How to Take Care of Someone with Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease can slowly progress until you won’t be able communicate with the person affected by the disease. The first signs of the disease progressing is find the right words for objects increasingly difficult. The person with Alzheimer’s disease might pointing at an object such as a toothbrush for example, and have difficulty with the word. Over time, language may become increasingly vague. The person with Alzheimer’s cannot give specific details because their ability with language and communication has been affected by the disease.
You need to be patient with communicating with someone who has Alzheimer’s disease. We, as the care providers, need to learn and adapt effective ways to communicate properly to the person with Alzheimer’s. The most important moment for a person suffering from Alzheimer’s is the present moment. As a caregiver, your goal should be to try and make the person with Alzheimer’s disease feel as relaxed as possible in the present moment.
Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s will come with challenges. As a caregiver, your goal should be to make the person you are caring for to feel as comfortable and safe as possible. It is important to remember that someone with Alzheimer’s can’t control or express their feelings accurately. Knowing this, you shouldn’t take what they may say personally, or close to heart. It is important that we don’t get upset, passive aggressive or try to correct someone with Alzheimer’s. As an example, if the person is gesturing for you to pass them the salad, but asks you to pass the bread, don’t attempt to engage in correcting them. Just hand them what they are gesturing for and carry on.
People with Alzheimer’s may repeat the same question over and over. It’s important to know that the person can’t always remember what they just asked. Therefore, the concern hasn’t gone away. It is the caregiver’s job to ease the worry, and make them feel as comfortable as possible. Don’t try and make the questions they may ask just go away. Make it your goal to make the worries go away for the person. If you answered the question in a way that seemed to put the person at ease, then do it the same way next time, and try to remember what triggers them to relax and be comfortable. Remember that certain situations can trigger repetitive questions from the person. It’s not a poor technique by the caregiver, but the nature of the disease.
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