Category: Alzheimer’s Disease

Do you believe your elderly parent has dementia? If so, there are many emotions that might be running through your mind. Let yourself feel those and make a list of things you can do from this point forward. The steps that you take do matter and can help your elderly parent to get the assistance they need.

Have a Talk with Your Parent

One of the things that you should do if you believe your elderly parent has dementia is to talk with them about it. It is important to stay as calm as you can during this conversation as it can help to keep your parent calm, as well. If they are still in the early stage of this disease, they probably already recognize they are forgetting things more often and having more confusion with certain things, too. Once you talk to your parent, it would be a good idea to have them go see a doctor for an assessment.

Asking Questions

If your elderly parent needs to go to a doctor for a dementia assessment/testing, it would be a good idea to go with them. That way, you can ask questions about the treatments, their condition, what stage they are in, etc. The most important thing to remember is the testing is a process. Most likely, your elderly loved one won’t get a diagnosis during the first appointment. However, if they are diagnosed with dementia, you can ask the doctor what home care assistance your parent might need, what will happen during this stage of dementia, and what else you can do to assist your elderly parent.

Preparing Yourself

Your elderly parent isn’t the only one who will be affected by dementia. Sure, they are impacted the most and they are the ones who will be losing their memory, becoming aggravated, and forgetting things more and more as the disease progresses. However, you are affected by the disease, too. You need to prepare yourself for what is coming – memory loss, the change in personality, forgetting people and places, forgetting the names of things, etc. It can be tough to prepare for something like this and you can predict everything that will happen. However, you can plant for respite care, elder care help, and home care assistance services.

Conclusion

Do you believe your elderly parent has dementia? If so, hopefully, the information here today helped you to know what steps to take. Between talking to your parent about symptoms they have to take them to see a doctor and preparing yourself, there are many things that will be coming up. However, as long as you keep making lists and plans of what to do next and getting home care assistance services, too, things should go a bit smoother.

If, at any time, your elderly parent gets much worse, bring that up to their doctor as soon as you can. They may be in the next stage of dementia.

Sources
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-caregiving-changes-communication-skills
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-is-dementia

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care assistance in Maple Grove, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

Dementia can make it difficult for your mom to know how to dress for the weather. She has no idea what time of year she’s in. You might find her wanting to wear a winter jacket and boots on the hottest day of the summer. She may want to run around in shorts and a t-shirt in below-zero temperatures. In the heat of summer, she’s complaining about the air conditioning being too cold. She comes out in jeans and a sweater and then says she’s too hot.

How can you help your mom dress appropriately for the weather? These tips can help you figure out how to get her to dress for the weather without frustrating her, and how personal care at home can help.

Put Away Clothes That Don’t Match the Season

Your mom doesn’t need her swimsuit and flip-flops in the middle of the winter. Put those away until spring arrives. Her winter jackets, sweaters, socks, and boots should go into storage in the summer. If they’re not in her cupboards or drawers, she won’t pull them out and try to wear them.

Lay Out Options the Night Before

Let your mom choose, but limit her to a few options. If you know it will start cool and get warmer, set out yoga pants and jeans, a t-shirt and a tank top, and a cardigan and a fleece pullover. She can choose her undergarments and socks.

She’ll have a choice over what she wears, but you’ve had the chance to provide options that suit the weather. She’ll be happy, and you know she’s in layers that can be taken on and off as needed.

Give Her a Choice

Let her pick out the clothes she wears. Once she does, you can fill in the gaps. If she picks shorts and a tank top on a cold, rainy day, add sweatpants and a sweatshirt. She may not wear them at first, but she’ll put them on if she gets cold.

Clothing that is easy to put on and take off will be the things she gravitates to. Look for pants that pull-on, such as yoga pants. Choose shirts that pull on loosely over the head, meaning avoid turtlenecks.

Set Her Up With Personal Care at Home Services

End the struggles you have with your mom each morning. You don’t have to turn up the heat to keep her warm or crank up the AC to ensure she’s cool enough. Personal care at home aides can help her dress appropriately.

Hire personal care at home services to ensure your mom has a selection of clothing each morning that provides layers. She can add a layer if she’s cold or take them off if she’s warm. She’ll be layered up to help insulate her from winter’s cold if she goes outside. Call a home care agency to learn more.

