There are currently 5.7 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, and 83% of the help they receive comes from family members, friends, or other unpaid caregivers.
If you’re one of them then no doubt you realize what an extremely stressful situation it can be, especially if you have a job, family, and other obligations. It may be time to consider hiring a home caregiver who can properly care for your loved one and alleviate some of your worry.
There is a big difference between providing regular home care and dementia home care, with the latter carrying a much greater responsibility. Here’s how dementia home caregivers differ from their regular home care counterparts.
The Main Difference Between Standard Home Care and Dementia Care
Both types of home care require caregivers to be patient, understanding, and able to prevent stressful situations from getting worse. Both will also help the patient with basic hygiene, cooking, cleaning, and running their household and finances.
However, dementia care requires a caregiver who understands the disease and how it affects the individual. As the stages progress so too does the level of responsibility. Eventually, a caregiver may need to be with the patient 24 hours a day if they’re not already in an assisted living facility.
This is why properly matching the client to the caregiver is extremely important.
Dementia Caregivers Understand the Disease’s Progression
Dementia usually advances through several stages, each one bringing with it new challenges. Dementia caregivers are specially trained in each of these stages and understand how to react and care for those progressing through the disease. Here are the three main stages of dementia and the level of care required for each one.
Early Stage
When Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia first onsets, very little will initially change about the individual’s memory and their ability to take care of themselves. They may forget names or to take medication, but they’re still fairly independent and can drive themselves to run errands or attend social events. During this stage, minimal home care is needed particularly if family members are already involved.
Middle Stage
After two to four years in the early stage, dementia patients usually progress to the middle stage. At this stage memory loss is much more obvious, as the person may get easily lost in unfamiliar surroundings and begin to forget the names of people they’re close to. They require much more dementia home care assistance, as a caregiver can keep a close eye on them, remind them of appointments, and create a daily schedule for them.
Late Stage
Late-stage dementia can occur two to ten years after middle stage and at this point, the individual needs so much round-the-clock assistance that it’s advisable to move them to an assisted living facility. They are usually completely unable to bathe, dress, and care for themselves and may also be non-communicative or even combative.
All of these stages and how long each lasts depends upon the individual and the form of dementia they have.
Dementia caregivers know how to react to the patient’s sometimes unpredictable behavior, how to keep them engaged, and keep their stress levels low. For these reasons alone, it’s really important that only dementia caregivers that have received in-depth training are matched with dementia patients.
Dementia Caregivers Will Incorporate Activities to Stimulate Memory
Dementia caregivers understand the importance of incorporating memory stimulating activities during their time with the dementia patient. These activities are often hands-on hobbies that the patient enjoys doing and can help them feel more engaged with others. They may include:
- Listening and singing along to their favorite music or playing instruments; a study found that listening to familiar music encouraged connectivity in several areas of the brain
- Baking or cooking a favorite recipe
- Painting, knitting, or other crafts that encourage eye/hand coordination
- Gardening
- Exercise such as walking or yoga
- Watching videos of family gatherings and family members
Other activities may include reading together or doing crossword puzzles. Dementia caregivers understand that it doesn’t matter what the results of these activities are. It’s more important to them that the dementia patient enjoys doing them.
Dementia Home Care Costs More Than Regular Home Care
Because of the additional time and responsibility caring for dementia patients, it goes without saying that dementia home care costs more than regular home care. How much more depends upon the individual, how much the disease has progressed, and how much time is required to care for them.
Read More: In-Home Dementia Care Costs in California
Assisted Living or In-Home Care?
Dementia may reach a point where your loved one would greatly benefit from moving into an assisted living facility. However, there are many benefits of in-home care.
One of the biggest ones is that the dementia patient is receiving care while in very familiar surroundings. There’s nothing more comforting than home, while waking up every day in an unfamiliar place each morning can bring on daily confusion and stress.
Dementia patients also tend to respond favorably to familiar daily routines, and an in-home caregiver will create schedules and calendars for them to help them get dressed and ready on time and stick to appointments.
Whether to use in-home care or an assisted living facility depends entirely upon the dementia patient’s current needs, the stage they’re at in the disease, and the current commitments of family members.
We Provide Dementia Home Care
At Families’ Choice Home Care, we only pair caregivers who have had extensive dementia care training with seniors living with memory loss. These caregivers must complete the dementia care training program with the Alzheimer’s Association California Southland chapter.
Whether your loved needs specialized dementia home care or just a helping hand with their household chores, we can help. We’re happy to listen to your home care needs without any obligation to use our services. Contact us to learn more.
Dementia Home Care
