Care for people with dementia and age related disorders

People who are having dementia would need extra care and extra love. You have to be patience in order to deal with them. Since it is persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease, you have to understand that the person is not in his senses and can behave in different ways. These are following ways by which we can treat them with extra care. Provide them full care and understand what they need. Understand and communicate with them properly and make sure that you are being patience while dealing with them.

Give them proper medicines which they need in order to recover them. Take them on daily walk and help them in exercise. Give them love and speak with kindness and gentle behaviour. Family should be supportive because all family members will have to deal that person with extra love and affection. Helping those with dementia can be both frustrating and rewarding. Use a digital or regular picture photo frame. Put names on each photo. This can help reinforce memory of family and friends.

The temptation is to automate our take over every aspect of life but this will also speed forgetting of tasks. Automate or take over tasks that would be dangerous but allow your loved one to continue to do things for themselves while they can. Friends and family are everything! Visit them often, take them to see their friends and other family members. Social isolation and loneliness are linked to depression, dementia, decreasing functionality, high blood pressure, poor sleep and morbidity. However, face-to-face contact, at least three times a week, specifically with family and friends, reduces social isolation and halves depression risk.

Show your love and respect. Don't speak about them in a negative way. Try to stay positive and optimistic. This can be very difficult. Take some time out or respite for yourself occasionally if you're a caregiver. Compassion fatigue is a real thing. I found it useful to plan, for my visits, to do things or go places that were fun for both of us… coffee shops, galleries, restaurants and some shops. This helped me look forward to my visits. I took care of the more mundane tasks at other times. This helped me enormously to stay positive.

Dementia is a progressive condition. It is important to take an individual approach to anyone diagnosed with it. People’s ability to reason, understand and remember declines with time. There are some things you may do to prevent them from harm and support their well-being for as long as possible. Most of the things have been mentioned in above answers. Make sure they always have ID with them and that they eat healthy meals regularly. Try to engage them in some activities such as painting, baking or making handmade cards. This may help to bring back joy and fulfilment to their lives again.

Every person with dementia is different. What works for one person will not necessarily work for all. Here are some strategies I use with clients with dementia, in no particular order. I never correct them. I respect what they say, and find a way to go along with their ideas if possible. I never say ‘no’. I offer alternatives. I never say ‘sit down’. I suggest a suitable activity. I never argue with them. If we disagree over something, I always back down. It’s hard enough having dementia without some young know-it-all thinking she’s the fount of all wisdom!

I never confront them with their mistakes. Yes, the bathroom is flooded because they left the tap on, but showing them what they did wrong isn’t going to do anything other than distress them further. They do not learn by their mistakes any more. I never ask direct questions. I ask indirectly instead: ‘I wonder whether….?’ ‘I wonder who….?’ I wonder what….?’ Pressure to produce the correct answer is not helpful. When they are struggling to find a word, I make a suggestion, rather than letting them struggle. Stress and frustration make word-finding even more difficult.

I remove things that regularly upset or confuse them. It is not unusual for someone with dementia to spend hours going through post they no longer understand, or keys that they no longer know how to use, getting more and more distressed. Remove the source of the distress. I never rush them. It may take twenty minutes to prepare for a trip to the shops, so I allow for this. I never raise my voice or sound agitated. Smile. Reassure. Use humour. I repeat myself, over and over again, as if it is the first time we have had this particular conversation. I never say ‘I already told you!’

I never take away their status as an adult with their own tastes and values. I don’t impose my views on them. If they want to eat nothing but biscuits today, that’s their choice. If they think the purple top goes with the brown skirt, fine. Unless their safety is compromised, they can choose how to live. I talk to them in a straightforward way about their condition. ‘It’s hard for you to remember things you did just now, but the things you did when you were a little girl are probably as clear as ever. You are still the same person, but you sometimes feel that everything around you is different’.

I reduce clutter, choices and difficult decisions. The fridge contains two or three tasty snacks like soups, fruits and smoothies. There are two favourite mugs on the mug tree. There are two jumpers on the end of the bed to wear in the morning. For lunch there is either simple curry rice simple, familiar tasks can be comforting, and give a sense of being useful and competent. Unravelling knitting, hand washing small items, shredding paper for recycling, dusting, polishing, decorating a cake, sorting buttons or screws, polishing shoes…

I talk to them as I would talk to any other adult. They are vulnerable, but they are not children. They may need shorter sentences and frequent re-caps to help them to stay on topic in conversation, but they do not appreciate ‘baby talk’! People suffering from dementia can be vulnerable to apathy, depression and anxiety. The carer is someone who may help a person suffering from dementia in personal care, giving out medicines and other household activities. Also, you may check our article on how to support people with dementia and Alzheimer’s here. Hope that helps. We understand how challenging it may be to support someone with dementia. Like someone above said, hopefully there will be a cure for that condition in the near future. Please stay strong. Cheers!