The letters

Short, practical letters for dementia caregivers

Written from the hallway, not the lecture hall — what to watch for, what to ask, and the occasional permission slip.

• The sentence that starts more help than you'd expect

  The eight words to say at your own doctor's appointment — and why they open doors nothing else does.

• When to call the doctor — and when to go

  A calm traffic-light way to think about the worrying moments: green, amber, red.

• The one page you hand the paramedics

  The transfer sheet that changes the worst night of the year, and where it should live.

• Is it dementia, or just normal aging?

  The five differences we look for on house calls — and what to do with a “maybe.”

• Sundowning: why evenings are harder — and what actually helps

  Why the wheels come off at 4:30, what genuinely helps, and when it isn’t sundowning at all.

• The care binder: what to put in it — and why every family needs one

  A physician’s checklist for the one object that turns a thousand details into a system anyone can use.