S2E10: Dementia Coaching vs Skilled Therapy: How to Involve the Right Professionals for Your Family

Aging Together

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Before we move into today’s episode, I want to express my sincere gratitude as I wrap up Season 2. This podcast show has come a long way since I first started it in January of 2023. All thanks to YOU all, the audience, this podcast grew from an average of 30 listens/month to 30 listens/week, and further to 100+ listens/week. This is the last episode of Season 2 as I take a little winter break. If you’re interested in what you can look forward to with Season 3, listen through to the end of this episode.
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For this last episode of Season 2, we’re diving into dementia coaching vs skilled therapy. To review this topic, I have the privilege of interviewing Lizette Cloete (“clue-tuh”), OTR/L.
Lizette is a seasoned occupational therapist and the daughter of two parents with cognitive loss. With over 30+ years of experience as an occupational-therapist-turned-dementia-coach and 5 years of being a daughter of dementia, she has helped thousands of families navigate a dementia care journey from diagnosis to death. Her personal experience as a family caregiver to her parents opened her eyes to the complexities related to caregiving, including the balancing act between her own health, her own resources, and her own relationships while caregiving, not to mention navigating the healthcare system with, and for, her parents. This journey prompted her to develop a unique process to dementia caregiving. From a faith-based perspective, she uses science-backed solutions to dementia caregiving based in her education and training as an occupational therapist with specialty certifications in dementia care.
Lizette is on a mission to help Christian spouses and adult children of people with dementia navigate their journey by decreasing caregiver stress. Using Biblical principles, evidence-based solutions to dementia caregiving and addressing caregiver stress through weekly tracking, Think Different Dementia (TDD) shows caregivers how, and where, to decrease their stress and reduce their risk for burnout and redeem your time.
We believe that dementia coaching is the most effective way to help caregivers decrease their stress by anticipating and managing the inevitable dementia-related changes. We know that time is the one resource that cannot be regained, and we help families redeem their time. As a pastor’s wife, Lizette is uniquely qualified to answer dementia caregiving challenges from a Biblical perspective.
Lizette has almost 30 years of experience as an Occupational Therapist in a variety of settings, the latest being in the home health environment. Among her many accomplishments, she served on the South Carolina Occupational Therapy Association’s Board of Directors from 2008-2014. She enjoys teaching on the topic of dementia. You can tune into the podcast “Dementia Caregiving for Families” to learn more.
“Think Different” Dementia’s owner, Lizette Cloete, OTR/L graduated as an Occupational Therapist from the University of Pretoria in South Africa in 1992. She and her husband emigrated to the USA in 1993, and currently reside in South Carolina. They have 2 daughters and one son-in-love, 2 cats, one dog and many chickens.
Together, we’re discussing the difference between dementia coaching and skilled therapy, as well as how to know which professional is the right fit for you and your family.

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