McGregor Dementia Podcast

What does the dementia journey actually look like from inside a marriage, a family, and a church? Six caregivers sat down with us at our Alzheimer's and Dementia seminar, held February 21, 2026 at McGregor Baptist Church, and this episode gathers their voices in one place. Karen, caring for her husband Steve for seventeen years. A husband caring for his wife Celeste in her fifth year. A husband walking with his wife Sally through four years of the disease. A daughter who cared for her mom Darlene for a decade. A husband caring for his wife Bunny. And a wife caring for her husband Jim. Their stories carry real honesty about the first two transition years, the roller coaster of daily care, the shame that keeps families silent, and the moments of unexpected grace, including the day a life group brought the wrong neighbor home from Bible study. Every voice comes back to the same place: they could not do this without the church, and they could not do this without Christ. McGregor Dementia Podcast provides relevant resources to those currently walking the dementia journey with their loved ones. If these stories sound like your life, we would be honored to walk it with you. Our caregiver support group is waiting at https://mcgregor.net/dementia/ Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com There's a place for you here. Plan your first Sunday at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

What do you actually do when the person you love becomes aggressive, when family refuses to talk about the diagnosis, or when you want to know your own genetic risk? Dr. Ed Shaw, Dr. Benjamin Mast, and elder care strategist Cynthia Perth Hughes take questions from the room in this live panel from our Alzheimer's and Dementia seminar, recorded February 21, 2026 at McGregor Baptist Church. The panel addresses how to respond to aggressive behavior, why some families avoid talking about dementia, what genetic testing involves, the difference between Parkinson's and Lewy body dementia, how exercise affects risk, and what late-stage dementia actually looks like. The conversation pulls together the day's teaching into real answers for real families, with honesty about what we know, what we do not yet know, and where hope is found even now. McGregor Dementia Podcast provides relevant resources to those currently walking the dementia journey with their loved ones. If one of these questions is yours, you are not alone with it. Bring it to our caregiver support group and find others asking the same thing. Details at https://mcgregor.net/dementia/ Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com Interested in visiting? Learn what to expect at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

The person caring for a loved one with dementia is carrying a burden that rarely gets noticed. How does the church come alongside them well? David and Tamar Miller answer that question out of their own four and a half years caring for David's father through dementia, alongside parenting their son Carson, who lives with autism. David serves as Pastor of Membership and Missions at McGregor. Their breakout from our Alzheimer's and Dementia seminar, recorded February 21, 2026 at McGregor Baptist Church, walks through four components of serving a caregiver well: understanding the challenge, being informed of the concerns, recognizing the crisis of faith that often comes, and offering constructive help. They ground the whole conversation in John 19, where Jesus assigns John the care of His own mother, and in the promise of Proverbs 3:5 to 6, that God will make straight the paths of those who trust Him. McGregor Dementia Podcast provides relevant resources to those currently walking the dementia journey with their loved ones. If God is stirring you to serve a caregiver in your life, start with the people already doing it. Our caregiver support group welcomes helpers, not just caregivers. Say hello at https://mcgregor.net/dementia/ Slides Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com New to McGregor? Plan a visit at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

When your loved one resists the very care they need, how do you respond with patience and wisdom? Dr. Ed Shaw returns for this breakout from our Alzheimer's and Dementia seminar, recorded February 21, 2026 at McGregor Baptist Church. In We Are on the Road, he addresses the behavioral changes that often accompany dementia, including agitation, aggression, paranoia, wandering, sundowning, and resistance to care. He teaches caregivers to consider three root causes behind any challenging moment: what is happening with the person, with the environment, and with us as the care partner. Drawing from his own journey with his late wife Rebecca and from decades of clinical work, Dr. Shaw offers non-medication strategies like acknowledge, affirm, and redirect, alongside a careful look at when medications may be appropriate. He closes by taking real questions from caregivers in the room. McGregor Dementia Podcast provides relevant resources to those currently walking the dementia journey with their loved ones. Every caregiver has the day they do not think they can keep going. Our support group exists for that day. Find your people at https://mcgregor.net/dementia/ Slides Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com There's a place for you here. Plan your first Sunday at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

A diagnosis is not the finish line. It is the starting line. Elder care strategist Cynthia Perth Hughes and elder law attorney Aaron Frye team up for this breakout from our Alzheimer's and Dementia seminar, recorded February 21, 2026 at McGregor Baptist Church. Together they walk families through the decisions that come next. They cover the difference between remaining at home, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing, what each typically costs, and the legal documents every family needs in place, including durable power of attorney, health care surrogacy, wills, and the right kind of trust. Aaron explains what Medicaid actually protects, where pre-planning matters most, and how to move from a place of crisis to a place of control. If you are overwhelmed by decisions and unsure where to begin, this conversation offers clear, practical direction. McGregor Dementia Podcast provides relevant resources to those currently walking the dementia journey with their loved ones. Planning is hard work, and it goes better with a team around you. Our caregiver support group is that team. Meet them at https://mcgregor.net/dementia/ Slides Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com Interested in visiting? Learn what to expect at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

