Amy Shaw, PA-C
Dementia Clinician, Author, and Founder of Better Dementia™
You Found Someone Who Understands This From Both Sides.
I know what the dementia journey looks like from a clinic.
I also know what it looks like from a kitchen table.
I am a physician assistant who has spent years specializing in dementia care — guiding more than 700 families through diagnosis, progression, and the hardest decisions of their lives.
I am also a daughter.
My mother has Alzheimer's disease.
Which means I have sat where you are sitting.
I have noticed the small signs before anyone named them. I have felt the quiet grief of watching someone you love change. I have made the phone calls, had the conversations, and navigated the uncertainty — not as a clinician, but as family.
That dual perspective shapes everything I teach.
WHY I DO THIS WORK
Caregivers do better when they understand the what, when, and why of dementia — so they can master the how of caregiving.
Dementia is not random. It follows patterns. When those patterns are understood, caregiving becomes more predictable, more skillful, and less frightening.
Why I Do This Work
The Gap That Changes Everything
Early in my career, I began to see a pattern.
Families weren't struggling because they didn't love enough.
They were struggling because no one had ever explained what was actually happening in the brain.
The medical system is built to diagnose disease. It is not built to prepare families for what comes next.
So families were left trying to navigate one of the most complex diseases of aging — without a map.
I watched caregivers exhaust themselves trying strategies that no longer worked. I watched them feel guilty for their frustration. I watched them make decisions in crisis that could have been made with clarity, if only they had understood what was coming.
That gap — between what families were experiencing and what they deserved to know — became the focus of my work.
My Path Here
A Somewhat Unusual Road
My path to dementia care is not a straight line — and I think that's part of what makes my work different.
I began at Emory University studying psychobiology — the relationship between the brain and behavior. My honors thesis explored how human children acquire language, and by the end of my undergraduate years I was taking graduate-level courses alongside some of the leading researchers investigating the neural networks that make us uniquely human. As part of my studies, I conducted field research with monkeys and chimpanzees in Uganda and Puerto Rico. That early immersion in how minds develop, communicate, and navigate the world became the foundation of everything I do.
Before entering medicine, I ran a wedding photography business.
Supporting families during emotionally significant, high-stakes moments taught me something that no clinical training fully captures — how to stay calm in the middle of someone else's hardest day, how to listen carefully, and how to guide people through transitions they didn't feel ready for.
Those skills now show up every time I sit with a family navigating dementia.
As a PA specializing in geriatrics and cognitive disorders, I saw the gap up close. Determined to close it, I created Wyoming's first comprehensive dementia care program and spent years building the framework that now forms the foundation of Better Dementia™.
What I Bring to This Work
Physician Assistant, specializing in dementia, geriatrics, palliative care, and hospice
Psychobiology, Emory University — with field research in Uganda and Puerto Rico
Creator of Wyoming's first comprehensive dementia care program
Featured in MedPage Today, Wyoming PBS, and PBS's Why Survive in America?
Author of The Arc of Conversation: A How-to Guide for Goals of Care Conversations (Springer, 2025)
Forthcoming author of Better Dementia: From Overwhelmed to Empowered (publishing 2027)
700+ families guided through the dementia journey nationwide
What Families Experience
What Changes When You Work With Me
Most caregivers who find me describe the same thing.
They have been trying to figure this out on their own — reading articles, watching videos, asking their loved one's doctor — and still feeling like they are one step behind.
What they needed wasn't more information.
It was a framework.
A way of understanding the whole journey — what's happening now, what's coming next, and how to respond in ways that actually work.
That is what I provide.
Not vague reassurance. Not generic tips.
A clinically grounded framework that transforms how you see your loved one — and how you show up for them.
Better Dementia™: A National Platform for Caregiver Support
Amy founded Better Dementia™ to make clinically grounded, expert-level dementia education accessible to families everywhere.
Better Dementia™ brings together education, guidance, and support designed to help caregivers understand what is happening in the brain, anticipate changes over time, and respond with skill and dignity.
The work includes:
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Personalized dementia consulting for families nationwide
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A self-paced digital learning experience for caregivers who want to build understanding at their own pace
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Clear teaching on dementia stages, behavior, communication, and psychiatric symptoms
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Practical resources that help families caregive with competence, clarity, and calm
Better Dementia is designed to meet caregivers where they are — whether they are just beginning to seek understanding or navigating complex decisions later in the journey.
What Families Are Saying
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"Amy took the time to understand what we were facing, kept us informed every step of the way, and helped us feel prepared instead of overwhelmed.”
– Kristina, Family Caregiver
"Amy’s education helped me feel prepared, supported, and not taken by surprise at each step.”
– Mike, Family Caregiver
Your loved one may lose their skills and abilities, but they will never lose their humanity.
When you understand this journey —
you can honor that humanity.
Every single day.