In my job as a therapist and caregiver to a patient with Moderate-advanced Alzheimer's disease, I find myself many times needing to rely on six strategies I use to cope with the enormous stress of the illness. The strategies that work for me are : Listening to music alone or with my patient. She loved to sing and I use that 'memory' to relax her and myself at the same time as we enjoy old spanish songs. Another strategy I use quite often is simply playing video games-even with my patient at times. When she sees me playing and wonders what I am doing. I show her and she follows my lead-if only for a very short time. If I am alone, I play strategy-action games. If she is with me I play family games like Scrabble or Connect-Four with her. More often than not, I use music and photography-I can't carry a tune but I do remember lyrics and so I sing out-of -tune while I work religiously on modifying family photos I have taken in the past. My patient is always by my side and so I sing with her and show her photographs-she seldom remembers who are the people on them. On very difficult days, I use a strategy that involves speaking , arguing and requesting help from God. I find that it helps me cope better when I feel that He is there hearing me vent-out my frustration. The last strategy I use is leaving the room, where my patient is at the moment, and going to the kitchen and making me a cup of coffee. Well, those are my strategies and I have used them for a very long time. They work well for me most of the time.
