In the early stage of Alzheimer’s, what is the best environment?Written by William Hammond, J.D.
In first stage of Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss is not as pronounced as in later stages of disease. People still remember places they live in and familiar faces. They are still lucid and involved in their own decisions. If your loved one lives alone, you may wonder if he lives in a safe environment. If you believe environment may not be safe, you can hire a geriatric care manager to assess situation, and if necessary (and if your finances support it), in-home care to come and visit your loved one on a daily basis. Those people will be able to report back to you and you will be more relaxed knowing your loved one is getting good care. If a geriatric care manager is not appropriate, and your loved one is not living with you, you may have to move your loved one closer to you. You can discuss situation with him. If he were to live with you, would he need constant supervision or would he be safe alone while you are gone? If you feel more comfortable with supervision and you feel it is needed, you can call social services or check Alzheimer’s Association for help in locating an in-home aide. They may have a list of people that are qualified to help with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. If your loved one should live with you, you will have to make it a safe environment. Make sure you have no clutter on floor, pick up any magazines, potted flowers, and make space between furniture so he can go around without any problems. Your home will have to be as safe as possible. If your loved one lives with you, he may at first feel disoriented. This is part of Alzheimer’s disease. While most people can easily distinguish among many different noises, colors, or patterns in a room, your loved one with Alzheimer's may feel confused or overwhelmed. Because of this, you need to create a calm environment that will be familiar, quiet and comfortable.
| | Alzheimer’s patients and verbal abuse: how to deal with itWritten by William Hammond, J.D.
Abuse of any kind is difficult to deal with. Types of verbal abuse can include following:·Does your loved one ignore your feelings? ·Is he disrespectful? ·Does he withhold approval, appreciation or affection? ·Does he walk away without answering you? ·Does he criticize you, call you names or yell at you? ·Does he humiliate you in public or in privacy of your home? ·Does he tell you that you are too sensitive? ·Does he destroy furniture or punch holes in walls? These are some of signs, but there are many more that may be observed. Abuse is difficult to deal with if abuser has Alzheimer’s disease since abuser can’t really control it. If a person with Alzheimer’s becomes verbally abusive, it may be because he is suffering from depression or aggressive behavior caused by disease. In this case you might want to involve your doctor and let him know situation. He may be able to prescribe an anti-depressive medication or simply change current medication. You may want to take a break from your loved one, as sometimes caring all time for same person can be exhausting. Or you can try to place your loved one in an adult day care, or hire some professional help. Make sure that substitute caregivers are knowledgeable about Alzheimer’s disease and know how to handle patients with dementia. One way to deal with situation before it becomes a big problem is to try humor. You cannot control how your loved one is acting but you can decrease feelings of frustration by controlling how you respond. Try to validate your loved one’s feelings; it will definitely help him. Many times, people with Alzheimer’s are so frustrated that they act it out through verbal abuse and aggression. Put yourself in his place. It is very frustrating!
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