If you or an aging loved one is considering personal care at home in Burnsville, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

If you feel that your older adult is experiencing memory, thinking, or judgment issues, you may wish to have them take the SAGE dementia test. Not every adult child can take care of their parents, but in-home care providers can be such a wonderful choice. These caregivers can help create a care plan for your senior parent, ensuring they’re staying safe and healthy.

This free, 15-minute at-home pen-and-paper test successfully detects early Alzheimer’s or dementia indicators. If you are seeing some signs of serious forgetfulness, the SAGE test may be something to have your seniors do while you are watching. You may be curious about this test, and don’t worry, we will go over everything you need to know about this test.

Taking care of your senior parents can be challenging. You may feel like you are also forgetting things or having problems. You can also take this test for free to ensure there are no problems and nothing is going on with you. Keeping up on your own health will help you care for your seniors better too. The SAGE test is for everyone who may have signs of forgetfulness, and you can access it easily. Here is everything you need to know about it.

How The Sage Test Works for Seniors Who May Have Dementia

SAGE stands for Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination and was established at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center by researchers. The SAGE exam consists of twelve questions covering all facets of cognition, including memory, problem-solving, and language. The exam is available in four distinct formats. They are sufficiently comparable, but several versions imply that someone might take the exam once a year and not enhance their score each year just by taking it before. Every test will be different each time.

Take The Test From The Comfort Of Your Home

The best thing about the SAGE test is that you don’t have to go to a doctor’s office or a facility to take the test. This can be too overwhelming for a senior, but taking something at home can be just as helpful. Depending on the results, you can take it to their doctors after it is printed and filled out. You can download the test and then take it in just a few minutes.

Take The Results To The Doctor

Make no assumption that the test findings constitute a diagnosis of any sort. The SAGE test is a screening tool designed to assist physicians in detecting early indicators of cognitive impairment that are often undetectable during a routine office visit. Doctors can monitor changes in cognitive capacity over time by repeating the exam. Quantifying changes enables them to identify and treat health problems early. It’s crucial to have the test completed and allow the doctor to view the results.

Why Is An Early Diagnosis Important?

If your loved one is doing things that have started to concern you, getting an early diagnosis may help you understand their actions better. There also may be other conditions a doctor can help with which will make their lives easier in the future. Getting treatment sooner rather than later means that a doctor can help treat the cognitive symptoms. Introducing in-home care providers to your senior loved one in the early stages of dementia can make it easier for them to become used to the idea of having help.

If you or an aging loved one is considering in-home care in St. Paul, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

Have you heard of sundowning? This is something that often happens when a person has dementia. It basically is a symptom of dementia. However, there is a subset of symptoms that occur with sundowning. This usually begins later in the day and can go into the nighttime hours, as well. As a family caregiver, learning more about sundowning can help you to take care of your elderly loved one better when it is happening.

Sundowning Symptoms

There are numerous ways that sundowning may show up in senior citizens with dementia. However, there are also some common symptoms that you and home care assistance providers can look for in your elderly loved one. Some of these common symptoms include:

  • Restlessness
  • Disorientation
  • Agitation
  • Irritability
  • Confusion
  • Becoming more demanding
  • Becoming more suspicious

These symptoms generally range from moderate to severe during the late evening hours and nighttime hours. If you or an elder care provider notices them in your elderly loved one, they may be sundowning.

Actions By Those Who Are Sundowning

It would also be helpful for you to be prepared for some actions or behaviors your elderly loved one might have when they are sundowning. Some of the common actions by those who are sundowning include:

  • Yelling more than usual
  • Hitting you or others in their life
  • Pacing excessively
  • Paranoia
  • Severe mood swings

If you or a home care assistance provider notice these things in your elderly loved one later in the day or at night, it could mean they are sundowning.

If the symptoms don’t get better or they are happening every night, there may be some medications your elderly loved one’s doctor can prescribe to make things a bit better.

Daily Management of Sundowning

Sundowning can take a toll on everyone involved. If you are taking care of your elderly loved one every evening or night or even a lot of the time and they have the symptoms above, it can be a lot to take one. You might be tired, stressed, or even start resenting your elderly loved one. It is important to know that you can get help. You can have elder care providers come in to take care of your elderly loved one during those hours.

Conclusion

There are numerous symptoms of sundowning and actions that your elderly loved one might do if they have this issue. There isn’t much that can be done about it. However, there may be medications your elderly loved one’s doctor can prescribe to help ease some of the symptoms. You can also have home care assistance providers to help during these hours, as well.

