Want your dementia care and final life experiences to be good ones? Take a series of “final stands” where you continue to express what you want. Your friends, family members, caregivers, and healthcare providers cannot read your mind. Try to communicate with them through written words, conversations, or visual diagrams.

Before dementia becomes too advanced you need to make some decisions about how you wish to be treated as your cognitive, emotional, and social skills get worse. And you need to make sure that those who care for you, help you, and are important parts of your life know what you want.

I’ve shown a few topics you might want to consider along with your family, friends, caregivers, and healthcare providers in the mind model (map) below.

Click on the image to expand it.

Do your homework and express what you hope to experience and achieve in the final stages of your dementia. Even as dementia causes increasing problems, you can still enjoy life and lead one of high quality.

Plan, enjoy, communicate, live a high quality of end-of-life experiences, and work to achieve your goals with others. Stay as independent as you can, be nice, cooperate, negotiate, and plan.