Rodger That

Billie Smith – Executive Director for the Alliance of Therapy Dogs - talks with Bobbi and Mike about how dogs are an antidote to depression – and an easy pill to take. Life in a long-term care facility can be lonely and boring and a visit from a therapy dog can break the daily routine and stimulate the mind in dramatic ways.

“It is not only very important for the people who we go and visit, because they do love seeing younger people there, it's also important to teach the kids that volunteering is very important.”, Billie. 

ATD’s objective is to form a network of caring individuals and their special dogs who are willing to share smiles and joy with people, young and old alike.

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To find out more about Bobbi and Mike or the inspiration behind this podcast, Rodger That, head over to rodgerthat.show.

Today's guest, Jay Allen, went viral after releasing a song he wrote for his mother who passed away at age 54 from early-onset Alzheimer’s titled, “Blank Stares”.

Listen as Mike and Bobbie discuss with Jay his emotional story and how he came to write the song. “One morning” Jay said, “I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that even though my mom looked at me with a blank stare — and even though he knew her memory was fading — she was still in there and still loved me”.

Since the song’s inception and release, Allen has played Alzheimer’s Association events all around the country and he’s helped raised over $35 million for the organization.

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To find out more about Bobbi and Mike or the inspiration behind this podcast, Rodger That, head over to rodgerthat.show.

Today's guest, Teepa Snow, is an occupational therapist with forty years of clinical practice experience and is one of the world’s leading educators on dementia care.

Listen as Mike and Bobbie discuss with Teepa her philosophy for living well with dementia by focusing on the interpersonal dynamics of coping with a loved one who has an ever-changing brain. 

“People are precious and in the right setting can shine,” Snow said. “We’re not losing the person; they’re still there but we need to modify our expectations and setting.”

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To find out more head over to rodgerthat.show.

Anne Tumlinson – CEO of ATI Advisory and founder of Daughterhood.org - talks with Bobbi and Mike about her experiences coaching women and men to insist on excellent care and a meaningful experience for their parents.

“Taking care of frail, old people is really complicated. You feel like you need a social work, business, law and medical degree to even understand what you need to know.”

Anne Tumlinson has spent the last two decades working on improving how America cares for its frailest, most vulnerable older adults.

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To find out more about Bobbi and Mike or the inspiration behind this podcast, Rodger That, head over to rodgerthat.show.

Today's guest, Shirley Riga, is the author of Tools for the Exceptional Parent of a Chronically-Ill Child as well as a licensed instructor of Dr. Susan Jeffers’ Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway® workshops

Listen as Mike and Bobbie discuss with Shirley how to understand and deal with your feeling of being overwhelmed by the responsibilities and demands of your caregiving journey. Her goal is to help caregivers cope with their daily lives while maintaining a connection with themselves in the process

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To find out more about Bobbi and Mike or the inspiration behind this podcast, Rodger That, head over to rodgerthat.show.

Around 220,000 people have the young-onset form of Alzheimer’s, having developed symptoms of the disease when they are between 30 and 60 years old. In this episode Bobbi and Mike talk with Carlene Altom – The founder of the Early-onset/Young Alzheimer’s Female Spouses Caregiver Support Group – about early onset dementia, what it is like caring for her husband Patrick – diagnosed in 2017 - and the unique challenges people with young-onset Alzheimer's disease face.

“When I tried to get Patrick diagnosed, they laughed at me and the doctor wrote down on a prescription pad for him to listen better to his wife”

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To find out more about Bobbi and Mike or the inspiration behind this podcast, Rodger That, head over to rodgerthat.show.

Award-winning freelance journalist Julie Halpert talks with Bobbi and Mike about her NY Times article that explored the many unique challenges that dementia caregivers are facing during the Coronavirus crisis.

“While the disease itself does not necessarily place patients at high risk for contracting the virus, they and their caregivers face a range of special challenges. Dementia patients are typically very sensitive to changes in routine and often require a great deal of hands-on care, both factors that are hard to manage now.”

Julie Halpert is an award-winning freelance journalist with more than three decades of experience writing for many national publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC and AARP

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To find out more about Bobbi and Mike or the inspiration behind this podcast, Rodger That, head over to rodgerthat.show.

In this episode Bobbi and Mike talk with Jane King - lead for the Dementia Friendly Alexandria, VA initiative – about the need to ensure that communities across the U.S. are equipped to support people living with dementia and their caregivers.

Dementia Friendly Alexandria educates and inspires Alexandria organizations and residents to respond more confidently to the needs of someone with dementia regardless of their relationship to that person. It is affiliated with Dementia Friendly America (DFA), a nationwide collaboration working at the state and local levels to advance dementia friendly communities across the United States.

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To find out more about Bobbi and Mike or the inspiration behind this podcast, Rodger That, head over to rodgerthat.show.

Today's guest, Bonnie Elliott, infuses her passion for people and their well-being into helping families connect with optimal senior care solutions.

Listen as MIke and Bobbi discuss with Bonnie the pitfalls of making an inappropriate care choice and the countless ways a senior thrives in a living situation matched to their unique requirements.

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To find out more about Bobbi and Mike or the inspiration behind this podcast, Rodger That, head over to rodgerthat.show.

New York Times bestselling author, 5-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book writer Jonathan Maberry talks with Bobbi and Mike about the choice he and his his wife made to care - over many years - for his Dementia stricken father.

Their discussion ranges from revealing that in one of his novels he gave Dementia characteristics to its zombie characters, to the emotional challenges that emerge in caring for a loved one who had been abusive as a parent. 

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To find out more about Bobbi and Mike or the inspiration behind this podcast, Rodger That, head over to rodgerthat.show.