Does your elderly parent have dementia? If so, you might be wondering how you are able to help them, when there isn’t a cure for dementia. The truth is there isn’t any way that you can make the disease disappear. There aren’t treatments that will take the disease away. However, there are some tips that can help your elderly parent to manage symptoms and live their best life as long as the disease allows.
Being Consistent
Consistency really is the key when it comes to managing life with dementia. You or an elder care provider can create routines for your elderly parent. This should include doing things at the same time every day. Yes, there can be some variations in the schedule. However, keeping your elderly parent’s days as consistent as possible can help to lessen the symptoms they experience with this disease for now.
Encouraging Calmness
You and the elder care providers should also encourage calmness in your elderly parent’s life. There are many things that might make your elderly parent irritable. Chaos and loudness are two of those things. However, if you play calming music and talk softly, you can help to keep your elderly parent calm. In addition, you should avoid putting any bright lights in your elderly parent’s home. If there are currently bright lights in their house, you should have those replaced with softer lights.
Patience is Important
When you are communicating with your elderly parent, remember they have a disease that is out of their control. You need to have patience with them. It can be overwhelming trying to deal with and manage your elderly parent’s symptoms. However, if you get agitated, your elderly parent is likely to mimic those feelings. This can be chaotic for everyone. If you find that you are losing your patience, you can hire elder care providers to help. These providers can fill in when you are feeling overwhelmed. They can also be regular care providers for your elderly parent.
Conclusion
If your elderly parent has dementia, you might be wondering what you can do to help them. There isn’t a cure, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make things better in the meantime. By doing some of these things, you can even reduce the dementia symptoms for the time being. This can slow down the progression of the disease and help your parent to live a bit more comfortably for longer.
Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/alzheimers_caregivers.html
If you or an aging loved-one are considering elder care in Greenwood Village, CO, please contact the caring staff at SYNERGY HomeCare today. Call us at (303) 756-9322.
