November 24, 2025

Ep. 529 The Dementia Deck: Preparing for Future Decisions with Lisa Pahl and Jamie Thrower

1 hour 13 minutes

Learn about a helpful conversation game that encourages discussions about advance care planning for dementia.

My guests for this episode, Lisa Pahl and Jamie Thrower, are the co-creators of The Dementia Deck, a new card game to help inspire conversations about demential. Lisa is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Advanced Practice Hospice and Palliative Social Worker who previously created The Death Deck and The EOL Deck–conversation games that are changing the way we talk about death. Jamie is a queer death doula, end-of-life educator and community grief-tender serving the LGBTQ+ community in life and in death. She also runs Queer Grief Club (and I plan to have her back on the podcast to talk about her work!) They discuss how to use The Dementia Deck to overcome fears of dementia and help families prepare for future changes and decision-making. Learn more at their websites:

thedeathdeck.com

jamiethrower.com

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

This episode includes:

What The Death Deck and The EOL Deck consist of

The story behind The Dementia Deck and its creation

How Jamie collaborated on the design of the deck

Why conversations and advance care planning are important for people with dementia

Many people fear dementia even more than death

Millions of Americans are impacted by dementia either as a patient or a caregiver

How to introduce The Dementia Deck to an individual

Tips for getting the most out of working with the deck

Why it’s important to “stack the deck” when you first begin talking about dementia

Links mentioned in this episode:

Dementia Values and Priorities Tool from Compassion and Choices

Waiting Room Revolution – get the Roadmap for Alzheimer’s

Latest post on Substack: Not Just Yet

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