The Challenges And Rewards Of Alzheimers Care
Caring for a person with Alzheimers disease or dementia can often seem to be a series of grief experiences as you watch your loved ones memories disappear and skills erode. The person with dementia will change and behave in different, sometimes disturbing or upsetting ways. For both caregivers and their patients, these changes can produce an emotional wallop of confusion, frustration, and sadness.
As the disease advances through the different stages, your loved ones needs increase, your caregiving and financial responsibilities become more challenging, and the fatigue, stress, and isolation can become overwhelming. At the same time, the ability of your loved one to show appreciation for all your hard work only diminishes. Caregiving can literally seem like a thankless task.
For many, though, a caregivers journey includes not only huge challenges, but also many rich, life-affirming rewards.
Caregiving is a pure expression of love. Caring for a person with Alzheimers or dementia connects you on a deeper level. If you were already close, it can bring you closer. If you werent close before, it can help you resolve differences, find forgiveness, and build new, warmer memories with your family member.
Caregiving can teach younger family members the importance of caring, compassion, and acceptance. Caregiving for someone with dementia is such a selfless act. Despite the stress, demands, and heartache, it can bring out the best in us to serve as role models for our children.
Use Positive Expression & Tone
Go into the conversation with very positive energy and attitude. Humor, smiles, laughter, and a good attitude can help guide the conversation in a way that keeps everyone engaged and happy. Using facial expressions, affectionate touch, and a happy tone of voice can help convey your message that otherwise might be missed if you were to speak and act very monotonously.
Connect With A Dementia Care Coordinator
There are many elements to consider when beginning to care for a loved one with dementia at home. Legal, safety, health and interpersonal changes will need to be made. Dementia care coordinators can help with safety concerns, medical attention, medication management, nutrition support and more. They can be especially helpful when a loved one is dealing with other medical conditions for which they need treatment.
Some care coordinators will conduct an initial assessment to thoroughly check your home and living situation. They will create a list of needs and work with caregivers to address the improvements most impactful to the home environment. Together, dementia care coordinators and caregivers can fix safety concerns or remove possible triggers before they become a problem. The goal to this type of care is to keep people at home with the highest quality of life for the longest period of time, explains Havrilla.
As an added bonus, loved ones who have some assistance from care coordinators remain in the home longer. In a Johns Hopkins Maximizing Independence at Home trial, researchers found that patients who were in contact with a care coordinator at least once a month for 18 months were less likely to move to an institution or die than those in the control group.
To find dementia care coordination services in your area talk to your doctor or local organizations.
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Find Engaging Activities And Encourage Socialization
Incorporate activities and hobbies that match your loved ones interests and abilities into their daily care plan. Building on current skills generally works better than trying to teach something new.
- Help the person get started and break activities down into small steps.
- Watch for signs of agitation or frustration. If they become irritated, gently help or redirect their attention to something else.
- To help maintain functional skills, enhance feelings of personal control and make good use of time, try to include them in an entire activity process. For instance, at mealtimes, encourage the person to play a role in helping prepare the food, set the table and clean up afterwards.
- Take advantage of adult day care services for Alzheimers patients, which provide various activities and social opportunities for seniors as well as respite time for caregivers.
Do Not Engage In Arguments
One of the worst things a person can do to an individual who has dementia is to start an argument or even force them to do something that makes them upset or angry. When the discussion or argument is too heated, it may be better to walk away to create an environment where everyone can remain calm. Experts agree that one of the ways that can yield results when it comes to dementia behavior problems is to get rid of the word no when dealing with patients. Avoid forcibly restraining a dementia sufferer at all costs.
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Handling Hallucinations And Delusions
Due to changes in the brain arising from dementia, some patients may start to have false perceptions of the things around them, including hallucinating and delusional thoughts. As a caregiver, you may be frightened when such a situation arises, but it is important that you first remain calm before attempting to calm your loved one down.
- Be reassuring Remain calm, show that you care, and comfort the patient. Let them know that you are there for them.
- Do not be critical Try to understand why or what the hallucination is to them. Do not argue about what they believe to be seeing or hearing.
- Engage them in another activity Bring them out on a walk or move them to another room.
Adjust the environment Switch off any TV shows, computers, or appliances that are emitting sounds in the background. They may be contributing to their hallucination or delusional thoughts since they cannot separate them from reality.
Tips For Everyday Care For People With Dementia
Early on in Alzheimers and related dementias, people experience changes in thinking, remembering, and reasoning in a way that affects daily life and activities. Eventually, people with these diseases will need more help with simple, everyday tasks. This may include bathing, grooming, and dressing. It may be upsetting to the person to need help with such personal activities. Here are a few tips to consider early on and as the disease progresses:
- Try to keep a routine, such as bathing, dressing, and eating at the same time each day.
