Alzheimer’s Care

Although there is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, specialist care can provide people with dignity and a high quality of life. Enabling your loved one to stay in the familiar surroundings of their home can help them feel safe and loved even when faced with memory loss and diminished capacity.

We understand that Alzheimer’s can affect every part of a person’s life – their personality, their relationships, and even their senses. Simple everyday tasks can soon become wrought with difficulties and things that used to bring such enjoyment are no longer of interest. This is where Alzheimer’s care comes in.

What does Alzheimer’s Care involve?

Every client is unique and we believe in personalised treatment for everyone. From honouring who your loved one was earlier in life, to providing nutritious meals and enabling clients to live healthy and balanced lives, we aim to provide a holistic care service.

Our carers work hard to empower clients living with Alzheimer’s in the following ways:

  • Enable them to remain safe and calm in their own home
  • Encourage engagement with daily activities
  • Create social interactions
  • Maintain familiar routines
  • Provide memory care activities
  • Uphold your loved one’s dignity and independence
  • Offer mentally stimulating activities to help limit changing behavioural and cognitive symptoms

The care provided will be tailored to your loved one’s current abilities and symptoms and it will be regularly revised and adapted as the disease progresses and skills change. Specialist care can help reduce the severity of symptoms such as anxiety, depression, withdrawal from social life, and self-imposed isolation.

Specialist care can help reduce the severity of symptoms such as anxiety, depression, withdrawal from social life, and self-imposed isolation.

Careville is here to ensure that your loved one lives as dignified and independent a life as possible. This can also provide respite for you and your family and ensure that you can cherish your time with your loved one.

What are the signs & symptoms?

Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia and affects each person differently. It causes the brain to shrink dramatically, reducing a person’s ability to care for themselves and relate to others. It may even result in changes in personality and relationships. By age 85, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease is almost 50 percent.

General Alzheimer’s symptoms

  • Memory lapses
    • most common and first symptom noticed
    • includes increased forgetfulness, repetitive questions, retelling stories within a short space of time, and misplacing items
  • Marked changes in mood or personality
    • withdrawal, often in response to memory/communication problems
    • mood swings, anxiety, and frustration
    • signs of depression (changes in sleep, appetite, mood)
  • Trouble with abstract thinking
    • trouble with simple mathematical tasks, paying bills, and following a discussion and instructions
  • Difficulty completing familiar activities
    • trouble preparing meals or maintaining personal care
    • no longer using particular skills/talents they used to enjoy
    • inability to complete activities with multiple different steps
  • Disorientation
    • disoriented in new or unfamiliar environments (e.g. hospitals and airports) and also in familiar environments such as the home
    • wandering off and getting lost in public
    • this is more typical in later stages
  • Poor or impaired judgment
    • this may include making questionable decisions about money and odd choices regarding self-care (dressing inappropriately, not bathing)
    • this may become worrisome as it can risk a parent’s safety, health, or finances

Questions to ask

If you think your loved one may need Alzheimer’s care, you may want to ask some of the following questions:

  • Do the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s match those of your loved one?
  • Has your loved one already been diagnosed and is showing signs they need extra help?
  • Are you struggling to provide care for your loved one or do you need extra help?
  • Do you want to keep your loved one in their own home?
  • How many hours a week are you already caring?
  • How much help do you think you need?

Unforgettable

Knowing what products and information is available to you and your loved one living with Alzheimer’s can be a great help. That’s why Careville have partnered with Unforgettable.org to provide you with some amazing resources to help your loved one live a safer and more fulfilling life with Alzheimer’s.

Visit https://www.unforgettable.org to:

  • Discover products you didn’t even know existed that can make life easier everyday
  • Get informed with helpful articles and expert advice
  • Share your experiences and find reassurance in their friendly community
  • Read their blog for all the latest dementia and memory loss news