Pat Summitt was the head coach of the UT Lady Vols basketball team for 38 seasons. She was diagnosed with early onset dementia at the age of 59 and passed away 5 years after her diagnosis. Pat was a coach, mother, author, and spokesperson. She started the Pat Summitt Foundation to fund research for early onset dementia. Pat had 6 miscarriages and rheumatoid arthritis before her diagnosis; doctors believe that the rheumatoid arthritis may have had a connection to the early onset dementia, but they believed it was mainly related to genetics. Prior to her diagnosis, Pat was completely independent and was coaching full-time. Pat's priorities are her son, Tyler, the Pat Summitt Foundation, basketball, and her dogs. Pat had many first symptoms before her diagnosis. She showed up to one basketball game and left her car running outside. She started calling out the wrong terms during basketball games. Pat said that she felt disoriented when she woke up, and sometime she would start driving and forget where she was going. Pat went to the Mayo Clinic and was diagnosed with early onset dementia. She was in denial at first and continued to coach the Lady Vols for 1-2 more seasons before she was forced to retire. Katherine did her OT intervention in the middle stages of the disease. In the middle stages of the disease, Pat would forget how to do ADLs, sequencing, motor skills, and would need apartment modifications such as locks on the doors. During the middle stages of dementia, there is a lot of confusion, moodiness, and personality changes. Pat lived at the Sherrill Hill Senior Living Facility during the later stages of the disease. An OT would provide resources to help Pat remember appointments and meetings. In the late stages of the disease, an OT would be focused on caregiver education.
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