The Dementia Handbook: How to Provide Dementia Care at Home

Providing dementia care is profoundly stressful for families and caregivers. People with dementia or Alzheimer’s experience emotional distress, which leads to behavioral complications and the need for institutional care. However, if families and caregivers are able to identify the emotional needs caused by dementia and understand which skills are lost and which remain, they can lower the behavioral complications and their own stress.

As the founder of the Dementia & Alzheimer’s Wellbeing Network® (DAWN), Judy Cornish approaches dementia care with clear and empathetic methods that not only improve the lives of the individuals with dementia but also of those caring for them.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s are very personal and individual experiences—they vary from person to person. However, Cornish has identified a pattern in the abilities and disabilities of people living with dementia. Based on her findings, Cornish was able to develop methods for caregivers to ease emotional distress, which can quickly and safely resolve behavioral complications.

Though people with dementia lose a sense of self, they are still the same person you always loved. Judy Cornish understands this. The Dementia Handbook: How to Provide Dementia Care at Home is the supportive guide you’ve been looking for as you walk alongside your loved one on this difficult—but potentially rewarding—new path.

Judy Cornish received her graduate degree from Lewis & Clark Law School in Oregon, where she focused her studies on disability law, elder law, family law and mediation.

An attorney now in Idaho, Cornish is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the American Society on Aging. With previous experience working in mental health and vocational rehabilitation, Cornish brings a diverse background to her work with dementia and Alzheimer's patients.

In 2010, Cornish founded the Dementia & Alzheimer's Wellbeing Network(R) (DAWN) and developed a method of care that decreases stress in caregivers and helps provide sufferers with a sense of well-being.

Cornish is passionate about enabling families to care for their loved ones at home. She currently works with families in Idaho and Eastern Washington, where she oversees care and provides training and consulting services with a handpicked staff certified in the DAWN Method.