Simple Tips for Caregivers of Persons with Dementia!

Submitted by Aishwarya Solanki on 17 February 2017

Tips for Caregivers

Dementia is a general term for decline in a person's mental ability that is severe enough to interfere with his/her daily life. It may involvememory loss, difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language. Dementia is progressive, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse.

Even though most cases of dementia come from irreversible causes, there is still much that families can do to help their loved ones continue to function as well as possible for as long as possible.A lot of different techniques and strategies have been tried, some with more success than others. 

Researchers, doctors, and eldercare professionals are still discovering and refining what works and what doesn't when it comes to dementia care. 

Dementia Care Techniques

The most important thing to do is to encourage the person to stay independent for as long as possible.

Graded assistance combined with daily practice and positive reinforcement can go a long way to maintaining functional independence. Graded assistance is a method of helping someone accomplish a task with the least amount of aid possible, using a spectrum of assistance from verbal prompts to physical demonstration, physical guidance, partial physical assistance and complete physical assistance.

If there are times of day when the person is less confused or more cooperative, plan your routine to make the most of those moments. Keep in mind that the way the person functions may change from day to day, so try to be flexible and adapt your routine as needed.

Begin to plan for the future. This may include getting financial and legal documents in order, investigating long-term care options, and determining what services are covered by health insurance and Medicare.

Coming Up Next Week - Tips for Communication !

 

Community
Alzheimer's and Dementia
Caregiver Community
Parkinsons Disease and Movement Disorder PDMDS
Condition
Dementia
Parkinson Disease
Changed
Fri, 02/17/2017 - 18:34

Stories

  • Sir Terry Pratchett, fantasy author, died eight years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
    Sir Terry Pratchett, 66, fantasy author, died eight years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He was the creator of Discworld series "Terry faced his Alzheimer's disease (an 'embuggerance', as he called it) publicly and bravely," said Mr Finlay. Knighted in 2009, he said: "It would appear to me that me getting up and saying 'I've got Alzheimer's', it did shake people." "The thing about Alzheimer's is there are few families that haven't been touched by the disease. People come up to…
  • State-of-the-art dementia treatment facility is a 1950s era village - Hogewey
    Hogewey is an amazing "village" on the outskirts of Amsterdam. It's a step back into the 1950s boasting pretty, manicured streets, a grocery, cafe, coffee shop, restaurant and even a beauty salon and barber shop. There are 152 residents in Hogewey, and all have something in common—dementia. Hogewey is a treatment facility for dementia and Alzheimer's patients. It is set in the 1950s because the dementia patient's long term memory is preserved much more vividly than short…
  • I paint to my heart's content and refresh my mind to start each challenging day anew
    Mrs Gowri shares her experience as a caregiver of her mother with Dementia   I care for my mother, a soft natured but strong willed woman, who had worked for 35 years. Post retirement, a freak accident while gardening, which we now believe could have been caused by a mild stroke, reduced her mobility and slowly led to the degeneration of the brain cells. Normally very quiet and uncomplaining, she had begun to lose her alacrity. Without any of us being aware of the symptoms, like difficulty…
  • Still Alice: A Review from an Alzheimer’s CareGiver
    A review of "Still Alice" by Ekta Hattangady, from India who was 13 when her mother was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's at 43. Ekta became her Primary Caregiver at the age of 16. My final verdict would be…it’s a great movie. It’s not reality. Not every person with Alzheimer’s would be like this…some may be a lot worse…especially in the case of Early Onset Dementia.  Everything you saw in this movie, multiply it by 10,000 times and then you may be somewhere close to what it is like…
  • Common anticholinergic drugs like Benadryl, Nytol linked to increased dementia risk
    Nytol, Benadryl, Ditropan and Piriton among the medications identified by scientists as raising likelihood of dementia A report published online this week in JAMA Internal Medicine offers compelling evidence of a link between long-term use of anticholinergic medications like Benadryl and dementia. Anticholinergic drugs block the action of acetylcholine. This substance transmits messages in the nervous system. In the brain, acetylcholine is involved in learning and memory. In the…
  • Challenges of Parkinson’s Disease – for patient and caregiver
    Mrs Balasubramaniam has been looking after her husband, 83, who has Parkinson’s Disease, for more than a decade. She shares symptoms, treatments and caregiving tips.   When was your husband diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease? My husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease about 10 to 12 years back, but he probably had symptoms much before that were not very noticeable, such as mild abnormality of gait or sticking out his tongue occasionally. What were the early…
  • From Robin Williams to My Father, Understanding Lewy Body Dementia
    Remember that you don't have to do any of this alone. - Kuntal Joisher Recently, it came to light that a significant underlying factor to Williams' decision to end his lifemay have been the fact that Williams was believed to have been suffering from Lewy Body Dementia. This recent discovery has put the spotlight firmly on Lewy Body Dementia or LBD, a disease that often goes undiagnosed in those afflicted with the condition. Lewy Body Dementia is the most misdiagnosed form of dementia. LBD…
  • Parkinson's, Depression and the Switch that might turn them off
    Deep brain stimulation is becoming very precise. This technique allows surgeons to place electrodes in almost any area of the brain, and turn them up or down — like a radio dial or thermostat — to correct dysfunction. Andres Lozano offers a dramatic look at emerging techniques, in which a woman with Parkinson's instantly stops shaking and brain areas eroded by Alzheimer's are brought back to life. The multi-disciplinary approach of medicine and engineering has resulted in greater precision of…
  • She lives in the present, forgets the past and can’t think of the future, so I try to be that way too
    She reduced her mother's medications to a minimum. Side effects may have also played a role in Asayo’s agitation and violence, said Steve Iliffe, professor of Primary Care for Old People at University College London. She let her mother walk.. “Walking is therapeutic and helps reduce disturbed behavior and sleep,” he said. “Letting her wander saved us and made us happy,” Akiko said. “It was unbelievably disturbing and stressful to keep my mom in the house.” Wandering alone, though,…
  • Its ok to cry and laugh, to take time out for yourself
    This touching and poignant documentary – “Portraits of Care” –  looks at the lives of four amazing Caregivers and gives a rare glimpse into the realities of long-term care in India. A husband as caregiver, a wife as caregiver, daughters as caregivers Issues with home care agencies, dealing with absent and interfering relatives, caregiver stress and the financial challenges How to take time out for yourself, how to deal with your anger and frustration Celebrate the little…