The diagnosis explained the disease. It didn't tell you what to do when she refuses to shower, when he accuses you of stealing, or when she's suddenly much more confused than she was yesterday. That's what this is for.
Not sure where to start? Start here, or read the diagnosis guide.
Work in senior care? Dementia Steady for Professionals →
Thirty-nine situations across eight kinds of hard, from daily care to family politics. Each one covers what may be happening, what to say, what to try next, and when to call a doctor. Free to read, no signup.
The eight kinds of hard, each with its own guides:
See all thirty-nine situations
A urinary tract infection can look exactly like a bad week.
So can pain. Hunger. Thirst. Tiredness. Constipation. Needing the bathroom. A new medication, or an old one working differently than it used to. When something is new, sudden, or different from usual, that list is the answer far more often than the dementia is.
Every day spent on the wrong story is a day they're hurting and can't tell you.
All of it free, most of it printable. This is the whole site, so you know what's here before the night you need it.
Thirty-nine situation guides across the eight kinds above. Each covers what may be happening, what to say, what to try next and when to call a doctor, and ends in a printable field card for the refrigerator.
Short recordings for when you're the one who needs steadying before you walk back into the room.
One page each, for the longer view: why is this happening, sundowning, driving, memory care and late-stage comfort.
Diagnosed With Dementia: Now What?, the first two weeks and the hard conversations, and Talking to Someone With Dementia. Read either online, or have the PDF sent.
Three printable sheets: a behavior log for the pattern, a sheet for the doctor visit, and a handoff for the ER.
Five self-paced modules following three families, each ending in a printable field card. Module 1 is open now, no email needed.
Short pieces on single problems, and the thinking behind the guides.
One foundation and three skills. The framework behind everything else here.
Not a family caregiver? There's a seven-week credentialed training for professional teams, a free 60-minute on-site workshop to start with, and Steady Check, a ten-minute assessment of what each caregiver actually does on shift. Dementia Steady for Professionals →
Everything here stands on one conviction.
Dementia changes what a person can do. It does not change who they are.
The history is still there, the preferences, the dignity, the need to be known. When care starts from the person, technique works. When it starts from managing a patient, no technique will save the moment.
That is not sentiment. It is the most established finding in person-centered dementia care, and it is why everything on this site starts with what the behavior is telling you rather than how to stop it.
Matt Field has worked inside home care since 2012, training dementia care staff across senior living communities and hundreds of first responders on how to actually be with someone who has dementia. He's also an ordained rabbi who spent a decade sitting with aging congregants and the families around them.
Dementia Steady comes out of that combination. The clinical part is what to check. The other part is what to say while you check it.
The first two weeks. How to talk to someone living with dementia. The hard conversations about driving, money, and moving. And how to build a support system that actually holds, rather than one that quietly leaves everything to you.