Dementia/Alzheimers Disease
Are you caring for someone who has been diagnosed with Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease?
Are you exhausted by telling your loved one for the 100th time that this is their home?
Are you trying to balance getting up at night to check on your family member, helping them to the bathroom, or comforting them when they are scared with a career and family yourself?
Are you exhausted?
Are you getting calls from the facility your family member is in saying you've got to do something to help them, their behaviors are out of control?
Do you sit awake at night wondering how you'll continue to meet all the demands of your life and take care of your family member with dementia?
Maybe You're So Overwhelmed Wondering If It'll Ever Get Better
Taking care of someone with dementia (the umbrella which Alzheimer's disease falls under) is one of the most challenging and exhausting jobs in this world. You're so tired from the daily tasks, the answering repeated questions, maybe the aggression or the resistance to bathing. You're trying to change mom's clothes but she refuses to get out of her favorite outfit. You try coaxing dad into the shower but he refuses. He used to be such a clean person, you might think. Dementia robs people of not only their memory but their dignity too. You're trying to do the right thing, you've made a promise to your family member that you won't put them "in a nursing home." So you try and do it at home. But you quickly realize you're in over your head. How does anyone manage a family, career, and caretaking and make it out with their sanity?
You Are Not Alone.
With more than 5 million Americans suffering from a diagnosis of dementia, and 1 in 3 seniors dying with a diagnosis of dementia, you are in good company. 16 million people in the US help care for their loved ones with dementia. It is a thankless job, but you're doing it.
You Are Doing An Amazing Job
Whether you're fielding calls from the assisted living facility or memory care unit about your loved one's behaviors in the middle of the night, or you're the one getting up to help them to the bathroom at night, you're doing an amazing job. We know this is hard work, we know you need to take care of yourself. You know you need to take care of yourself. But how is that possible with all the demands of caregiving?
Dementia Treatment
Dementia treatment doesn't mean we give your family member enough medication to sedate them so your job or the facility's job is easier. Instead, we work hard to improve behaviors, reduce stress, and improve quality of life so the patient can be more engaged in their environment! We utilize many techniques available from medications, supplements, and tools for helping the patient interact appropriately with the people around them. With 20 years of experience in dementia care, we are well equipped to get your family member feeling the best they can, thus alleviating some of the burdens of caring for them.
How Does Treatment Work?
If the patient is in their own home then we can work with the patient and the family on techniques for calming them so you can get them in the shower, so you can change their clothes. We will empower you with specific words to use that will help reduce tension if the patient is getting agitated. We can give you tools for helping reduce the amount of stress you experience taking care of your family member. If your loved one is in a facility, we work as a team with the facility staff and you as the family member, to get the patient adequately medicated, and empower the staff with tools to help engage the patient in their environment.
It doesn't matter if your loved one can talk, or if they are bedbound, or if they don't make sense when they do talk. We have many different approaches to gather information and make informed decisions for your family member's treatment plan. We assure you, we don't want them slumped over and drooling, we want them to sleep at night, be awake in the day, and feeling good about the world they exist in. We will work hard to accomplish those goals.