Alzheimers caretaker handbook

Make use of available resources. There are a wealth of community and online resources to help you provide effective care on this journey. These organizations offer practical support, helplines, advice, and training for caregivers and their families. They can also put you in touch with local support groups. There are also books, workshops, and online training resources that can teach caregiving skills. Prepare for the road ahead. With your support, your loved one may be able to maintain their independence and live alone in the early stages of dementia.

However, their cognitive and physical regression means they will ultimately require around-the-clock help. Putting plans for their future housing and care in place now can help reduce stress in the future, enable your loved one to be involved in the decision-making process, and ensure their legal, financial, and healthcare wishes are respected.

Take steps to slow the progression of symptoms. Exercising, eating and sleeping well, managing stress, and staying mentally and socially active are among the steps that can improve brain health and slow the process of deterioration.

Making healthy lifestyle changes alongside your loved one can also help protect your own health and counter the stress of caregiving. Help with short-term memory loss. In the early stages, your loved one may need prompts or reminders to help them remember appointments, recall words or names, keep track of medications, or manage bills and money, for example. To help your loved one maintain their independence, instead of simply taking over every task yourself, try to work together as a partnership.

Let your loved one indicate when they want help remembering a word, for example, or agree to check their calculations before paying bills. Encourage them to use a notebook or smartphone to create reminders to keep on hand. Your loved one will gradually experience more extensive memory loss, may become lost in familiar settings, no longer be able to drive , and fail to recognize friends and family. Their confusion and rambling speech can make communicating more of a challenge and they may experience disturbing mood and behavior changes along with sleep problems.

Balancing these tasks with your other responsibilities requires attention, planning, and lots of support. Ask for help. You cannot do it all alone.

Schedule frequent breaks throughout the day to pursue your hobbies and interests and stay on top of your own health needs. This is not being neglectful or disloyal to your loved one. Caregivers who take regular time away not only provide better care, they also find more satisfaction in their caretaking roles. Join a support group. In-home help ranges from a few hours a week of caregiving assistance to live-in help, depending on your needs and what you can afford.

You can also hire help for basic tasks like housekeeping, shopping, or other errands to free you up to provide more focused care for your loved one. Adult day care offers activities and socialization opportunities for your loved one and the chance for you to continue working or attend to other needs. Look for adult day care programs that specialize in dementia care. Respite care gives you a block of time as a caregiver to rest, travel, or attend to other things. Enlist friends and family who live near you to run errands, bring a hot meal, or watch the patient so you can take a well-deserved break.

Volunteers or paid help can also provide in-home respite services. Or you can explore out-of-home respite programs such as adult day care centers and nursing homes. At each new stage of dementia, 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 find greater 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 challenge negative thought patterns that impact your mood and outlook. Count your blessings. It may sound counterintuitive in the midst of such challenges, but keeping a daily gratitude list can help chase away the blues.

Value what is possible. In the middle stages of dementia, your loved one still has many abilities. Structure activities to invite their participation on whatever level is possible. By valuing what your loved one is able to give, you can find pleasure and satisfaction on even the toughest days. Improve your 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. Keep a sense of structure and familiarity. Try to keep consistent daily times for activities such as waking up, mealtimes, dressing, receiving visitors, and bedtime.

Keeping these things at the same time and place can help orientate the person with dementia. Use cues to establish the different times of day—opening the curtains in the morning, for example, or playing soothing music at night to indicate bedtime. For example, they may not be able to tie their shoes, but may be able to put clothes in the hamper.

Clipping plants in the yard may not be safe, but they may be able to weed, plant, or water. Vary activities to stimulate different senses —sight, smell, hearing, and touch—and movement. For example, you can try singing songs, telling stories, dancing, walking, or tactile activities such as painting, gardening, or playing with pets.

The ease of Judy's process is so accessible that you start integrating it before you can get to Chapter Two. I have a parent who is starting to show signs of dementia. I especially liked the real world examples that helped me to see how I could use these tools in my own situation. This is a great guide and helps get one through all the incredibly difficult times. Even though people experiencing dementia become unable to recall or recount what is happening to them, they still have the experiences.

The psychological present lasts about three seconds. Their moods and actions are expressions of their experiences in the present. Although people with dementia lose rational thought skills, they retain the more enjoyable ones: intuitive thought. When we understand this, we can fill their lives with positive moods and beauty.

This means we can fill the present with beauty and creativity and enjoy it with them. When we lose the ability to focus, we lose the ability to be mindful. But mindlessness includes two very important tools for those losing memory and rational thought.

When dementia caregivers recognize these three pairs of skills, living and working with people who have dementia becomes much easier. Caregivers experience less stress and their loved ones experience a greater sense of security and well-being.

There is nothing scarier than realizing that you can no longer trust your brain to correctly interpret the world around you or supply you with accurate information. It includes guidance from doctors who specialize in treating people that live with this disease as well as those caretakers caring for them daily. Brumback, MD. Caregivers often worry that they are not doing enough for their loved one and may even be guilty about what tasks they have had to do.

Martin Schreiber, a former governor of Wisconsin and author, watches his wife Elaine transform from the woman he fell in love with when they were both teenagers to an aging version who no longer recognizes him.

This hope-filled book will give you the tools necessary to free yourself from your caregiver role while ensuring that they are cared for properly.

The author, Dr. Of course — there is no guarantee that any program works for everyone but it is worthwhile for patients and family members to familiarize themselves with all the information that is available.

Based on this impressive set of evidence-based findings that were tested over 30 years with tens of thousands participants from all walks of life, Drs. Staying at home longer means not only a higher quality of life, but also less expense—to families, to Medicare, and to Medicaid. This book is written by a famous woman, B. She has accomplished much in her life. A magazine publisher, a restaurateur, celebrity chef and overall lifestyle maven.

This beautiful book written by B. Smith and her husband Dan Gasby will give you a glimpse from his and her perspectives on how they are meeting this challenging time of their lives.

Renee Brown Harmon who at 55 years of age received this devastating diagnosis. It may sound like a daunting task, and it often feels impossible to balance the responsibilities of work with those at home.

This is a touching and witty account of the journey that author, Lorrie Davis McDonald, went on with her mother-in-law while she helps to care for her.

This book has been very helpful not just during this difficult time but also when caring for any loved one who struggles from dementia because it provides step by step guides and insights into how best provide support in both physical health as well emotional wellbeing.

This book has stories of caregivers, coping and compassion. Part of the classic Chicken Soup for the Soul series, this book does not disappoint. It also has in-depth explanations of the seven stages that are part of this complex disease. It will help you deal with your thoughts and feelings in the best way that suits them, as well as guiding on how to be proactive and care for yourself while still doing everything you can for your loved one. The author J. The ultimate goal of any Occupational Therapist is to help his or her patient to re-learn to live their best life possible with whatever capacities they have left.

If you are wanting to learn all you can about this disease — I would recommend this book especially if you are just starting to begin your education on this topic.