Dementia is a disease that impacts millions of elderly people worldwide. Unfortunately, if your elderly loved one has this disease, they are going to need a lot of care. If they are still in the early stage of this disease, your elderly loved one may know what is going on, but they may still have bad days mentally and emotionally. In the next stage of the disease, the symptoms will progress and in the final stage, your elderly loved one won’t know what is happening.
How do you know if your elderly loved one should get more help due to dementia-related needs?
Getting Help for Physical Needs
As you may know, dementia is going to impact your elderly loved one’s ability to care for themselves. Some of the physical needs that your elderly loved one may need assistance with include:
- Weight management
- Eating healthy
- Medication reminders
- Getting to the doctor
- Taking a shower
- Getting dressed
When someone has dementia, they aren’t going to be able to care for themselves. In the beginning, everything might seem okay for your elderly loved one in the physical sense. However, as time goes on, it is a good idea to have a plan for who will help with these needs. You can always get elder care providers to assist your loved one.
Getting Help for Social Needs
Your elderly loved one should still socialize when they can. In the first two stages of the disease, people often still want to visit with their friends and family members sometimes. Even if your elderly loved one doesn’t have many people in their life, you can have elder care providers go to visit them. Socializing can help to keep your elderly loved one active for longer. While it won’t stop the disease from progressing, it might help to manage some symptoms and to slow down the progression of dementia.
Getting Help for Psychological and Emotional Issues
If your elderly loved one is early in their diagnosis, they may know that things are going to get worse. It can be difficult to cope with this. Your elderly loved one may need to see a therapist or even get support from other sources. You or a senior care provider may need to drive them to these appointments. Later in the disease, your elderly loved one may have delusions, hallucinations, agitation, and other negative emotions practically every day. These can be tough for you to handle. It may be a good idea to hire elder care providers who are experienced in caring for people with dementia.
Conclusion
These are some of the ways that you can tell if your elderly loved one should get more help for dementia-related needs. If you aren’t sure what services to ask for, you can always check with the elder care agency.
Sources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3161123/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4130906/
If you are considering elder care in Houston, TX, for an aging loved one, please call the caring staff at At Your Side Home Care. We will answer all of your senior care questions. Call today: (832) 271-1600.
Our Certified Nurse Aides, 24-Hour Live-in Assistants and Home Health Aides are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We also provide the security and confidence of 24-hour Telephone Assistance, so fast, reliable help is always available when it's needed. To learn more about our homecare services see our homecare services page.
Different people need different levels of homecare. To meet the requirements of our clients, At Your Side Homecare maintains consistent staffing levels of caring professionals. Homecare service is available for as little as a few hours a week, or as many as 24 hours a day, seven days a week
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