What to Do If Your Elderly Parent Has Dementia

 

Old age can bring many challenges, and these can be just as hard on the children or other primary caregivers as the patient themselves. Dementia is perhaps one of the hardest things to deal with when it comes to an elderly parent.

From simple things like convincing your parent to brush their teeth to more emotional and frustrating situations, this chapter of their life is a major test for most children.

Here are a few simple changes you can try if your parent has dementia.

Make Communication Simple

Instead of giving them too many choices or asking open-ended questions like "What would you like to have for dinner today?” name a specific dish and ask them if they want to eat it. Opt for yes or no questions only.

Even slightly more complex questions can overwhelm them and cause anxiety.

Stay Calm and Help Them Deal with Their Confusion

If your parent is at a stage where they feel confused most of the time, don’t be too frustrated with the repeated questions.

Instead, offer simple explanations for things they can no longer comprehend like before and use photos or other visual aids.

Additionally, keep calendars, alarms, sticky notes and to-do lists to help them remember things and keep track of simple tasks.

Offer to Help Them with More Complicated Daily Tasks

As dementia progresses, you may find your parent struggling to keep up with basic tasks or make poor judgments. For instance, they could be forgetting to pay the bills or be unable to follow simple recipes.

Try to help them in subtle ways. Listen to what they need and offer to help them. Keep them in the loop and ask for advice or opinions from time to time so they don't feel completely alienated.

Make Sure to Take Care of Yourself Too

As a caregiver and a child, it's normal to feel overwhelmed. But don't let the feeling take over completely because that could lead to a breakdown. Instead, take a break to recharge.

And remember that you don't have to do everything alone. Get friends and family members to help out, or you could get professional senior elder care services like the ones offered by senOcare.

Their personal CareManagers can help your parents out with routine tasks like tax filling support seniors or home security and maintenance for the elderly.

Get in touch with them now to learn more about their services.