Providing care giving for someone with Alzheimer’s can be challenging and frustrating. A caregiver with the potential for recording any success needs a good dose of flexibility, empathy, and patience. The loss of memory that we associate with Alzheimer’s disease can pose a real challenge for both the patient and the caregiver. As a caregiver, your responsibilities include serving as the patient’s brain, memory juggler, among
other responsibilities.
Having to do the duties can pose a lot of challenges such as:
- The difficult behavior of patient:
Difficult behavior is one of the biggest challenges you have to deal with when providing care giving to dementia patients. Some victims of Alzheimer’s display a great deal of difficult behavior that may turn your care giving into a painful experience. With each passing day, you must deal with some challenges such as bathing, dressing, eating, and other basic day-to- day activities. Someone with Alzheimer’s disease will find it frightening to dress. Some of the problems they face are what to wear, how to dress and undress, and struggling with the zippers. These common activities are difficult for a dementia patient, and that may pose a big challenge as you have to include those in your care giving. You may find it scary and uncomfortable if you are left with the responsibility of bathing an Alzheimer’s patient. - Lack of knowledge about the disease:
Apart from the name, if you don’t have any idea of what the ailment is, you may find it challenging as a caregiver to give proper assistance to the patient. Without a proper understanding of what the disease is all about, its symptoms, preventive measures, and some useful tips that can assist you as a caregiver, it may be difficult your best efforts as a caregiver will amount to nothing. - Constant need of attention:
Due to the nature of their illness, Alzheimer’s patients need round the clock attention. They need to be taken care of on a daily basis. Since they are usually helpless due to the memory loss, they are always in need of someone who will always be there for them. If you are a caregiver, that may pose a big challenge to you. It may also be more difficult if you are working full-time and also caring for your family. Combining your family responsibility and working with caring for an Alzheimer patient may be very taxing on your time leaving little time for yourself. That could pose a big problem to you. It may be time-consuming and energy-sapping to combine it with your other responsibilities. Do these challenges mean you can’t succeed as a caregiver? No, many caregivers with multiple responsibilities have also succeeded in caring for their family or friend with Alzheimer’s. How do they do that? There are practical tips that can help you succeed as a caregiver. By implementing these effective tips, you can put your fear behind you and succeed at rendering the necessary assistance to someone who needs your care while battling this problem. Consider these tips if you want to provide care for an Alzheimer’s patient. - Increase your knowledge of the ailment:
You can reduce the challenges of care giving by increasing your knowledge of Alzheimer’s. The most effective way you can do this is to ask the patient’s doctor and ask as many questions as you have. Try to know the treatment that will work best for the patient to reduce the symptoms and address any major behavior problems. The doctor’s sincere answers to your questions will provide a great deal of assistance that will ease your work. - Find a support group:
There are many support groups for this ailment. Do your best to find one close to you. Alternatively, you can join an online support group of your choice. Members of such groups have valuable information, tips, and ideas that will help you to cope well with the challenges and succeed as a caregiver. Some support groups also organize classes where they train caregivers how to handle an Alzheimer’s health and manage the crisis effectively. - Consider using respite services:
It is imperative that you find a convenient way to reduce your day-to-day demands when assisting someone with this ailment. Rather than crush yourself under the heavy workload of care giving, hire the services of respite services or adult day care to stand in for you when you are at work. That will reduce the volume of work you have to do when you return from work. You can also find them useful whenever you are out of town or can’t provide the care for whatever reason. The assistance offered by the care service will go a long way in reducing your challenges and alleviating the pains of dealing with an Alzheimer’s. - Plan for the future:
Don’t forget to plan for the future too. Planning for the future may require you to get all the legal and financial documents you will need in the future. You should also investigate any long-term care options that are available and how to leverage them to reduce your stress and help the patient adapt to his or her new condition better. - Develop a practical routine:
Maintaining a practical routine is one of the best ways to be on top of the situation. You should study your daily activities and see if there are adjustments you can make to make the whole care giving go smoothly. If the patient has some days when the ailment’s impact on him or her is reduced, plan your affairs so that you can make the best use of those moments. Since people with this health challenge are usually unpredictable, adapt your routine to accommodate the occasional moments of calmness by the patient.
The challenges of care giving and how to handle those challenges effectively have been discussed extensively in this piece. It is imperative that you take a good look at these tips and implement those that can help you succeed as a caregiver. Remember, care giving can be fun, rewarding, and is a demonstration of your love for the patient. Deliberating on that fact may help you succeed too.
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