Dementia changes how your senior’s brain works and how she interacts with the rest of the world, even you. Senior care services can make all of that easier.
Setting up and Maintaining Routines for Each Day
Routines give your senior structure that she really does need when she’s got dementia. Routines help her to know what’s happening next and they help her to feel a little more secure. If routines are a new thing for your elderly family member, you might not be sure how to set them up and how to keep them going, especially if you’re not there with her. Senior care providers can make that goal much easier to attain.
Helping Her to Be Mentally Stimulated
Mental stimulation is also crucial for people with dementia. If your elderly family member isn’t getting the mental stimulation that she needs, she’s more likely to become bored and frustrated. She may not completely understand why she’s feeling that way, but she won’t be able to express it in the way that she might have in the past. Helping her to keep her brain active and engaged reduces that anxiety and frustration.
Offering Socialization and Keeping Her Engaged with Others
As important as it is to keep your senior’s brain engaged, it’s just as important for her to have a social outlet, too. Having senior care providers around gives her a friendly face to interact with and senior care providers can do more, too. They can ensure that your senior is able to go to events and places where she can interact with other people, too.
Coping with More Complicated Needs
If your elderly family member has other health issues besides dementia, they can feel like too much for you to handle on your own. Senior care providers have the experience to help your senior and you to cope with those more complicated needs, like dealing with incontinence or keeping high blood pressure under better control.
Managing Challenging Behaviors
Challenging behaviors are something that people with dementia sometimes exhibit when they’re frustrated or when basic needs aren’t being met. It’s hard sometimes to guess at what your senior wants or needs if she’s not able to communicate with you in a way that you understand. Senior care providers can help you to understand what is behind the behaviors your aging family member is exhibiting.
When you need time away, senior care providers can take care of respite time, too. This is especially important as a family caregiver to someone with dementia because you need to be able to rest and to recharge.