How to Care for Someone With Alzheimer’s

When a family member or loved one has Alzheimer’s, it will often fall on family or friends to be the primary caregiver during the early stages of the illness. Knowing the most effective ways to care for your loved one while also keeping yourself healthy can be a major challenge, but once you know how to handle this new change, both your life and the lives of your loved one will be much more comfortable.

Work with Doctors and Other Experts.

·       Doctors and other people who are involved with your loved one living with Alzheimer’s will have tips and requirements for their care

·       Doctors will know how to administer medicine and occupational doctors will know how to keep the home safe

·      When the time comes that your loved one needs 24 hour care, a memory care residence has experts that will help you through the transition

Understand How to Communicate.

It doesn’t matter if the person with Alzheimer’s is your mother, grandpa, or childhood friend. Communication troubles will become a problem early on unless you both learn how to communicate.  Many people with Alzheimer’s and dementia are still independent during the early stages of the disease and will still dress, work, and continue with their daily schedule, so it can be difficult to determine when they need help - and you don’t want to smother them by asking every ten minutes, either.

One of the best things to do in order to keep you communicating is looking at the causes of frustration. If a particular task, such as going grocery shopping, causes them frustration because making lists is hard, you can help them make the list but let them go shopping themselves. Understanding why they are frustrated will help you understand them.

Communication troubles and changes in your relationship will happen early on, but by being patient and understanding why these problems are happening, you can understand how to fix them and provide the highest level of support for the patient.