Do you know How to Take Care of a Dementia Patient? A disorder where there is a general deterioration in cognitive function is known as dementia. One of the many distinct varieties of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, is the persistent decline or impairment of cognitive function that makes managing daily tasks challenging.

Dementia patients require help with daily activities, personal care, and decision-making. If you ever find yourself in a position where you have to care for someone with dementia, knowing the fundamentals can be useful.

Contents

0.1 Understanding The Basics
0.2 Day-To-Day Tasks
0.3 Eating And Drinking

1 Washing And Bathing
2 Washroom-Related Needs And Incontinence
- 2.1 Sleep
- 2.2 Final Reflections

Understanding The Basics

It’s important to keep in mind that dementia can affect one’s ability to make decisions, produce memory problems, and alter one’s behavior. Supporting someone who has dementia can be mentally and physically taxing. To help you along the road, you can use a variety of tools, such as online dementia care. Here are some important tips for helping someone with dementia.

Day-To-Day Tasks

The disease’s symptoms get worse as the cognitive impairment gets worse. When a person finds it challenging to complete even the most basic duties, they frequently experience tension, anxiety, and fear. Supporting the person in this situation ought to come first.

Adding memory aides to their house will aid in aiding their remembering of everyday duties and object locations. They can simplify their lives by, for instance, placing sticky notes with a list of to-dos and marking the doors, drawers, and cabinets with instructions.

Eating And Drinking

It’s crucial to keep up a healthy diet and enough water when taking care of someone who has dementia. However, assistance is required as some people could not realise they are thirsty and not drink enough water, putting them at risk for constipation or urinary tract infections (UTIs).

Unable to identify foods, refusal to eat, or requests for weird food combinations are a few food-related problems.

By keeping these suggestions in mind, you can help a person with dementia with their eating and drinking:

Make sure to schedule or set aside enough time for meals.
Offer a selection of foods the person likes, ideally in smaller portions.
Provide the person with supplements and dementia vitamins to ensure they’re getting the nutrients they need.
Be ready for any changes in flavor preference.
Provide finger foods if the person finds it hard to use utensils.
Offer liquids in a transparent, easy-to-hold glass or mug.

Washing And Bathing

Dementia makes it difficult to keep up with personal hygiene, so bathing will require assistance. Most people probably fear falling or becoming nude.

Since taking a bath is a private activity, you should exercise discretion and deference. You can try to remember these suggestions

Ask how they want to be aided during bathing.
Provide a bath seat and install handrails and a handheld shower.
Provide the preferred bath products.
Accompany them if they don’t want to be left alone.

Washroom-Related Needs And Incontinence

A person with dementia could frequently struggle with bathroom needs. In general, both bowel and urine incontinence can be difficult and upsetting for the individual. Health concerns like constipation, UTIs, or drug side effects might cause problems. A person suffering from dementia frequently loses track of when or where they need to use the restroom.

Always remember to keep an open mind and that it’s not the individual’s fault when helping a person with incontinence-related problems, along with the following precautions:

Place a sign or clearly label the toilet door, ideally with images and words in easy-to-read print.
The toilet door should stay open or readily accessible. You may also want to consider installing sensor lights.
Check for any signs that the person needs to use the toilet, such as standing up or down and squirming.
Encourage the person to stay active. Following a daily routine of walking will promote regular bowel movements.
Encourage the person to use the toilet as part of their daily routine.

Consult a doctor if you still experience incontinence problems for further information. In most situations, the doctor may advise utilizing incontinence pads or installing waterproof mattresses.

Sleep

The body clock may malfunction and sleep habits may be affected by dementia. During the night, a person with dementia is likely to wake up multiple times and get confused. Since they are no longer aware that it is midnight, some people might even go as far as dressing for the day.

Despite the possibility that sleep disturbance is a stage of dementia that may pass, here are some strategies to help the person:

Place a clock by the patient’s bed that clearly displays the time of day.
Assist the individual in getting enough sun exposure and daily exercise.
Limit your evening use of alcohol and caffeine.
Ensure that the bedroom is a comfortable place to sleep.
If you can, try to avoid taking naps during the day.

Final Reflections

Caregiving for someone with dementia can be difficult because of the person’s progressive cognitive deterioration, which can have a big impact on daily functioning. Fortunately, the information on basic care provided above will serve as your guide in helping to manage the work while simultaneously maintaining the person’s health and safety.