Research
Research
Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2022
(July 2022): Importance of Promoting Trauma-
Informed Dementia Therapies in a Pandemic World: Building on Person Centered Practices
Gerontological Society of America 2021:
A Case for Trauma-Informed Dementia Care: The Emancipatory Power of Psychological Resilience & Trauma from COVID-19
Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2021:
Dementia Grief Reconceptualized: Systemic Review of Psychotherapeutic Approaches for BPSD & NPS during COVID-19
Neuroscience Next:
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex changes in grief and TBI: Overlapping significant risk factors in dementia development
Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2020:
Viewing Some People Living with Dementia Through a Lens of Complicated Grief
Webinar on MedFit Classroom (Demistifying Dementia)
Publications
One Minute Practice: Present Moment Awareness. Quarterly Column appearing in Personal Fitness Professionals.
From Dementia to Rementia: A Guide to Personal Rehabilitation Strategies (January 2023). Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice.
The Family Experience of Dementia: A Reflective Workbook for Professionals (January 2022). Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice.
A Case for Trauma-Informed Dementia Care: The Emancipatory Power of Psychological Resilience & Trauma from COVID-19. (November 2021). Innovations in Aging.
Book Review of The Pocket Guide to Mouth and Dental Hygiene in Dementia Care. (June 2021). Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice
Demystifying Grief in the Dementia Divide: A Case for Grief Therapy in Dementia Care. (Dec. 2020) Innovations in Aging, 4(S1), 877. doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaa057.3241
Dementia as an Integrative Relationship: Roles of Trauma and Grief. (September 2021). InsightTimer Publishers.
Dementia Grief Reconceptualized: Systemic Review of Psychotherapeutic Approaches for BPSD & NPS during COVID-19. (July 2021), Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.
Magnifying Meditation’s Benefits: On Interoceptive Attention among Healthy Older Adults
(read here): International Journal of Science: Basic and Applied Research
Toward a Mindfulness-based Therapeutic Approach: Impact of Interoceptive Attention & Nature Exposure
Guided meditations listen on InsightTimer
Multimedia interviews with people ages 90 and greater (read here)
Freelance
Historic Tacoma Living Monthly health & wellness article
ThriveGlobal: a publication of the Huffington Post
Medical Fitness Network
Personal Fitness Professionals Understanding Grief & Parkinson's
ReaDementia
Alzheimer's Association Washington Chapter Living Well with Dementia during COVID Listen Here
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Alzheimer's Association International Conference
July 2022 - San Diego 
Alzheimer's Association International Conference: July 2020 - Amsterdam 
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Gerontological Society of America - November 2021
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Alzheimer's Association International Conference: Neuroscience Division - November 2020
Title: Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex changes in grief and TBI: significant risk factors in dementia development
Background: Unacknowledged grief episodes are an emotional equivalent of a traumatic brain injury, as evidenced by the neuronal and structural changes in the brain. Increasing evidence suggests TBIs to be a leading factor in dementia development. To the extent that there is overlap in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) neuronal activity, treatment of grief warrants further investigations.
Methods: Evidence-based data were provided through searches of Medline on neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, grief, and traumatic brain injury, selecting studies from 2001-2020 that cross-investigated effects on increased or decreased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Results: Seventy-five papers were categorized into six main themes: (a) targeted therapeutic strategies, (b) volume changes in DLPFC, (c) activity changes in DLPFC, (d) cognitive functioning, (e) genotype correlations and (f) emotional processing and regulation.
Conclusions: Neuropathologically informed biomarkers for dementia are necessary for developing early detection methods. These studies provide promising evidence suggesting past grief episodes as a significant risk factor in dementia development. The need for developing novel therapeutic approaches is discussed.
Listen to presentation HERE
Title: Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex changes in grief and TBI: significant risk factors in dementia development
Background: Unacknowledged grief episodes are an emotional equivalent of a traumatic brain injury, as evidenced by the neuronal and structural changes in the brain. Increasing evidence suggests TBIs to be a leading factor in dementia development. To the extent that there is overlap in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) neuronal activity, treatment of grief warrants further investigations.
Methods: Evidence-based data were provided through searches of Medline on neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, grief, and traumatic brain injury, selecting studies from 2001-2020 that cross-investigated effects on increased or decreased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Results: Seventy-five papers were categorized into six main themes: (a) targeted therapeutic strategies, (b) volume changes in DLPFC, (c) activity changes in DLPFC, (d) cognitive functioning, (e) genotype correlations and (f) emotional processing and regulation.
Conclusions: Neuropathologically informed biomarkers for dementia are necessary for developing early detection methods. These studies provide promising evidence suggesting past grief episodes as a significant risk factor in dementia development. The need for developing novel therapeutic approaches is discussed.
Listen to presentation HERE
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Gerontological Society of America - November 2020
Title: Demystifying Grief in the Dementia Divide: A Case for Grief Therapy in Dementia Care in a COVID-19 Era Background: One effect of COVID-19 may be uncovering acknowledged and unacknowledged residual losses. If this is so, then people diagnosed with dementia, who theoretically have higher proportions of unacknowledged grief episodes, are some of the most vulnerable among us. In particular, for people diagnosed with dementia, engagement with grief therapy may moderate Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD). Methods: A total of 16 participants were recruited from the community and long-term care residential spaces. The author utilized a pre/post-test design series by incorporating the Brief Grief Questionnaire (BGQ) and the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) as interview instruments embedded in active grief-based therapy sessions. The NPI-Q (Cummings et. al, 1994) was utilized to measure the potential mediating impact of incorporating grief therapy techniques on diminishing BPSD. Results: A total of 16 participants received active grief-based therapies. At the 4-week and 8-week follow-up, assessment data from a total of 2 study respondents was available. Minimal anecdotal evidence was available from the other 13 study respondents. There were no significant group differences at baseline in age, with a mean of 77, or in gender with both participants being male. Data collected pre-COVID-19, participants presented an average of 7.5 on the BGQ. Although at the 4-week follow-up both participants presented higher values on the BGQ than initially reported pre-COVID-19, by 8-week follow up both participants reported scores below their initial baseline reported scores. Conclusions: Three significant areas of consideration for grief work in dementia care that traverse the bridge between macro and micro levels of wellbeing: reviewing of memories, assess struggle with specific mourning tasks, and explore and defuse linking objects. |
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