Tips for Alzheimer’s & Dementia Caregivers
Dealing with a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer’s in your family? This guide will help you prepare for the caregiving road ahead and get the help you need.
Tip 1: Prepare for the road ahead
The more you learn about your loved one’s disease and how it will progress over the years, the better you’ll be able to prepare for future challenges, reduce your frustration, and foster reasonable expectations. In the early stages of Alzheimer’s, for example, you can support your loved one’s independence and self-care, but their cognitive and physical regression means they will ultimately require 24-hour care.
Though it may be hard to contemplate such a difficult outlook, the sooner you put plans in place, the more your loved one can be involved in the decision-making process. Paying for long-term care can be a major source of stress, so it’s important to research all your options as early as possible. Consult with the patient’s medical team and other family members to make legal and financial arrangements and determine the long-term care options that are best suited to you and your loved one.
Tip 2: Develop a personal support plan
Balancing the enormous task of caring for a cognitively-impaired adult with your other responsibilities requires skill, attention, and meticulous planning. By focusing so diligently on your loved one’s needs, it’s easy to fall into the trap of neglecting your own welfare. If you’re not getting the physical and emotional support you need, you won’t be able to provide the best level of care, and you face becoming overwhelmed.
Ask for help. You cannot do it all alone. It’s important to reach out to other family members, friends, or volunteer organizations to help with the daily burden of caregiving. Accepting help for mundane tasks such as grocery shopping and cleaning can free you up to spend more quality time with the patient.
Learn or update caregiving skills. There are books, workshops, and online training resources that can teach caregiving skills.
Join a support group. Connecting with others who know first-hand what you’re going through can also help reduce feelings of isolation, fear, and hopelessness.
Make use of available resources. There are a wealth of community and online resources to help you prioritize your efforts and provide effective care. Start by finding the Alzheimer’s Association in your country. We also have many local resources available as well.
Plan for your own care. Visit your doctor for regular checkups and pay attention to the signs and symptoms of excessive stress. It’s easy to abandon the people and activities you love when you’re mired in caregiving, but you risk your health and peace of mind by doing so.
Get moving. Regular exercise not only keeps you fit, it releases endorphins that can really boost your mood. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise on most days.
Practice a relaxation technique. Caregiving for a loved one with dementia can be one of the most stressful tasks you’ll undertake in life. To combat this stress and boost your mood and energy levels, you need to activate your body’s natural relaxation response.
Tip 3: Cope with changes in communication
As your loved one’s Alzheimer’s or dementia progresses, you’ll notice changes in communication. Trouble finding words, increased hand gestures, easy confusion, even inappropriate outbursts are all normal. Here are some do’s and don’ts on communicating with your loved one:
Tip 4: Develop day-to-day routines
Having a general daily routine in Alzheimer’s and dementia care helps caregiving run smoothly. These routines won’t be set in stone, but they can give a sense of consistency, which is beneficial to the patient even if they can’t communicate it.
Keep a sense of structure and familiarity. Try to keep consistent daily times for activities such as waking up, mealtimes, bathing, dressing, receiving visitors, and bedtime. Keeping these things at the same time and place can help orientate the person with dementia.
Let your loved one know what to expect even if you are not sure that they completely understand. You can use cues to establish the different times of day.
Involve your loved one in daily activities as much as they’re able. For example, they may not be able to tie their shoes, but may be able to put clothes in the hamper.
Tip 5: Deal with problem behaviors
One of the major challenges of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or another dementia is coping with the troubling behavior and personality changes that often occur. These behaviors include aggressiveness, wandering, hallucinations, and eating or sleeping difficulties that can be distressing to witness and make your role as caregiver even more difficult.
Often, these behavioral issues are triggered or exacerbated by your loved one’s inability to deal with stress, their frustrated attempts to communicate, or their environment. By making some simple changes, you can help ease your loved one’s stress and improve their well-being, along with your own caregiving experience.
Tip 6: Make time for reflection to help with acceptance
One of the biggest challenges as a caretaker for someone with dementia is to accept what is happening to your loved one. At each new stage of the disease, you have to alter your expectations about what your loved one is capable of. By accepting each new reality and taking time to reflect on these changes, you can better cope with the emotional loss, and deepen the feelings of satisfaction in your caregiving role.
Keep a daily journal to record and reflect on your experiences. By writing down your thoughts, you can mourn losses, celebrate successes, and look for those thought patterns that keep you from acting in the present.
Count your blessings. A daily gratitude list can chase away the blues and let you focus on what your loved one is still capable of, rather than the abilities they’ve lost.
Celebrate what is possible. Your loved one still has many abilities. Structure activities to invite participation on whatever level is possible, and you will both find enjoyment.
Try to envision your loved one’s world. Imagine not being able to remember and do life’s simple tasks. By valuing what your loved one is able to give, you can find satisfaction on even the toughest days.
Improve emotional awareness. Remaining engaged, focused, and calm in the midst of such tremendous responsibility can challenge even the most capable caregivers. By developing your emotional awareness skills, however, you can relieve stress, experience positive emotions, and bring new peace and clarity to your caretaking role.
See more on this topic by looking at the reference material for this page by visiting HelpGuide.org