she received her Gerontology Certificate and where she founded the Student Gerontology Association. Sheryl first discovered as a CNA that she had a knack for understanding, relating to, and working with dementia residents. Since then the majority of Sheryl’s career has been in working with individuals with dementia and with their families. Sheryl has experience as a Cognitive Therapy Interventionist, a Transitions Coordinator, a Skilled Nursing Social Worker, a Discharge Planner, a Case Manager, a Family Support Group Facilitator, an Assisted Living Dementia Community Director, a Dementia Educator/Trainer, an Alzheimer’s Advocate/Ambassador, and a member of the State of Utah Dementia Task Force