Dementia Tropes and Platitudes with Kitty Norton

Daughterhood The Podcast: For Caregivers

In 2016, Kitty Norton left her job as an NBC assistant editor in Los Angeles, CA for her hometown of Portland, OR to care for her mother living with dementia.

While caring, she authored the dementia caregiver blog Stumped Town Dementia, writing tales of dementia life, not dementia death, which resonated deeply with readers around the world.

After her mother’s death in 2021, Kitty took to the road in an RV to produce and direct her cross-country documentary film Wine, Women, and Dementia

This film honors the journey with her mother, as well as spreads awareness of the caregiver side of the equation in dementia, and celebrates family caregivers - to let them know they are not alone and that they are worthy of being seen, heard, and celebrated alongside who they are caring for on this difficult road to the end of life.

In this episode we discuss common tropes and platitudes most often heard in dementia, the reality behind them, and how Kitty’s caregiving journey led her to create her film.

TRANSCRIPT