lundi 15 juin 2015

Dementia, Caregiving & Considering Assisted Living

By Rue Nichols


While caring for a loved one can be rewarding, it also can be very difficult to provide care if your loved one has some type of dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Your loved one might have trouble remembering you or remembering many details of daily life. Confusion, anxiety, anger and depression are quite common, and this can be tough for a caregiver to handle. However, there are a few strategies that seem to help make life run more smoothly for both you and your loved one. In addition, there are facilities for assisted living in or near San Diego that specialize in offering memory care for their residents and this can be an excellent option if caregiving has become too hard to manage.

People with any type of dementia obviously become confused and disoriented easily, and they do not tend to handle stress well. One way to help a person with dementia is to keep daily life as simple and straightforward as possible. Keep the house clean and clutter free, provide them with easy tasks to complete and avoid crowded or loud situations. Design a simple daily schedule so that your loved one knows what to expect throughout the day. Make sure the person doesn't have to deal with tasks such as paying bills or taking on responsibility for complicated tasks. At a community for assisted living in San Diego, the memory care facilities will be designed to be as stress-free as possible, which is one reason to consider this option.

Keep in mind that people with any type of dementia might be forgetful and sometimes confused, but they still would like to be helpful. There are plenty of household tasks that a person with dementia can accomplish. They can vacuum, help with meal preparation, set the table, groom the dog, rakes leaves or work in the garden, fold laundry and organize various items. Once a task has been completed, it's nice to give a thank you and a hug, and this can go a long way to making a person feel comfortable and happy. Activities at a facility for assisted living in San Diego will be designed to be easy but engaging, such as painting or drawing, playing various games, sorting tasks and other activities that are especially designed to benefit a person with dementia.

While it's true that losing memories can be very painful for the person with dementia and his or her loved ones, it's often the personality changes that are the hardest issues to handle. Sometimes people with Alzheimer's or another type of dementia are verbally abusive or even physically abusive to their caregivers and loved ones. When this occurs, it is best to try to either distract the person's attention or use a calm and soothing voice. This can be difficult, but if possible, keep in mind that it's truly not personal but rather a symptom of this disease. Still, often this is a big reason why you might consider assisted living in San Diego. The staff at a memory care facility is trained to deal with the difficult behavior common to some people with dementia.

One of the biggest reasons why families consider moving a loved one into a facility for assisted living in San Diego is safety. At home, a person with dementia might leave doors open, leave food cooking on the stove or perhaps wander far from home. In a memory care facility, a person is more secure and there is staff on hand 24 hours per day. This can bring great peace of mind for family members, and the staff is trained to interact with residents with dementia and severe memory loss.

There are many facilities for assisted living in San Diego, and before you pick a facility, you will want to review several different ones and talk to both residents and staff. Sample the food, look at the apartments, discuss activities and what is included in the monthly fees. It can take time to select the ideal facility for your loved one, but an eldercare referral service can help you identify several options that suit your budget and your needs. Once a decision is made, it also takes time for a person to adjust to this huge change. You can make it easier by decorating the small apartment with familiar items such as a comfortable chair, bedding and quilts from home, plenty of family pictures and a few other familiar items.




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