Visiting seniors with dementia involves making some choices beforehand about what is helpful and what might not be as helpful. Alzheimer’s care services can be a huge help for families as they learn what works and what doesn’t in terms of helping dementia patients have positive interactions with the people who love them.
Establish a Calm Environment
Keeping the atmosphere calm and peaceful is a great first step. That can be as simple as reducing background noise and keeping distractions to a minimum. This helps the dementia patient to focus on the visit and it makes conversations less challenging.
Be Patient and Use Simple Communication
Often people with dementia experience challenges around communicating with other people. Simplifying conversations as much as possible is important. It’s also important for family members to be patient and allow for processing time. It can take a little longer for dementia patients to process what was said, formulate a response, and then share that response verbally.
Engage in Meaningful Activities
Alzheimer’s care providers can also help families to plan meaningful activities for their visits. These can be activities like listening to favorite music, going through pictures together, or making something like a craft. These activities give everyone something to do and also help to keep the dementia patient’s brain active and engaged.
Keep Seniors with Dementia Involved
It’s important that people with dementia feel involved and heard, too. All too often, people who aren’t used to communicating with dementia patients might talk around them or refer to them, but not involve them directly in decisions and conversations. That can be really hurtful, and dementia patients do have preferences, needs, and wants.
Don’t Rush or Overwhelm
Everything needs to move a little bit slower for dementia patients. Just as with conversations, they may need a little more processing time to follow directions or to engage in a task. That means that doing anything in a hurry is likely to become overwhelming very quickly.
Don’t Make Assumptions
Whenever possible, try not to make assumptions about what dementia patients might want or need. It’s better to ask them instead. Alzheimer’s care providers can help to model this for family members when they’re visiting so that they can understand more about what dementia patients prefer.
Don’t Take Challenging Behaviors Personally
Dementia patients often exhibit what are called challenging behaviors, like wandering, agitation, or confusion. They’re not engaging in these behaviors to punish anyone around them or to deliberately antagonize anyone. Meeting these behaviors with empathy and compassion can help to make the situation easier on everyone. Alzheimer’s care providers can help family members to understand what might be behind these behaviors.
It’s really important for family members to visit with seniors who have dementia. That socialization is a vital part of helping them to feel loved and supported, and it fosters connections that are crucial for everyone involved. Alzheimer’s care providers can help families to learn as much as possible about spending time with people who have dementia, offering everyone a positive experience.
If you or an aging loved one is considering Alzheimer’s care in Prosper, TX, please contact the caring staff at Clear Path Home Care today. Call 817-928-5788.
Clear Path Home Care provides compassionate, high quality home care in Denton County, Montague County, Cooke County, Grayson County, Fannin County, Lamar County, Wise County, Collin County, Hunt County, Delta County, and Hopkins County in Texas.
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