Dementia can feel like a devastating diagnosis, especially when it’s for an aging parent, grandparent, or other close loved one. Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia, and while you may have many questions upon first receiving this kind of diagnosis, there are a lot of support groups available that can help. They can help navigate those numerous questions, and the ones you haven’t yet even realized you’ll have.
Dealing With the Diagnosis as a Family Caregiver
If this is for your mother or father, for example, maybe the other parent is alive and supporting them the best they can. You might live in the same area and take on caregiver roles and responsibilities yourself, too. Yet, as time marches on and the disease progresses, things are going to get much more challenging. In the beginning, shortly after diagnosis, most things seem manageable. The elderly person is dealing with it in their own way, can probably tend to most of their personal hygiene, cooking, cleaning, and other matters without too much help, and maybe they only need a few reminders every so often.
It seems as though being a family caregiver will be relatively straightforward and simple enough. However, time has a way of changing that, especially when it comes to any form of dementia. The signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s, for example, will increase. The memory loss will expand. Performing even the most basic or rudimentary activity of daily life may become more complicated, at least in certain days or certain times of the day. That’s when you really need to consider home care assistance.
Considering Home Care Assistance
One of the most common questions that family caregivers have is, “Why would I need home care assistance when I’m available to help?” Perhaps the best reason involves what’s coming. Most family members have no idea how challenging things will be. They may understand the basic aspects of the disease, how memory loss will increase, how it may impact behaviors, and how it may deteriorate the physical body, but knowing a thing and experiencing it are two completely separate events.
The longer you wait to turn to professional, experienced care and support, the more difficult it might be for that aging senior to adjust. When memory loss increases, any change to routine, the people around them, or even their physical environment can create an intense amount of anxiety for that senior. That anxiety might lead to physical or emotional outbursts, withdrawal, anger, resentment, extreme confusion, doubt, wandering, and so much more.
Plus, you can’t overlook the safety issues that are going to arise for somebody dealing with dementia.
Common Risk Factors
Wandering is often a risk factor for people with dementia. This means an aging senior might step out of their house, become confused about their environment, their location, their surroundings and start walking, thinking they are going somewhere completely different. They may get it in their mind that the year is 1980 and they are heading to their childhood home, because, in their own mind, that’s where they still live. They get turned around, lost, and depending on the weather and other factors, it can quickly escalate to a life-threatening situation.
That’s only one risk factor for somebody with dementia. A home care aide who has worked with other seniors diagnosed with dementia, including Alzheimer’s, will have a pretty good idea about many — if not all — of the most common risk factors facing seniors in this situation. They will be able to advise you on how to protect them, what modifications might be best suited for the home and the senior, and how best to support this individual as the years press on.
So, just because you may be a family caregiver right now doesn’t mean you can’t count on the support, experience, and dedication of a professional home care agency.