+ My time is so limited and I'm emotionally exhausted, should I really join?

I hear you - even professionals get extreme burnout. Dementia is like that.

That's why we made this membership - so you do less work with more impact. It's to make it so you get more self care and learn how to deal with challenging behaviors in a way that restores your connection with your loved one or patients and allows you to relax again.

This membership was built for people like YOU! When you discover the blind spots in your reactions that cause caregiving to be harder than you realized.. when you learn all the tricks to prevent and stop challenging behaviors... I PROMISE you'll be less emotionally exhausted and you'll find that you get back a ton of time.

Whether it looks like nasty behaviors that turn into your person with dementia helping YOU with the chores, or the phrase "I want to go home" turning into "Thank you so much, dear!" I want to show you how to make your life easier and I want you to get the relief you deserve.

+ I am on disability myself and financially things are tight right now, do you have an option for me to join?

Yes, definitely!

First of all, this is our whole reason for coming out with a program that costs less than your typical internet bill - getting this kind of help is something you deserve, and courses that cover what we teach typically go for hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

The cost of placing your loved one sooner than you have to, even if you're not paying for their care, can easily far outweigh the financial benefits of a program like this, espeically if it helps you navigate the medical system with advice from our expert Q&As and your peers in your small group.

That said, if you're completely strapped for cash and there's no way you can afford it, we have 2 options for you:

1. You can join our community access program for only $7 /mo. which will give you direct access to me and the rest of the community for help with your specific situations, plus an app you can use to help with any behavior you're dealing with on the fly.
   
   

2. If you have an extra hour or two a week and want to be a contribution to others, we are looking for some volunteers to help our community. If you're interested in helping us manage the small groups (6-8 peer groups our members meet up with weekly or bi-weekly), and you'd like to work with Krista directly 1-2 hours per month, we'll give you a free VIP spot in our membership as long as we still have some spots to fill. Just reply to any of Krista's emails letting her know your interested in this.

+ Is This Membership for Me?

The membership is for you if you are:

a) A Home Caregiver- you take care of your loved one at home

b) Distance Caregiver- your loved one don't live with you or they are in long term care

c) Professional Caregiver-you work with demenria patients directly or coach caregivers

If you identify with any of these roles, watch some of our member's story by clicking here to get a better idea of what you'd get out of the membership.

+ Who Runs the Membership?

My name is Krista Mesenbrink,CDP. I have worked with thousands of dementia patients as an Activity Therapist at a psychiatric hospital for geriatric folks that only takes patients with extreme behaviors. I have also worked with thousands of dementia caregivers in home health,senior living and in dementia education.

In addition to my work, I am a Certified Dementia Practitioner and Dementia Montessori Certified.

+ Is it worth joining if I'm already in a support group?

If you can benefit from learning how to master challenging behaviors, than yes. For Standard Members and above, we setup the ability for you to customize your membership to focus on building your skills, which is what we'd recommend you do if this is your situation.

+ Is this membership for me if I'm a professional?

Yes! For Standard Members and above, we have had doctors, coaches, therapists, activity professionals go through our membership. The membership gives you a more practical view on what to say and do with challenging dementia behaviors that you wouldn't get in formal education.

+ What if I fall behind or can't keep up with the material?

If you do fall behind, that's no problem - the membership was created with the expectation that you would fall behind at times or go at your own pace.

+ What is the difference between the membership content and free content?

• The membership only gives you what you need at a pace that is sustainable and teaches you exactly what you need to become an expert at handling challenging behaviors. The membership teaches you systems and strategies that will save you a ton of time.

• While there are a lot of free resources out there, it is easy to get overwhelmed and confused. The membership gives you a personalized plan that has the ability to change with you as your situation changes.

• Unlike free content, which can take hours to sort through when you want an answer to something, the membership is ORGANIZED - that means it has what you need, when you need it. Instead of having a never ending research project adding onto the stress of the challenging situation you're faced with, our program is designed to reduce stress and make dementia caregiving easier.

+ What Topics Does the Membership Cover?

