Mindfulness For Family Members Of People Living With Dementia

Caring for a loved one who has dementia can be challenging. This course follows the structure of the Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior model and mindfulness as the guiding principle to support family carers in daily life. In the first section of 3 lessons, we focus on increasing knowledge about both dementia and mindfulness. We start by talking about some of the main challenges that carers of people with dementia experience. In lesson 2, we focus on sharing basic, relevant knowledge about dementia. In lesson 3, we introduce mindfulness and how it may help. For lessons 4-6, we focus on people’s attitudes. From becoming less judgmental and more caring to oneself and the loved one, to letting go of striving and learning how to inform others and organise support, and finally to creating a general feeling of acceptance and using that to start focusing on what can be done. Lessons 7-9 focus on inner and outward behavior. We spend a full session on thoughts, introducing a simple body scan to become aware of how the mind works. Lesson 8 focuses on emotions, how all of them have a function and how to release them. Finally, we focus on outward behavior. Lesson 10 provides an integration of the 9 lessons and finishes with a meditation and final practice.