Tag: Alzheimer’s Care

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.