- Help the person write down to-do lists, appointments, and events in a notebook or calendar.
- Plan activities that the person enjoys and try to do them at the same time each day.
- Consider a system or reminders for helping those who must take medications regularly.
- When dressing or bathing, allow the person to do as much as possible.
- Buy loose-fitting, comfortable, easy-to-use clothing, such as clothes with elastic waistbands, fabric fasteners, or large zipper pulls instead of shoelaces, buttons, or buckles.
- Use a sturdy shower chair to support a person who is unsteady and to prevent falls. You can buy shower chairs at drug stores and medical supply stores.
- Be gentle and respectful. Tell the person what you are going to do, step by step while you help them bathe or get dressed.
- Serve meals in a consistent, familiar place and give the person enough time to eat.
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Develop Helpful Daily Routines
Having general daily routines and activities can provide a sense of consistency for an Alzheimers or dementia patient and help ease the demands of caregiving. Of course, as your loved ones ability to handle tasks deteriorates, youll need to update and revise these routines.
Keep a sense of structure and familiarity. Try to keep consistent daily times for activities such as waking up, mealtimes, dressing, receiving visitors, and bedtime. Keeping these things at the same time and place can help orientate the person with dementia. Use cues to establish the different times of dayopening the curtains in the morning, for example, or playing soothing music at night to indicate bedtime.
Involve your loved one in daily activities as much as theyre able. For example, they may not be able to tie their shoes, but may be able to put clothes in the hamper. Clipping plants in the yard may not be safe, but they may be able to weed, plant, or water.
Vary activities to stimulate different sensessight, smell, hearing, and touchand movement. For example, you can try singing songs, telling stories, dancing, walking, or tactile activities such as painting, gardening, or playing with pets.
Spend time outdoors. Going for a drive, visiting a park, or taking a short walk can be very therapeutic. Even just sitting outside can be relaxing.
Tips For Caring For Someone With Alzheimers At Home
When an aging loved one is diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, their family often chooses to care for them at home for as long as possible. The comforts of a familiar environment can be highly beneficial, but keeping Alzheimers patients at home becomes increasingly difficult as they decline. Each day brings new challenges, unexpected behaviors and changes in functional abilities.
There are no one-size-fits-all solutions in dementia care, so Alzheimers caregivers usually devise their own strategies for dealing with a loved ones unique mix of symptoms. Furthermore, the effectiveness of certain strategies is likely to change throughout the course of a patients illness. The only way to find out what works for you and your loved one is through constant trial and error.
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Do Try To Be Pleasant
Caregivers are also humans who are prone to emotions like anger, stress, impatience, and irritation. Even when one goes through caregiver burnout, it is best that the patient does not get wind of it. It is better to step out of the room and try some breathing exercises to calm down before going back to deal with the dementia patient. Where possible, shelve the bad feelings and try and deal with them later. Dementia patients deal with a lot and they do not need more on their plate if they are to lead fulfilling and happy lives.
Handling Sleep Problems And Sundowning
Sundowning is also known as late day confusion. Dementia symptoms may be more prevalent in the afternoon and evening. Due to their confusion and memory loss, they may also be unable to distinguish between daytime and night-time.
- Maintain a routine Keep their day-to-day activities structured, with regular meal, shower, and bedtime.
- Avoid napping in the eye Daytime naps will make it more difficult for your patient to sleep well at night. Instead, keep them engaged in other activities throughout the day.
- Encourage exercise Exercise promotes a healthier lifestyle and keeps the mind active before winding down at night. Consider going to your nearby exercise corner, brisk walking around your neighbourhood, simple stretches, and Qigong.
- Avoid caffeine and sugar Especially from the afternoon onwards.
Adjust the environment In the daytime, ensure that the place is well-lit to make it clearer to the patient that it is daytime. Before bedtime, turn off the lights, reduce ambient noise, and adjust the room to a comfortable temperature to prepare a conducive environment for sleep.
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Home Safety Checklist For Alzheimer’s Disease
Use the following room-by-room checklist to alert you to potential hazards and to record any changes you need to make to help keep a person with Alzheimers disease safe. You can buy products or gadgets necessary for home safety at stores carrying hardware, electronics, medical supplies, and children’s items.
Keep in mind that it may not be necessary to make all of the suggested changes. This article covers a wide range of safety concerns that may arise, and some modifications may never be needed. It is important, however, to re-evaluate home safety periodically as behavior and abilities change.
