Dementia doesn’t mean your loved one can no longer live at home. Seniors with dementia tend to fare better in familiar environments. Your loved one’s new diagnosis may require making a few changes in his or her lifestyle, but it’s possible to continue to help your parent live happily at home by employing these strategies.
Find Out How Much Care Is Needed
You need to begin dementia care with a clear understanding of where your loved one is on his or her journey. Some seniors with dementia are diagnosed very early, when their memory loss is mild. These seniors often need only minimal support at home. Other seniors are already in the later stages when they’re diagnosed, and you’ll need to plan for more extensive care at home if this is the case with your loved one.
Having a professional caregiver nearby can give you peace of mind about your loved one’s safety and comfort. Not every senior has the same care needs, which means they don’t all need the same senior home care. Families can rely on Home Care Assistance to provide individualized care plans to meet your elderly loved one’s unique care needs. Our holistic Balanced Care Method was designed to help seniors focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, and maintaining strong social ties, and our Cognitive Therapeutics Method offers mentally stimulating activities that can stave off cognitive decline and delay the onset of dementia.
Be Realistic About Your Capabilities
When you love someone, you want to do as much as you can to keep him or her happy and healthy. However, you may still have other responsibilities in your life, such as maintaining a career. Once you understand the level of care your loved one needs, take a serious look at how much you can contribute. Keep in mind that even full-time family caregivers need regular breaks to rejuvenate their minds and bodies.
Caring for a loved one with dementia is a challenging task for anyone. The responsibilities can sometimes feel overwhelming, but help is available. Seniors can face a variety of age-related challenges. Though some families choose to take on the caregiving duties, there may come a time when they need a trusted Amarillo elder care provider. Families sometimes need respite from their duties so they can focus on their other responsibilities, and some seniors need around-the-clock assistance that their families are not able to provide.
Discuss Your Loved One’s Preferences
Your loved one may have specific preferences regarding how he or she is cared for at home. For instance, your parent may prefer to have a certain person help with bathing or cleaning around the house. You need to have your loved one on board with the care arrangements you make, and now is the time to see if you can work out compromises on any areas of disagreement.
Identify and Appoint Other Caregivers
You can draw on the strengths of the people around you to accomplish many parts of your loved one’s care. For instance, your sibling may be the perfect choice to take your loved one to the doctor, or it may be ideal to have a neighbor check on your parent once or twice a week. Make sure to supplement your network with professional home caregivers who can manage tasks you know must be done properly or on time, such as taking your loved one to the doctor.
Set Up a Safe Environment
After observing your loved one’s daily routine, you can begin to make alterations to his or her home to make it safer. Consider adding an alarm system that alerts you if your parent falls or experiences a safety hazard, such as a fire. You can also make plans for someone to stay with your loved one around the clock as the condition advances.
Monitor and Adapt Accordingly
Care plans should always be viewed as evolving. Your loved one’s care needs are likely to change, or you may find a certain strategy is no longer working. Take note of new events, such as your loved one forgetting to take medication, then adjust the care plan to address the new needs so your parent continues to be safe and comfortable at home.
Dementia can be challenging for seniors to manage, but they can maintain a higher quality of life with the help of professional dementia care. Amarillo seniors can benefit greatly from the Cognitive Therapeutics Method (CTM), an activities-based program designed to promote cognitive health and delay the onset of dementia. CTM is included at no additional charge with any of the in-home care plans provided by Home Care Assistance. Rely on the professionals at Home Care Assistance to provide high-quality compassionate care for your loved one. Give us a call today at (806) 803-9991 to learn about our flexible in-home dementia care plans.