How do you know when it is time to ask for an evaluation, and how do you get one for someone who does not want to go? Dr. Benjamin Mast takes on those questions in this breakout from our Alzheimer's and Dementia seminar, recorded February 21, 2026 at McGregor Baptist Church. He helps families think carefully about when cognitive changes move beyond normal aging, the warning signs that should not be ignored, and how to navigate a difficult conversation with a reluctant spouse or parent. He covers what a screening visit actually looks like, what further testing may involve, and addresses the middle-aged adult who lives in quiet fear of dementia after watching a parent decline. This session is for the person who has been wondering, and for the family member trying to help a loved one take the next step. McGregor Dementia Podcast provides relevant resources to those currently walking the dementia journey with their loved ones. Taking that first step is hard. You do not have to take it by yourself. Our caregiver support group can walk with you. Begin at https://mcgregor.net/dementia/ Slides Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com New to McGregor? Plan a visit at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

Is there a superfood, a supplement, or a secret trick that can prevent dementia? Elder care strategist Cynthia Perth Hughes answers honestly in Fact or Fiction: Scientific Research for Vibrant Brain Aging, a keynote from our Alzheimer's and Dementia seminar recorded February 21, 2026 at McGregor Baptist Church. She separates hopeful headlines from solid research, taking on the myths around aluminum cookware, flu shots, red wine, cold water immersion, and the viral peanut butter test, then walks through what actually shows up in the data on risk reduction and prevention. Cynthia shares her own story as the daughter of a father with Alzheimer's and as a carrier of the ApoE4 gene, and explains why the US POINTER study on lifestyle change matters so much for anyone who wants to take their brain health seriously. She is honest that no cure exists today, and direct about the people who will try to sell you one. McGregor Dementia Podcast provides relevant resources to those currently walking the dementia journey with their loved ones. Knowing the science is one thing. Walking the road with someone you love is another. Our caregiver support group is here for that second part. Learn more at https://mcgregor.net/dementia/ Slides Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com There's a place for you here. Plan your first Sunday at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

What happens to faith when memory fails? Dr. Benjamin Mast, author of Second Forgetting, carries that question into his keynote from our Alzheimer's and Dementia seminar, recorded February 21, 2026 at McGregor Baptist Church. He draws a careful distinction between the first forgetting, the memory loss caused by Alzheimer's, and the second forgetting, the spiritual amnesia that all of us are prone to when life feels overwhelming. Dr. Mast walks through what is most damaged and what is relatively spared in the brain affected by Alzheimer's, and offers practical ways to engage a loved one in their stories, their faith, and their humanity. For caregivers carrying real grief and real exhaustion, he returns again and again to the promise that God remembers His people, that Christ is near to the brokenhearted, and that Alzheimer's does not get the last word. McGregor Dementia Podcast provides relevant resources to those currently walking the dementia journey with their loved ones. No one should wrestle with these questions alone. Our caregiver support group is a place to bring them. Come find us at https://mcgregor.net/dementia/ Slides Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com Interested in visiting? Learn what to expect at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

When should forgetting a name worry you, and when is it just getting older? Dr. Ed Shaw opens our Alzheimer's and Dementia seminar with the keynote families have been waiting for. Recorded February 21, 2026 at McGregor Baptist Church, Normal Cognitive Aging vs. Dementia walks through what typical brain aging actually looks like, when changes cross the line into mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's, and what the last few years of research have made possible. He covers the new Alzheimer's blood test, the ApoE e4 gene, the two FDA-approved amyloid-clearing drugs, their real benefits and real risks, and the signs that warrant an evaluation. Dr. Shaw speaks both as a physician and as a husband who cared for his late wife Rebecca through early-onset Alzheimer's. This session offers clarity for anyone watching a parent, a spouse, or themselves, and wondering whether it is time to take the next step. McGregor Dementia Podcast provides relevant resources to those currently walking the dementia journey with their loved ones. If this episode leaves you with more questions than answers, that is exactly why our caregiver support group exists. Start here at https://mcgregor.net/dementia/ Slides Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com New to McGregor? Plan a visit at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

In this special episode of the McGregor Dementia Podcast, host Mark Bricker sits down with Dr. Edward Shaw and Dr. Benjamin Mast to talk about hope, truth, and care in the midst of dementia. Together, they preview the upcoming Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and the Gospel seminar happening Saturday, February 21, 2026, from 9:00 AM–3:00 PM at McGregor. The conversation explores the difference between normal cognitive aging and dementia, how the gospel speaks to suffering and loss, and how caregivers can be supported with wisdom, compassion, and Christ-centered hope. This episode is for anyone walking through dementia personally, caring for someone they love, or simply wanting to understand how God’s Word meets real-life challenges. You’ll also hear details about the free seminar, including expert-led sessions, breakout conversations for every stage of the journey, and a complimentary lunch—all designed to encourage, equip, and connect. There’s a place for you here. Registration is open now at mcgregor.net/dementia. McGregor Dementia Podcast provides relevant resources to those currently walking the dementia journey with their loved ones. Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026 Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com