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Caring For A Dementia Patient At Home
The challenges families deal with when they care for a dementia patient are at times frustrating, confusing and heartbreaking. You may ask yourself how can we make this easier? What do I need to do at home to keep my loved one calm and safe? A clinical nurse educator and dietician with Chapters Health System and explain 10 important tips for family.
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What Is Known About Caregiving For A Person With Alzheimers Disease Or Another Form Of Dementia
People with Alzheimers disease and related dementias are usually cared for by family members or friends. The majority of people with Alzheimers disease and related dementias are receiving care in their homes. Each year, more than 16 million Americans provide more than 17 billion hours of unpaid care for family and friends with Alzheimers disease and related dementias. In 2019, these caregivers will provide an estimated 18.5 billion hours of care. Approximately two-thirds of dementia caregivers are women, about one in three caregivers is age 65 or older, and approximately one-quarter of dementia caregivers are sandwich generation caregivers, meaning that they care not only for an aging parent, but also for children under age 18.
Caregivers of people with Alzheimers and related dementias provide care for a longer duration than caregivers of people with other types of conditions . Well over half of family caregivers of people with Alzheimers and related dementias provide care for four years or more. More than six in ten Alzheimers caregivers expect to continue having care responsibilities for the next 5 years compared with less than half of caregivers of people without dementia .
The demands of caregiving can limit a caregivers ability to take care of themselves. Family caregivers of people with Alzheimers and related dementias are at greater risk for anxiety, depression, and poorer quality of life than caregivers of people with other conditions.
Sensory Activities For People With Dementia
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Learn Alzheimers Communication Tips
Communicating with a person who has Alzheimers disease can become incredibly challenging, but much of what a family caregiver does depends upon mutual understanding. Without clear communication, both caregivers and patients are left feeling frustrated and misunderstood. When combined with ample practice and patience, the following suggestions can improve interactions and facilitate daily care tasks.
- Choose simple words and short sentences and use a gentle, calm tone of voice.
- Speak slowly and clearly, but do not talk to the person with Alzheimers like a baby.
- Maintain respect dont speak about them as if they werent there.
- Minimize distractions and background noise, such as the television or radio, to help the person focus on and process what you are saying.
- Allow enough time for them to respond, and be careful not to interrupt.
- If you cant understand what they are trying to say, look for nonverbal clues and take their surrounding environment into consideration.
- Learn to interpret gestures, descriptions and substitutions.
- Offer choices instead of asking open-ended questions.
Read more:10 Tips for Talking to Someone With Alzheimers
Tips For Caregivers: Taking Care Of Yourself
Being a caregiver can be extremely rewarding, but it can also be overwhelming. Caring for a person with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia takes time and effort. It can feel lonely and frustrating. You might even feel angry, which could be a sign you are trying to take on too much. It is important to find time to take care of yourself. Here are some tips that may offer some relief:
- Ask for help when you need it. This could mean asking family members and friends to help or reaching out to for additional care needs.
- Eat nutritious foods, which can help keep you healthy and active for longer.
- Join a caregiver’s support group online or in person. Meeting other caregivers will give you a chance to share stories and ideas and can help keep you from feeling isolated.
- Take breaks each day. Try making a cup of tea or calling a friend.
- Spend time with friends and keep up with hobbies.
- Get exercise as often as you can. Try doing yoga or going for a walk.
- Try practicing meditation. Research suggests that practicing meditation may reduce blood pressure, anxiety and depression, and insomnia.
- Consider seeking help from mental health professionals to help you cope with stress and anxiety. Talk with your doctor about finding treatment.
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Dealing With Dementia: Practical Tips For Living Longer At Home
Home » DIY & Home Improvement Articles » DEALING WITH DEMENTIA: Practical Tips for Living Longer at Home
When dementia strikes, a sense of helplessness comes with it. I know because we experienced that for a time in my extended family. But sometimes the best way to combat helplessness is to do what you can, when you can, for as long as you can, the best way you can, even if you cant win in the end. Fighting lifes battles like this isnt easy, and as the reality of dementia unfolded with my father-in-law, I was reminded how practical changes to the home can make a worthwhile difference to life. These practical changes wont fix the reality of dementia, they wont let anyone beat the disease, but they will make the challenge a little easier to live with.
I first met the man who would become my father-in-law in 1981. Hed come to Canada with his family as general manager of the local branch of a multi-national corporation, and even to an 18 year-old, motorcycle-riding guy with other things on his mind, I could see this guy was capable and decisive. He was also a bit intimidating at first, especially since I was interested in one of his daughters.
My wife was the first to mention that something wasnt right with her dad. There was a certain uncharacteristic hesitation now and then in his responses, the occasional simple word that he couldnt find, a moment of reduced facial expression. If youve seen dementia take hold, you know the early signs.