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Ellen Woodward Potts and Daniel C. Potts

Ellen Woodward Potts and Daniel C. Potts

Ellen Woodward Potts, MBA has over 20 years’ experience in healthcare management and teaches “Leadership Development through Service,” a survey course of non-profit organizations, at the University of Alabama. She currently serves as Managing Partner for Dementia Dynamics, LLC, and as Board President for Caring Congregations, an inter-faith organization that operates 3 dementia daycare centers, a GPS locator program, and other dementia support services. Through A Pocket Guide for the Alzheimer’s Caregiver, she strives to honor the care her family members gave her maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother, both of whom had Alzheimer’s disease.

Daniel C. Potts, MD is a noted neurologist, author, educator, and champion of those with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers. He was chosen by the American Academy of Neurology as the 2008 Donald M. Palatucci Advocate of the Year, serves as an AAN national media spokesperson for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, and is a faculty member at both medical schools in his home state of Alabama. Inspired by his father’s journey through Alzheimer’s disease and his mother’s dedication to caregiving, Dr. Potts seeks to provide hope and support to those in like circumstances.

Blog Posts

  • May 9, 2012

    The Privilege of Caregiving

    I had a life-changing experience a few weeks ago.

    Providentially, I was given the opportunity to travel to Vancouver, BC to interview two incredible caregivers, Cathie Borrie, RN, BSN, MPH, LLB and James Houston, MA, BSc, DPhil.

    What they had to say could very well change the paradigm of caregiving for all of us…for the better.

    You see, both have a similar approach: caregiving is an honor, a calling…a privilege. Caring for another (and receiving care one’s self) is integral to the human condition, and helps to reveal our most elemental traits.

    In immersing ourselves in the experience, we reinforce the identity of our care partner through relationship. This, in turn strengthens our own identity, and both care partners are validated in the experience.

  • April 9, 2012

    The Alzheimer's Caregiver: Angels Among Us

    My father-in-law, Lester Potts, was a proud member of the Lions’ Club, a men’s community service organization similar to Rotary or Kiwanis.

    Until he moved into an Alzheimer’s assisted living unit, he had perfect attendance at their meetings for over 42 years.

    During the last several years of those 42, advancing Alzheimer’s disease made it unsafe for him to drive. However, his fellow Lions, knowing how important the club was to my father-in law, offered to take him to the meetings and bring him home.

  • March 6, 2012

    The Alzheimer's Caregiver: How Glen Campbell Inspires Me

    Let me preface these comments by saying that I wasn’t backstage at the Grammy’s. I don’t know if Glen Campbell knew where he was, knew what they wanted him to do, or even knew who all those folks were that said they wanted to help.

    I don’t know if there was a vacant look in his eyes when they told him where to stand, and when he was to go out there, and what song was to be first. I don’t know if his family sensed the crescendo of agitation that so often drowns out our efforts to calm those with dementia. I have a hunch, but I don’t know for sure.

    What I do know is this: when he saw that sea of smiling faces, when he heard familiar chords and melodies from those he loved, and when his fingers touched the strings of the instrument he knew so well; in those moments love and music made the dark of Alzheimer’s disease fade away so that the light of his spirit could fill that room and the hearts of millions.

    We heard Glen Campbell’s true voice again. And he won every Grammy we could give.

  • February 14, 2012

    The Alzheimer's Caregiver: The Real Meaning of Valentine’s Day

    Valentine’s Day can be particularly difficult for spouses of those with Alzheimer’s disease. The media bombards us with a commercialized view of true love: “If he really loves you, he’ll send you flowers, buy you chocolates, and present you with a big diamond ring.” (And, by the way, he should do the same thing next year, only more so.)

    If we believe the mass marketers, any man who does less for his wife than this minimum standard must not love her very much. If you are the wife of a man with Alzheimer’s disease, where does this leave you?

    Alzheimer’s disease is an insidious thief, stealthily stealing our loved ones from us before our eyes. Those of us who are married made vows to love our spouses in sickness and health, for better or worse, for richer or poorer. Alzheimer’s certainly covers “sickness” and “worse,” and the financial burden moves many couples to “poorer.”

  • January 2, 2012

    The Alzheimer's Caregiver: New Years Resolutions

    Do you make resolutions this time of year? We usually do, and often catch ourselves repeating the same ones we made last year. And the year before, and so on.

    Unfortunately in our case, the will is not nearly as strong as the ideals, and we drift back into familiar routines by the middle of February!

    Looking back on the years I was a caregiver for my father with Alzheimer’s disease, I honestly don’t remember making New Years’ resolutions. This is not surprising. The overwhelming stress and duties of providing care can crowd out everything but the essentials.

  • December 2, 2011

    The Alzheimer's Caregiver: Tips for the Holidays

    The holidays are a difficult time for Alzheimer’s caregivers. At this time of year more than any other, we long to connect with our loved ones as they once were.

    One of the best ways to connect with someone you love who has Alzheimer’s disease is through reminiscence -- telling old stories, reading familiar texts, singing favorite songs, and looking at familiar objects.

    And there is no better time to do this than the holidays.

  • November 1, 2011

    Loving People with Alzheimer’s Disease the Way They Are

    November is National Family Caregivers Month and National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, when we honor all those affected by Alzheimer’s disease, caregivers and sufferers alike. In light of this, we want to share what we believe to be the most important skill you can learn to survive and thrive during this experience: Loving the person with Alzheimer’s disease the way they are.

  • October 7, 2011

    Alzheimer’s Caregiving -- 5 Tips to Survive and Thrive

    You might say Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia don’t just run, they “gallop” in our families. Between the two of us, our immediate families have cared for 8 loved ones with Alzheimer’s or stroke dementia.

    Caregiving was a family affair and we both were taught from an early age the importance of treating these loved ones with kindness and respect. Our early experiences color everything we do, even more than Daniel's training as a neurologist.

Maria Shriver © 2012. All rights reserved.

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