Have your parents been diagnosed with dementia? It may be time to have a conversation about senior home care. Looking after your parents on your own is a big job, and professional caregivers can help in many ways.
Here’s how professional caregivers can help dementia patients at home.
Provide Companionship
Loneliness is a big problem for people with dementia. In fact, 38 percent of dementia patients report feeling lonely. People with dementia may not feel confident talking to others and may pull away from friends and family. If they worry about stigmas, they may not want to talk about their diagnosis. They may not be able to partake in their favourite activities anymore, which makes the loneliness worse.
Professional caregivers can provide caring companionship for dementia patients. They can chat about fun memories from the past, favourite hobbies, or other topics. They can also help with hobbies your loved ones enjoy but struggle to do alone, like scrapbooking or working in the garden.
Help with Household Chores
Memory loss can make it harder for people to take care of household chores. They may not be able to stay focused on one chore until it’s completed or they may not remember how to perform certain chores. Professional caregivers can help your loved ones with these household chores.
The caregiver will determine which chores your loved one is still able to do. For example, the caregiver may need to handle more complicated chores like washing the dishes or washing clothes. Your loved ones may be able to help with shorter, easier chores like folding clothes or sweeping the floor.
Help with Personal Care Tasks
Personal care tasks can be difficult for people with dementia, even in the earlier stages of the condition. For example, people with early-stage dementia could forget to take a bath or put on clean clothes. They need reminders to perform these tasks every day. In the later stages, dementia patients could forget what baths are for or forget how to get dressed.
No matter what stage of dementia your parents are in, professional caregivers can help. This could include simply reminding your parents it’s time to take a bath or brush their teeth. Later, it could include assisting them in the bath or brushing their teeth for them.
Monitor Dementia Patients
Even in the early stages of dementia, patients need to be monitored to ensure they’re safe. People with dementia could forget to turn off the stove, forget to take their medications, or forget to lock their doors. These types of oversights can be dangerous. It’s hard for you to monitor your parents while you’re at work.
Professional caregivers carefully monitor people with dementia. They keep an eye on everything from daily activities to medications. For example, if your parents want to take baths, the caregiver can monitor them to make sure they don’t slip or fall. If your parents want to cook a meal, the caregiver can make sure the appliances are turned off afterwards.
Give Families Peace of Mind
Do you worry your parents will wander off when you’re not around? That’s not an unreasonable fear. Sixty percent of dementia patients will wander at some point, and this can be dangerous. They could get lost outdoors or even injure themselves. This can happen even in the early stages of dementia when people are reasonably independent.
A professional caregiver can make sure your parents don’t wander off and injure themselves. When you know your parents are well cared for, you can stop feeling so worried about their safety.
