Updates from Carlyn Lenfestey

A New Podcast for Dementia Caregivers: Introducing Navigating Dementia

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:38:00 CDT

Navigating Dementia is a new podcast for dementia caregivers, families, and professionals living the daily reality of dementia care. Hosted by physical therapist and dementia care specialist Carlyn Lenfestey, each episode uses the Wheel of Function Framework to help you understand what a behavior is really telling you, before you decide what to do about it. The trailer is live now.

Retrogenesis in Dementia Care: How to Actually Use the Theory, Not Just Explain It

Sat, 11 Jul 2026 21:47:00 CDT

Retrogenesis can help you make better caregiving decisions in real time. This bonus post shows how to match communication, activities, and environment to the stage in front of you.

Lost in a Familiar Room: The Environmental Spoke and Dementia Behavior

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 21:39:00 CDT

The room itself may be driving the confusion, agitation, or withdrawal you are seeing. Learn how lighting, noise, clutter, and layout shape dementia behavior—and what to change tonight.

When the Steps Get Lost: The Cognitive Spoke and Dementia Activities

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:54:00 CDT

Memory loss gets all the attention in dementia care, but it is rarely the only thing breaking down. Attention, problem-solving, communication, and sequencing all shape whether a person with dementia can start, follow, and finish an activity. The Cognitive Spoke of the Wheel of Function Framework™ gives caregivers and care professionals a way to see what is actually happening before labeling someone as "no longer interested." Part 5 of a six-part series on activities and the Wheel of Function Framework™.

The Physical Spoke: Why Pain Is Shutting Down Dementia Activities

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 10:14:00 CDT

A person with dementia cannot always say where it hurts. But pain, fatigue, medication side effects, and physical discomfort will all show up in behavior before an activity begins. The Physical Spoke of the Wheel of Function Framework™ gives you a pre-activity physical scan and the clinical thinking to know what to do when you find something.

There is a moment that happens more often than most people realize.

The sensory environment is dialed in. The activity is familiar and appropriate. The time of day is right. Everything that should be in place is in place. And the person still refuses. They pull away, turn their face, push the materials aside, or simply shut down before anything begins.

When this happens, the question most caregivers ask is: what is wrong with them today?

The better question is: where is the pain?

Part 4 of this series focuses on the Physical Spoke of the Wheel of Function Framework™. Of all five spokes, this one is the most consistently overlooked and the most immediately treatable when it is identified. Pain, fatigue, medication side effects, positioning, strength, and balance all shape what the body can and cannot do in a given moment. When any of these are off, engagement becomes nearly impossible regardless of how well everything else is set up.

This post will walk through each of those physical factors, explain how dementia changes the way they present, and give you a practical pre-activity physical scan you can run in under two minutes before any activity begins.

What Your Senses Are Telling You: The Sensory Spoke and Dementia Activities

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 07:41:00 CDT

Before you introduce any activity to someone with dementia, the brain is already processing everything in the room. The Sensory Spoke of the Wheel of Function Framework™ helps caregivers and care professionals identify when sensory overload or underload is shutting down engagement, and what to change first. Part 3 of a six-part series on activities and the Wheel of Function Framework™.

When Emotions Drive the Behavior: The Emotional Spoke and Dementia Activities

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 08:26:00 CDT

When someone living with dementia pushes away an activity, refuses without explanation, or sits through something without really connecting, the answer is rarely about the activity itself. It is almost always about what is happening emotionally first. Here is how to read those signals and what to do about them.

The Best Activities for Someone with Dementia Who Won’t Engage

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 07:46:00 CDT

Most activity advice for dementia caregivers starts in the wrong place. The Wheel of Function Framework™ gives caregivers and care professionals a clinically grounded way to read what the brain needs before any activity begins. Learn what actually works when nothing else has.

They Told Me Everything: A Memorial Day Reflection From a Physical Therapist

Mon, 25 May 2026 07:54:18 CDT

In 11 years at the Maine Veterans’ Home, physical therapist Carlyn Lenfestey witnessed something that still catches her off guard: veterans who could not tell her what year it was could describe the color of the water at Omaha Beach at first light. This Memorial Day, she writes about the neuroscience behind why emotional memories often outlast dementia, and what that understanding means for everyone who cares for someone living with it.

The Caregiver Behind the Care Plan: What Families Have Been Trying to Tell Us About Dementia Care

Mon, 18 May 2026 07:29:00 CDT

Researchers and healthcare leaders are finally beginning to talk more openly about the daily realities of dementia caregiving. But for many families, these conversations are long overdue.

In this article, Carlyn Lenfestey, physical therapist and creator of the Wheel of Function Framework, explores why caregivers often recognize changes in function long before healthcare systems do, and why behavior in dementia should be understood as a signal instead of simply a problem to manage.

Drawing from both personal family experience and years of clinical work in dementia care, this post examines:

why dementia care is about more than memory loss
how sensory overload, emotional regulation, and changing brain function affect daily life
why caregivers need interpretation tools, not just instructions
what current dementia research is beginning to recognize about caregiver insight and real-world support

If you have ever felt like you were trying to navigate dementia without a roadmap, this article will help you understand why.