Sources
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/tips-coping-sundowning

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care assistance in Woodbury, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. If you’re caring for a senior loved one with Alzheimer’s you may be overwhelmed by trying to process all the changes in your senior loved one. There’s a lot of information to learn and a lot of changes to process.

One of the toughest things for family caregivers is learning to pay attention to body language and other signs because your senior loved one may no longer be able to tell you when they are hungry, thirsty, or tired. If your senior loved one has a personal care at home provider, you can work with them to learn more about the small signals that your senior uses to let you know how they are feeling. Some of the things that your senior loved one may do that indicate they are tired or fatigues are:

Rubbing Their Eyes

Do you rub your eyes when you’re sleepy? Or does your child? Your senior loved one may do it too. Red, tired eyes are a very good indication that your senior loved one could use a nap or that it’s time for them to go to bed. If they are rubbing their eyes and don’t have any existing eye or vision problems then they are probably getting tired.

Becoming Irritable

Irritability is another sure sign of tiredness and fatigue. You may notice that your senior loved one with Alzheimer’s tends to get irritable in the late afternoon or early evening. That’s usually because they are tired. If you are at the doctor’s office or out doing something and your senior loved one starts to get irritable you may want to take a break, find somewhere quiet to sit, give them a snack and a drink, and let them regroup before continuing whatever activity you were doing.

Having Trouble Speaking Or Communicating

If your senior loved one normally is pretty communicative but you notice that they start to slur their words or have trouble completing a sentence they may just be tired. It can be very taxing for someone with dementia to try and function throughout the day. When they are tired they may find that they have trouble communicating as the energy they use to communicate gets diverted to other things like walking or staying awake.

Struggling With Coordination

Your senior parent with Alzheimer’s may also have trouble with coordination if they are tired. You could notice that they seem to be having trouble grasping a cup or a fork, or that they seem less coordinated than usual when they are walking. If you notice that they are shuffling or having trouble walking make sure that you remove any potential tripping hazards from their path. Then invite them to sit down or lie down and take a little rest. If they are struggling with coordination when you are out in public find a place where they can sit and rest for a moment.

If you or an aging loved one is considering personal care at home in Minneapolis, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurological disease causing the death of the memory cells which eventually causes memory loss. Scientists worldwide are working hard studying human brain procedures and changes related to this disease. Surprisingly, the damage starts way before any visible or noticeable problem starts to occur, sometimes even before more than a decade. During this time, the brain starts to develop toxic changes which will eventually lead to the disease. Very early clinical changes, however, can be diagnosed early before major symptoms occur. Yet the starting signs can vary from person to person. Here are some of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and how personal care at home can help.

Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease

It is widely accepted that age is the main risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Naturally, seniors are at greater risk of this disease. Per the Alzheimer’s Association, around 200,000 adults in the United States under the age of 65 years are each year. In many of these cases, doctors have yet to determine that why the younger population is developing the condition. When the cause is genetics, then it is called “familiar” Alzheimer’s disease.

Stages of Alzheimer’s disease

There are three categories of Alzheimer’s disease.

  • Mild
  • Moderate
  • Severe

Mild Alzheimer’s disease symptoms:

  • Taking more time to complete a regular task
  • Difficulties in counting money or calculating bills
  • Wondering or getting lost occasionally
  • Behavior changes such as mood swings, hiding things etc.
  • Losing or forgetting things very often

Moderate Alzheimer’s disease symptoms:

  • Increasing memory loss and confusion
  • Getting difficulties to recognize familiar people
  • Not able to learn new things
  • Slowly decreased in activities involving steps
  • Being afraid of a new situation
  • Often impulsive behavior
  • Delusion

Severe Alzheimer’s disease symptoms:

  • Inability to communicate
  • Totally dependent on others for care
  • Unable to move independently or not being to able to get out of bed without help
  • Loss of bladder or bowel control
  • Seizures

Conclusion

Unfortunately, there is still no known cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The reversal of brain cell death is not yet possible. Having said that, personal care at home is an effective way to start in the early stages. Personal care at home can not only relieve its symptoms and improve quality of life for the person but also be a great relief for the family as well. Personal care at home can make a great difference in progress of your loved elderly ones. Call us today and consider your options for personal care!

Sources:

https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/10_signs

If you or an aging loved one is considering personal care at home in Minnetonka, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.