Senior Care News

What Do Family Caregivers Need to Know About Alzheimer’s Disease?

An Alzheimer’s diagnosis can throw families into a tailspin. Understanding more about the condition and what to expect can help families put a plan in place.
Alzheimer’s home care helps seniors and their families with specialized support and respite care.
Alzheimer’s home care helps seniors and their families with specialized support and respite care.

Coping with an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis isn’t just hard for the senior who has the condition. It’s also tough for the family members who love that individual. Everything might feel as if it’s changing too quickly, and that can be scary. Alzheimer’s home care providers can offer a lot of information that helps families understand more about what is going on and figure out what to do next.

 

Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive condition that leads to cognitive decline, memory loss, and even changes in behavior. Because the condition is progressive, it gradually gets worse over time instead of better. There isn’t a cure, which can be incredibly discouraging.

In the early stages, seniors with Alzheimer’s disease might have mild issues with memory but still be able to function independently. As the disease gets worse, it’s more difficult for people with Alzheimer’s disease to perform tasks they’ve done for years.

The later stages are even more pronounced.

 

What Can Family Caregivers Do?

It’s so difficult to watch a loved one experience the stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Family caregivers are there to offer support, patience, and understanding. They help aging adults to get through their daily activities, cook them meals, and do so much more. But being a family caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s disease can bring a lot of stress that needs to be managed properly.

Putting together a care plan that meets the Alzheimer’s patient’s needs as well as the needs of the rest of the family is easier to do with the right help.

 

Routine and Structure

Routines help both seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and family caregivers know what to expect. For Alzheimer’s patients, routines reduce anxiety and confusion, which can be a massive problem. Consistent schedules help seniors stay active, sleep well, and eat regularly.

Alzheimer’s home care providers help seniors and family caregivers set up routines that work and maintain them over time.

 

Getting Help When Things Get Tough

In the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease, family caregivers might feel as if they have things under control. As the disease progresses, though, everything gets tougher.

Working with Alzheimer’s home care providers is so important because this offers family caregivers an expert to lean on when things are getting harder. Working with these experts sooner rather than later offers huge benefits, especially in terms of avoiding burnout.

 

Taking Care of the Family Caregiver

Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease is a massive responsibility. If family caregivers aren’t taking the best care of themselves as they can, they are likely to feel overloaded with stress, exhaustion, and other demands.

Letting Alzheimer’s home care providers handle more tasks gives family caregivers a chance to take respite time and recharge so they can keep being there for the seniors they love.

 

Dealing with Alzheimer’s disease means staying on top of what is happening so that family caregivers can adjust care plans as necessary. Alzheimer’s home care providers offer support that families need in order to keep seniors with Alzheimer’s safe, healthy, and happy no matter what stage of the illness they’re in at any given point.

 

 

 

If you or an aging loved one are considering Alzheimer’s Home Care in Nahant, MA, please contact the caring staff at Uniting With You Home Care today. Call (781) 593-1682

Uniting With You Home Care is a Trusted Home Care Agency serving Marblehead, Nahant, Salem, Danvers, Lynn, Saugus, Revere, Beverly, Malden, Peabody, Melrose, Chelsea, East Boston, Middleton, Andover, Lynnfield, Somerville, Swampscott, Everett, Winthrop, all of the North Shore, and Essex County.

Uniting With You Home Care Staff

Recent Posts

Categories

Contact Us About Home Care

Skip to content