Disease Of Alzheimer - Caring For One

If you are taking care of someone who is elderly and suffers from Alzheimer's disease, first you need to remember that there are many stages of the disease and it is important to determine which stage they are in before you proceed with your care.

Sometimes a person will only show signs of ordinary memory loss, what might just seem like normal signs of aging, they will forget if they locked the door or not or they will forget to call you back, or they will misplace things and not know where their keys are but then after a time they will start to forget bigger things, like what day it is and what year they are in and then they will forget who you are altogether, and then they will forget who they are themselves and not know why they are in the house at all, and they will take to wandering outside looking for an answer that might finally put some peace back into their frantic minds. At this point, of course, if it has staged that far, you need to make sure you get them some assistance already because this can be a very dangerous stage and can result in fatalities or they might get lost or hurt somewhere out there all alone and that would not be something you would want them to endure.

At that point taking care of them means to have them in an assisted living facility or living with a full time nurse because they will need to be monitored at all hours, so that they are not in any danger of being a harm to themselves. They might resist but you need to make sure that they are overseen at all times because they might get into harmful situations otherwise that will really become a threat to their wellbeing. So, if you can, make sure they have someone to watch them at all hours.

However, if they are not in such a progressed state, there are other ways you can help them remember. Try to make them reminder cards, as many as they need, and put labels on things so that they do not forget or at least so they can have some sense of security in knowing there are guides present in case that they do. Try not to get impatient or frustrated with them, either. You need to understand that this is not their fault and cannot be helped and you cannot get angry or frustrated if they do not remember things that would be easy for you to recall because they are suffering. Instead, you have to try and understand that sometimes they will mistake the present for the past and sometimes you need to go along with it, because if you don't it will only create confusion for them and difficulty finding peace in their surroundings. This is an important thing to do or else you will find that you harm them a lot more than help.