Alzheimer’s Treatment, Care, and Facilities in Waco, Texas.
You may remember the old adage, “Idle Hands are the Devil’s Tools.” In years past, parents used this bit of wisdom to keep their kids busy with chores and homework. In reality, idle hands might just be taking a rest.
But with Alzheimer’s patients, idle hands can indeed by something that can bring trouble.
Alzheimer’s is mentally and emotionally troubling. The person with Alzheimer’s is confused and distressed. Staying busy with simple tasks is an effective method of coping with that. And, honestly, with keeping them from getting into other kinds of trouble.
But there is more. Staying busy with manual tasks is helpful in maintaining physical and emotional health.
The Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research recently ran an article, urging caregivers to keep their patients busy with small tasks.
Carefully chosen activities may help to keep our loved ones’ anxieties to a minimum. It may also assist in diverting them from other behavioral problems created by Alzheimer’s, aiding them to continue to have creative meaning in their lives. It’s important for them to have a sense that they’re still useful and a vital part of their families.
Keeping them active may or may not slow down the progression of the disease. What it will accomplish is to prolong the ability of their motor skills to continue to function. The fact that they’re still working with their hands will help immensely in the battle to maintain coordination, which will only improve their quality of life.
Alzheimer’s Facilities, Care, and Treatment in Waco Texas.
I LOVE when I read stories about people who are finding creative ways of dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease. Just because a person has Alzheimer's does not mean that he or she:
Cannot have a meaningful life.
Cannot enjoy living.
Cannot improve and learn.
Most of these myths come about because we think in small ways. Creative people think in new ways. Creative people try new ideas.
The Los Angeles Times recently ran a story about a Table Tennis center in L.A. that has begun teaching Alzheimer’s patients to play Ping Pong.
You heard me right. Ping Pong.
“Impossible,” some might say. Turns out it is very possible. And quite beneficial.
[Betty] Stein doesn't say much these days. Nobody knows whether it's the Alzheimer's, the medication, maybe a touch of depression. Whatever it is, the perfectly coiffed, stylishly dressed 92-year-old Stein keeps her silence. But after 40 minutes at the table, she doesn't slow down.
Mikhail Zaretsky, the center's director, leans out and yells: "Betty, you are the best!"
She allows herself a tiny smile, blows him a quick kiss — and keeps on playing.
Keep thinking. Stay creative. Try new things. Do NOT give up on our friends with Alzheimer’s. They can live and love and experience life in full ways. We just need to enlarge our imagination.
J. Green Trilogy Senior Living AlzCare Alzheimer’s Assisted Living Centers.
People caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease learn to be creative. Caring for someone with this disease is very much like caring for a child. Just when you think you have something that works, they change on you. As dementia worsens, strategies for getting along must change.
Bob DeMarco reached a place with his mother where he realized that she was calmer and more at ease if he made every day exactly alike. He compares this to the famous movie “Groundhog Day,” where Bill Murray’s character wakes up every day and experiences the same things over and over.
Such a thing might be maddening for you or me, but for someone with advancing dementia, it might be very comforting.
The point is: You are going to have to be creative. You are going to have to see things from the perspective of someone who is losing their memory and facility for reason.
Try doing things differently. Read what other people are doing.
And if you find something that works, tell everyone about it.
J. Green Trilogy Senior Living AlzCare Alzheimer’s Assisted Living
Alzheimer’s Treatment, Care, and Facilities in Waco, Texas
One of the challenges that caregivers face is the issue of dignity. Alzheimer’s Disease, especially in its advanced stages, causes people to act in undignified ways. People with Alzheimer’s dementia say and do things they would never have said or done before the disease debilitated them.
And yet, they are human beings and deserve to be treated with dignity.
So how do you treat someone with dignity while at the same time recognizing that they are going to do need you to take care of them in some very basic ways?
The Alzheimer Support Blog has some great tips for this:
Never talk about them or their disease in front of them, as if they don’t understand. First, you don’t know what they can understand. Second, it’s not dignified to do so in any case.
If someone asks a question, don’t answer for the Alzheimer’s patient, even if they are going to answer badly. Let them answer and help them if they need you.
In doctor’s visits, let the patient interact as much as he or she can. Don’t take over.
Do not scold them if they do something inappropriate.
Treat them with the same respect you treat other elders.
Make sure they are prepared if you go out with them. Pack extra clothes, incontinence protection, etc. Your preparations can help them retain dignity later.
Avoid places that make them uncomfortable or are likely to compromise their dignity.
