Portrait of Care: Jim
Jim is a caregiver for his mom, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2011 – but she has been showing signs for more than 15 years. He handles all of her day to day care, including: organizing her medication, scheduling medical appointments and taking her to them, make sure she is comfortable with her newspaper every day, coordinating Meals on Wheels, coordinating two companions who sing and do art with her for one-two hours a week each, cleaning the apartment and handling anything else that comes up – such as helping her recover from surgery, adjusting the thermostat as needed, reminding her to call her sister on her sister’s birthday and disabling the stove when his mother was causing kitchen fires! He does all of this on his own while working as a consultant and teaching classes at Contra Costa College. His mom spends most of her day reading the newspaper and cutting out articles, watching TV and doing very basic chores. Here is a look into a day with Jim and his mom.
