As a person working with adults with dementia and their care providers, my priority is to focus the attention on the patient and their capabilities, instead of their disabilities. Díaz Bras, Language & Memory Services focuses on treating people with dignity and respect, while providing tools that help them express their needs, and achieve a variety of activities of daily living. People with dementia want to feel capable, useful, and independent, just like any other human being. It is my mission to help them achieve this. Having a diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), Alzheimer’s dementia, or any other type of dementia often leads a person to start focusing on all of the things the person is or will no longer able to do. I strive to change this perspective, so patients, caregivers, family members and others in the community start focusing on what the person with MCI or dementia is capable of doing.

Using research-based practices, I find creative ways to improve a patient’s environment, help them function, and as a result, enrich the life of that person living with dementia. I teach caregivers easily-applied strategies to better communicate with the person with dementia. I show changes to the environment that they can make to improve their daily activities.