7 Practical Ways to Care for People with Dementia
According to the statistics of Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), there are 55 million people with dementia in the world today. With the increasing number of elderly people, the number of people with dementia is also rising rapidly, which means that more and more families need to take care of people with dementia. We will introduce you to what dementia is, and provide you with 7 practical ways to take care of dementia, so that you can take care of dementia without tension or panic, and dementia can also receive comprehensive care.
Dementia is the general term for all dementia diseases
Dementia is not the name of a single disease, but a general term for all dementia diseases. Dementia is different from aging. In addition to memory loss, other cognitive functions are also deteriorating, including language ability, spatial perception, calculation ability, judgment, abstract thinking ability, attention, etc. Common dementias include Alzheimer’s Disease, Frontotemporal dementia, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, etc.
Seven practical ways to care for people with dementia
In the early stage of dementia, the patient’s condition may not be serious and will not have much impact on the family’s life. However, as the disease progresses, the dementia person becomes irritable, has severe memory loss, and even cannot live normally, and the family may start to be in a hurry. Therefore, it is best for family members to communicate carefully, seek assistance from medical and social resources, and cooperate to make a good time arrangement.
1. Proper Communication
When talking to a person with dementia, speak softly and slowly, try to use short and easy-to-understand sentences, and give more answer options to facilitate communication.
Don’t interrupt the person with dementia when they respond, because they speak more slowly, as they will get frustrated and become less verbal. After the person with dementia answers, don’t forget to respond timely to show that you have heard it. At the same time, give more praise and encouragement to let the person with dementia speak more words to express their thoughts.
2. Taking Care of Diet and Drink
If there are relatives with dementia at home, remember to remind them to drink plenty of water. Sometimes people with dementia may have dry mouth, but they may not notice or express it. If they do not drink water for a long time, they are prone to urinary tract infection. They may also have constipation, which leads to more physical and psychological problems.
In addition, people with dementia may also be unable to identify food, forget what they like to eat, refuse to eat, and even ask for unusual diets.
Loss of appetite in people with dementia can sometimes be due to depression, communication problems (such as inability to communicate hunger), difficulty eating (sore teeth or gums), fatigue, medication effects, inactivity, and constipation. Therefore, family members should be as considerate as possible, leave more time for meals, and don’t urge patients to cause them to eat pressure.
In addition, you should also pay more attention to the food. In addition to having a good taste, it will increase your appetite. Cutting the food into small pieces is also convenient for entering the mouth, chewing and digestion.
3. Taking Care of Them for Going to Toilet
If a demented person suffers from urinary tract infection, constipation, enlarged prostate, etc. It is likely to cause incontinence problems. The demented person may also forget how to go to the toilet, such as forgetting to take off his pants, forgetting to use toilet paper, and forgetting to flush the toilet after use. Or forget how to get to the toilet. If the caregiver does not handle it properly, it may cause embarrassment, depression, and other emotions for the patient. Therefore, he is unwilling to ask for help when going to the toilet later, and accidentally urinates on his pants.
Therefore, in addition to anticipating the patient’s condition, family members can post the steps of going to the toilet in obvious places in the toilet, and even mark the name on the toilet and toilet paper box to remind the patient. Finally, remember to be sympathetic to the mood of the patients when taking care of them. Maybe they forget something, but from their words and actions, they can still feel whether the caregiver is impatient or negative.
4. Taking Care of Them to Go to Sleep
Dementia will seriously affect the patient’s biological clock, causing dementia to have sleep disturbances, such as waking up frequently after falling asleep, or wandering around at night. If the family does not pay attention, it is easy to be dangerous. Once this situation continues, It will cause day and night reversal of work and rest, lack of energy during the day, and derivative problems such as lack of sleep. In these situations, family members must first ensure that the patient has stable work and rest, and maintains good sleep habits. Let the patient go out to exercise more during the day, reduce food intake after evening, avoid caffeine intake, and do not eat midnight snacks.
In addition, ensure the bedroom can help people with dementia sleep. In addition to the quiet environment and no light interference, remember to set a 24-hour clock so that patients can know the time when they wake up at night.
5. Make Daily Tasks Easy and Simple
People with dementia not only have memory decline, but also have poor verbal communication and judgment skills. Even things that they were familiar with and good at in the past became unfamiliar. Therefore, based on safety considerations, family members can let their relatives with dementia start with simple life tasks. On the one hand, they can teach the patients to be familiar with the trivial things in life.
It is suggested that family members can go to the nearby supermarket to buy with the patient after getting off work or on weekends, and occasionally tidy up the yard, pull weeds, and plant flowers together.
6. Taking care of Living Environment
Family members are advised to keep the environment tidy and the floor dry. Name labels can be attached to furniture and items to help patients remember, and redundant furniture in the environment should be removed. Edges and corners of furniture should be carefully packed, and dangerous objects such as knives should also be stored well to prevent patients from mistaking danger of triggering. In addition, bright lights are of great help to the movement of dementia patients. Sometimes patients are unconscious. If the stairs, toilets, and corners of the house are dim and unclear, there is a risk of falling. Therefore, it is best to install automatic sensor lighting in dark places. , the settings of other light switches must also be easily accessible.
7. Seek assistance from the Dementia Organization
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- Alzheimer’s Society Tel:0333 150 3456
- Dementia UK Tel : 0800 888 6678
- Alzheimer’s Research UK Tel: 0300 111 5555
- Age UK Tel:0800 055 6112
- The Carers Trust Tel:0300 772 9600
- Carers UK Tel:020 7378 4999
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Somebody I used to Know
How do you build a life when all that you know is changing? How do you conceive of love when you can no longer recognise those who mean the most to you? A phenomenal memoir, Somebody I Used to Know is both a heart-rending tribute to the woman Wendy Mitchell once was, and a brave affirmation of the woman dementia has seen her become.
Understanding Behaviour Dementia Challenges
As people grow older, their physical and psychological needs become more complex. Unmet needs often result in challenging behaviour, particularly if the person suffers from dementia. Ian Andrew James looks beyond the behaviour itself to the causes behind it, suggesting both medical and non-pharmalogical approaches to lessening suffering and improving quality of life
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Supplement for Brain Health
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Most Useful Accessories For Dementia
Wireless Floor Pressure Mat & Pager Set
- Used at home to prevent falls & wandering
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- Bleeper pager vibrates, flashes and bleeps
Talking Photos Album
- Record a separate message on each page using the built-in microphone. Re-record as many times as you wish.
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- Total recording time of 6 minutes, set at 18 seconds per page. Playback via the built-in speaker.
- Bring your memories back to life by adding a new dimension to your photographs. Create your own talking books for speech and language projects in school. Create speaking and listening activities and display classroom projects.
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CPR Guardian III Personal Alarm for Elderly
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Robin, 2022 Version, Digital Day Clock
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