Just some of the topics covered for Standard Members and above include:

• Intro to Challenging Behaviors

• Getting to Know Online Caregivers/Professionals 

• Friends/Family/Coworkers

• Triggers in the Home/Workplace

• Activities That Work for your LOWD/Client

• Create an Activity Calendar

• Create a Self-care schedule

• Sharing Your Story/Mentoring

• Master Challenging Behaviors, including a deep dive into:

  • Sundowning
  • Accusations
  • "I Want to Go Home"
  • Delusions
  • Refusals
  • Repeating
  • Obsession
  • Apathy
  • Anger
  • Inappropriate Behaviors
  • Wandering
  • Mood Swings

+ Weekly Videos

For Standard Members and above, video topics are organized in according to your custom needs, so you get the information you need immediately. You will get a 5-10 minute video every week.

Topics of the videos range from educating on challenging behaviors to tutorials on how to use the tools.

Some videos are more important to watch than others, so if you fall behind, the membership is set up to where it is easy to get back on track.

+ Tools

For Standard Members and above, you are given either a new tool, asked to use a previously given tool each week.

Tools are the following:

a) Guides/Workbooks- These are longer form and explain more of whatever topic we are learning

b) Cheatsheets- This is usually a one page reference that you can scan and get quick information

c) Checklist- A tool to help you keep track of tasks that help you make cargiving easier

c) Activity Ideas List- a list of ideas compatible with common challenging behaviors

d) Activity Quiz- a quiz to guide you on narrowing down the activity idea list to work for your LOWD/client

e) Shopping List- list of items you can buy to make caregiving easier

f) Our "Help Now!" App (available to community access members)- this organizes all my reels by which challenging behavior you're facing and what situation you're in (for example "Refusals" -> "Shower") to bring up a quick 30 second demonstration you can use in the moment to cut out the guess work and get immediate relief.

+ Small Groups

If you sign up for a VIP membership, you'll have the option to join a small group of your peers and small groups get together on a regular basis. You will have a group leader and about 4-8 other caregivers.

You'll get to choose which group you join based on what group meetup time best fits your schedule (both the time and the frequency.) If there isn't a group available that meets your needs, we will help you start one, get others to join you, and give you your own Zoom room. If you choose to start your own group you get to set the schedule, rules, and have final say over who is in your group.

The members of your group are made up of home, distance and professional caregivers. Unlike support groups, small groups are unqiue in that you come together to problem solve vs only give support.

Being in a small group will give you:

• More direct support associated with a weekly or monthly objectives.

• A smaller group in the community knowing your situation in case you ever need help and that can keep you accountable to meeting your goals.

• Get personal advice and tips from other caregivers directly.

• Brainstorm ideas and get feedback from other caregivers.

There is no better opportunity to gain personal connections with other caregivers like you in a safe and caring environment.

You’ll finally have people who understand you to bounce your ideas off of, get advice from, and just be able to talk to when the going gets tough, because we’re all in this together.

With personal groups, you won’t have to feel alone ever again.

+ Workshops

For Standard Members and above, workshops are done on a either the topic of the month or a pressing topic that members are requesting.

This hands on presentation will help you learn more about a challenging behavior and get some practice with engaging and deescelading.

Every month we will either have a workshop or a Q&A session with a guest expert (we've had neurologists, psychiatrists, elder attorneys, nutritionists, social workers, and more.)

+ Q&A's

When I was first starting out as a caregiver, one of the single most important things I did was learn from the experienced professionals that were already having the kind of success that I wanted.

Sure… I learned a lot through the normal trainings and researching online… but my biggest breakthroughs came from learning and observing caregivers who were “the best”… and finding out just what exactly they did that made their work seem so easy and natural.

Surprisingly, many of the caregivers I found to be the very best weren’t the particularly patient “saints” you’d expect them to be, but people like all of us who have good and bad days, just better systems in place.

I believe that if these caregivers could be amazing with the patients, then so could I… if I knew the secrets. And it turned out I was right.

Learning from other caregivers is vitally important… I can’t tell you how many YEARS of time and effort this cut off of my learning curve… or even if I would have EVER achieved the skills I have with dementia patients without taking this vital step

Because this is so important, I’ve begun tracking down as many of these masters as I can to get them to “spill their guts” for the benefit of caregivers and their loved ones alike.

This is especially important to prepare for the road ahead when it comes to things like finances, medications, how dementia changes with time, government support, eating habits and more. That's why I bring on a lot of guest experts on who specialize in these areas, including neurologists, psychiatrists, elder attorneys, nutritionists, social workers, and more.

No matter what curveballs dementia throws your way, in the members area (Standard Members and above) there is a long-form Q&A with an expert to give you the confidence you need to move forward.