Dementia and Caregiver Support

Home care

These tips can help you care for a person with dementia at home:

• A responsible person must be with the person who has advanced dementia at all times. They should not be left alone or unsupervised.

• In the case of advanced dementia, keep all medicines in a secure place. They should be under the caregiver’s control. A person with advanced dementia should not be allowed to take their own medicines. This needs to be supervised by the caregiver.

Here are ways to help a person with dementia:

Activities

Keep to a daily routine. Changes in routine can cause stress for someone with dementia. Make a schedule for common daily tasks. These include bathing, dressing, taking medicines, eating meals, going for walks, and going to bed.

Communication

When talking with a person with dementia, talk slowly and clearly. Use a gentle tone of voice. Choose short, simple words and sentences. Ask 1 question at a time. Don’t interrupt, criticize, or argue. Be calm and supportive. Use friendly facial expressions. Use pointing and touching to help communicate. If the person has a loss of long-term memory, don’t ask questions about past events. Instead, talk about what's happening now.

Behavioral tips

Use lists, signs, family photos, clocks, and calendars as memory aids. Label cabinets and drawers. Try to distract, not confront, the person. When they become frustrated or upset, direct the person’s attention to eating or some other interesting activity. Windows can help the person know if it's night or day and what season it is.

Medical-legal tips

Talk with your healthcare provider or lawyer about getting a power of attorney for healthcare and for financial decisions. It's best to do this while the person can still sign legal documents and make their own legal decisions. Otherwise, you'll need a court order.

Support for the caregiver

As the caregiver, you'll need a lot of support for yourself. Caring for a person with dementia is a full-time job. It can drain your emotions and lead to frustration and anger toward the one you love. It is common to have feelings of grief over losing the relationship that you once had. As a caregiver to someone with dementia, you are at higher risk for depression, anxiety, and stress.

Here are some tips to help you cope with being a caregiver:

• Learn about dementia and AD so you know what to expect.

• Find out about the resources in your community, including adult daycare programs. Ask your healthcare provider for a referral to a social worker, if needed.

• Take care of yourself with a healthy diet, exercise, and plenty of rest.

• Ask for help. Share some of the caregiver duties with family and friends.

• Make personal time for yourself. This is vital. Consider hiring an in-home sitter or home health aide.

• Get counseling or join a caregiver’s support group. Don't isolate yourself or try to cope with this alone. In a support group, you can learn from others in a similar situation.

• Visit the Alzheimer’s Association website at www.alz.org for more information.

Follow-up care

Follow up with the person’s healthcare provider, or as advised.

When to get medical care

Call your healthcare provider right away if any of these occur:

• Frequent falls

• The person refuses to eat or drink

• Headache or nausea that gets worse, or repeated vomiting after a fall

• Unexplained fever of 100.4º F (38.0º C) or higher, or as advised

Call 911

Call 911 if any of these occur:

• Slurred speech, or trouble speaking, walking, or seeing

• Fainting spell or dizziness

• Seizure symptoms—(these include staring spells, lip-smacking, twitching, or sudden changes in mental status)

• Violent behavior (call police) or behavior becomes too hard to manage at home

• Increased drowsiness, or failure to respond normally