When a loved one is diagnosed with dementia or another memory-based illness, even though you know that everything should be focused on the individual themselves, such a diagnosis can be a huge stress on the people around them.
Whether you are looking into different care options to instigate as soon as possible or are simply researching future eventualities and possibilities, then you have come to the right place. Here are four viable options to consider when caring for a loved one with dementia.
Assemble a Care Team
In an ideal situation, the people who will be there to help and assist your loved one as they come to terms with their dementia diagnosis and, indeed, as the disease unfortunately inevitably progresses, are their friends and, more specifically, their family members.
Getting together with your mutual loved ones is the best way of ensuring that they receive the care, love, and attention they need, but also that you all get a chance to have time for yourself and have time to take care of your own personal and professional responsibilities.
Look Into Respite Care
Respite care, contrary to popular belief, is as much a change of pace and a break from the routine for the loved one who is living with dementia as the caregiver themselves.
For your loved one, respite care can:
- Provide interaction with other people going through the same thing
- Let them spend time in a stimulating and secure new environment
- Enables them to learn new hobbies and skills and develop new interests
For yourself and other caregivers, respite care can:
- Give you a chance to spend time with other family members and your friends
- Give you the peace of mind from knowing your loved one is happy and being cared for
- Give you the time to complete necessary errands and household chores of your own
Discuss Moving to Assisted Living Facilities
The move to living facilities – moreover, those with dementia communities and carers, such as the facilities for memory care Idaho has – is one that takes a great deal of thinking about and discussion between you, your loved ones, and other members of your family.
However, there are a host of benefits to making this decision, not least the fact that not only will your loved one be given the appropriate care and independence relative to their individual situation and as it changes, but also because they will become part of a warm and welcoming community.
At Home Carers
Finally, the fourth viable option to consider, particularly in the initial stages and first few months and years after your loved one has been diagnosed with dementia, is to elect to invest in at-home care.
Essentially, in-home care encompasses four types of services, with the first being personal care services which involve assistance with daily dressing, eating, bathing, and exercising, and the second being homemaker services involving cooking meals and shopping for groceries.
The third type of in-home care service involves more skilled care, which is more medical and treatment based, and the last one consists of the provision of much-needed companionship.