Dementia is a progressive disease that destroys the brain cells and affects the person’s behaviour, memory, and thoughts. People who suffer from dementia receive daily assistance and care from their near and dear ones.
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
The symptoms of Alzheimer’s worsen as the disease progresses, which provides new challenges for the care givers. Being aware of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s can help organisations like Kancare plan ahead.
Develop a routine.
Caregivers can make someone comfortable by establishing a daily routine. Doing so develops a sense of familiarity with a person who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Caregivers should not make significant changes to their daily routine as this can lead to confusion.
In some cases, there may be changes that are unavoidable, like introducing a new health care provider or switching settings. An individual suffering from Alzheimer’s disease requires a certain amount of time to adjust to the new settings, so care givers should plan to implement these changes in a gradual manner.
Plan activities.
Care givers can keep their loved ones engaged and active with the following occupations:
- Dancing
- Listening to music
- Indulging in a simple board game
- Baking and cooking.
- Watching a movie
- Visiting family and friends
Some people tend to feel bright in the morning, whereas others have more energy at night. A care giver has to observe the energy levels during an outing and return home before it is too late. There are some caregivers who carry business cards and inform others, especially the service workers, about their loved one’s conditions. The top dementia care centre in Kerala hands over these cards in a discrete manner.
Participates in active communication.
Alzheimer’s is a disease that restricts your ability to communicate with others. They may have difficulty interpreting or recollecting specific words. They could also lose their chain of thought during the middle of a sentence. Care givers can resort to the below mentioned strategies to make the communication process easy.
- Maintain eye contact at all times.
- Ask one question at a time.
- Using their given names,
- Using open and relaxed body language
Regular communication with a person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease gives them a chance to engage in activities and conversations.
Enhance their self-esteem.
Anxiety levels could be considerably reduced if feeling and looking good could alleviate them. This may force a person to feel a lot better about themselves. The ways in which a care giver can assist someone with grooming and hygiene include
- Allowing them more time to dress
- Keeping their nails trimmed
- Encourage a person to shave and provide help if necessary.
- Help them keep up if they are normally keen on it.
It protects them.
There may be numerous situations that may pose risks to an individual suffering from Alzheimer’s. For example, they may not be able to understand simple signs like a wet floor. Some of the safety tips include
- Hot and cold stickers to be placed near the tips
- Restrict the number of mirrors in the house.
- Safety locks are to be kept on the stove.
If the person is still driving, observe signs that their driving could pose a danger to others.
When is the right time to seek professional help with Kancare?
Once the condition progresses, people suffering from Alzheimer’s will require more care. The caregivers may need assistance in performing physically demanding tasks such as moving or dressing. Care givers may look forward to professional services in the following cases:
- He loses the ability to walk.
- Periods of anxiety and anxiety
- May get lost and tend to wander away.
- Experiences a seizure.
- Loss of a significant amount of body weight
A caregiver who experiences adverse side effects such as fatigue, chronic stress, or depression may require professional assistance.
Ultimately, it is up to the care giver and their family to decide when to seek professional help.
The caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease may experience a wide range of emotions, both negative and positive, when helping their loved one. The best service providers in Alzheimer’s provide professional and friendly services to treat their patients in the best way. Self-care is vital and is often overlooked as part of caregiving.