Pages

Helping Someone With Dementia & Memory Care Options

By Rue Nichols


For the millions of Americans living with dementia, Alzheimer's disease or other similar conditions, daily life can be filled with confusion, fear, depression and difficulty. Caregivers and loved ones also face huge challenges and it can be overwhelming to provide care and support. Still, there are some strategies to consider that can help make each day a bit easier for you and your loved one with dementia. Sometimes, the option of memory care at a facility for assisted living in San Diego can be your best choice.

Obviously, when you have and form of dementia, it's quite common to feel very confused and also disoriented. If a person with dementia is placed in a stressful situation this makes it even hard to cope. Making life as easy as possible and avoiding crowds, large parties and situations with a great deal of noise can reduce stress. To make daily life a bit easier, post up a schedule so that your loved one always knows what to expect. Help your loved one by handling the paying of bills and household expenses and consider removing any clutter or extra furnishings to make the home easier to navigate and maintain. If you opt for assisted living in San Diego, you will find that the apartments are designed to reduce the stress of a person living with Alzheimer's or dementia.

It's unlikely that a person with a type of dementia can continue with a regular job and sometimes it's tough for them to handle paying bills or maintaining a home. However, there are plenty of tasks that your loved one can still handle and it's a good idea to provide a few daily jobs. A person can help sort and fold laundry, help prepare part of lunch or dinner, create a beautiful table setting, read to a grandchild, brush the dog or even head outside and sweep, rake leaves or pull weeds. People enjoy being useful, and a person with dementia needs both encouragement and praise. Activity also can lessen stress and improve cognitive focus. At an assisted living home in San Diego there will be specially designed activities that keep residents engaged and focused and entertained.

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.




About the Author:



1 comment:

  1. Good information about helping someone with Dementia and memory care options. It would help people choosing assisted living facilities.

    ReplyDelete