Caring for a person having Alzheimer’s disease proves to be challenging and needs care for a more extended period, probably a lifetime. With other types of severe memory loss or dementia, there might be times that can recur weeks and months before, but different issues might become apparent as it starts to progress.
New patterns in behavior start to come up. As this can be a frustrating experience for caregivers, always remember that it’s the same for the patients and scary. As they’ll not be able to do more things that they used to do by themselves, they’ll become more reliant on the people caring for them.
Jane Byrne, project manager at a Kildare nursing home, notes that, “Senior people and elderly with Alzheimer’s might experience this as the condition starts to get worse. This can be a difficult experience both for the patient as well as a person offering care for a longer period – even the family people.
If you take care of such a patient, it is essential to keep in mind how it can be done easily. The guide for Alzheimer’s care consists of some useful tips to cope with the challenging experiences you are going to deal with and help reduce the burden of a caretaker.
1-Communication
It is a major challenge for the patient and a caregiver, where understanding and getting understood becomes more difficult. Don’t use bigger sentences. Easy to understand words and a soft tone would help. Also, make the sounds minimize near to you as it can lead to distraction. This will let the senior know what you are saying.
Call by whatever their name is and start talking only when they are paying attention. If they are unable to find the correct word or find it hard to communicate, help gently. If you ask anything, wait patiently and don’t interrupt in between.
2-Mood changes
One of the difficult things to deal with Alzheimer’s patients is the sudden behavioral change, especially if it is entirely out of their personality. For instance, a person always calm in nature, with a lot of etiquette and manners suddenly starts using an abusive tone and making inappropriate comments; it can be hurtful and upsetting. Remember if you are struggling with this, you can always find a senior caregiver near you to help you out with the Alzheimer’s patient.
Find out the reason for the outburst. While it will not fix it, you’ll start dealing to cope up with it. Stay patient during these aggressions and always remind yourself that nothing is personal. This can be difficult, but it will help you to deal with the situation.
The most common reason for outburst is when the patient is unable to understand or communicate with others. A command or instruction might help to make everything simple to understand just like the Memory care professionals do.
3-Understanding delusional behavior and hallucinations
As soon as the disease starts to progress, most of the patients experience hallucinations and delusional behavior. Getting hallucinations means when someone suffering from it tastes, sees, feels, smells, or hears the things that are not there whereas, delusions are false beliefs about which a patient can’t talk.
Try to reduce this by switching the television off if any violent or disturbing episodes are running; sometimes, Alzheimer’s patients cannot understand the difference between reality and what is going on the TV. If it’s possible, keep them busy with fun activities or something new to talk about. By getting in another room or a walk in a park can help too.
As arduous as it can be, don’t make an argument over what they see or hear. Instead, make them comfortable by understanding them and respond to what they express. While you won’t be able to stop this, ensure they have nothing in front of them that can hurt and are safe in their space.
4-Incontinence
Senior people and elderly with Alzheimer’s might experience this as the condition starts to get worse. This can be a difficult experience both for the patient as well as a person offering care for a longer period – even the family people. The situation can also occur because of the physical illness, so ensure to speak with a patient’s doctor. There are products to combat urinary incontinence, such as men’s external catheters, bladder support for women, diapers, etc. The things that could help you to deal with the situation include:
- Having a bathroom routine check and following it as much as you could. For instance, take them to the washroom every 2-3 hours without needing them to ask.
- Understand when a small accident occurs. Stay calm and comfort your loved one that everything is fine if they are upset. Please keep a record of when the accident takes place and try to prevent them.
- Keep an eye on the signs when they want to use the bathroom. They can’t explain but look for the signs like pulling out the clothes or restlessness. Respond and take immediately.
- Maintaining a plan while going out with the patient is essential. Know the restrooms’ places, and keep an extra set of comfortable clothes that can be removed easily.
- Limit the night-time accidents by cutting down certain fluids.
5-Wandering
Giving care to Alzheimer’s patients means keeping them safe as much as you could. Some patients tend to wander off, mostly far from their home or the people giving them care. It’s essential to know the limit of wandering and keep them protected from getting lost.
The primary step is to make sure that they wear the identification bracelet or anything similar to it, like a medical necklace. If a patient becomes lost and is unable to communicate easily, the identification jewelry will alert about the medical condition of a person to medics and others. Make sure to notify the neighbor’s and authorities so that they also take care of such instances.
6-Sleeping problems
Sleep can also be a nightmare for such patients. Getting them to bed for sleep and keeping them there needs planning. Ask them to exercise during the day and limit naps but ensure to get them enough rest in the day. Provide hospital beds with in home delivery and setup for a greater sense of comfort, relaxation and sleep quality.
Make a routine where bedtime will be the same every night and limit the intake of caffeine. If darkness is the patient’s primary concern, use night lamps in the hall, bathroom, and bedroom.
Caring for Alzheimer’s patients can be a challenging task and you might feel down sometimes about it, but remembering a few things mentioned above will help both of you get through the worst days.
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