Florence Jenkins is a freelance writer from Los Angeles with two children of her own. If you have parents suffering from dementia check out DementiaGuide.com for more information.
Posts Tagged ‘Helping’
Commonwealth Advisory Group Concentrates on Helping Frail Elders Stay at Home
by bobcrabtree1 Posted: Monday, 1/18/2010DATELINE:
Helping Family Members With Early Stage Dementia Cope With Memory Problems
by bobcrabtree1 Posted: Tuesday, 12/22/2009When a loved one begins showing early symptoms of dementia, there are many issues relating to independence, safety, and the individual?s sense of self with which to cope. As dementia progresses, the person may have to give up living on his or her own, but during the earliest stages a supportive family network and helpful memory aids can help them retain their independence for a bit longer.
Is It Dementia or Normal Aging?
Most people begin to show signs of memory loss after the age of seventy. This is normal, due to aging, and typically short-term in nature (where did I put my keys?). It is not particularly dangerous, although it can be inconvenient. However, rapid or more pervasive memory loss may indicate dementia and should always be confirmed by a physician.
More adult children and grandchildren every year are coping with parents or grandparents suffering from dementia and memory loss. With three generations of living family, many individuals can live independently for longer stretches of time, providing family members are willing to pull together and make it work.
How Families Can Help
Jogging the memory can be as simple as using the right tools. If your parents or grandparents forget whether they have taken their medication each day or whether they have a doctor?s appointment, visual aids can be a huge help. Pill cases designed to divide medication into daily doses will help them determine whether they?ve taken their prescriptions. Investing in an oversized calendar and making sure they write down their appointments will also help keep them on track.
Likewise, the phone can be a lifeline, but telephone numbers are easy to forget as a person ages. Even numbers programmed to speed dial can get confusing as dementia progresses. Invest in a phone with oversized keypads and program in important numbers. Then label each key with a picture of each person. If the person wants to call her son, all she will have to do is push the key with his photo.
If you find the above solutions helpful, you can apply these types of organizational techniques to other areas, as well. A key rack mounted near the front door with oversized key tags that are labeled will simplify life. Does your grandfather tend to forget to put on a jacket when he goes outside? Put a coat hook next to the door, too? if he sees it, he is more likely to put in on than if it is out of sight. You can also encourage your parents or grandparents to write down as much as possible. The benefits are two-fold: the act of writing something down reinforces the memory and sticking a bulletin on a board or refrigerator creates a visual aid.
Checking in on elderly relatives who may have memory problems is also important. Regular visits will help them keep on a schedule and can alert you to any unusual changes in their routine. If you aren?t able to visit every day, rotate this duty with others. Adult and teen grandchildren can certainly help in this regard. Grandparents always welcome a visit from grandchildren and are likely to be less defensive if questions need to be asked.
Routines are important to preserving memory, so keep in mind that visits to check on family members with dementia or memory loss will be most beneficial and cause less confusion if they are at the same time each day. It provides a pivot around which they can plan the rest of their activities.
Understand these tips and communicate them with your family. Following these tips will make things easier for caregivers and loved ones with dementia alike.
Rebuilding Self Esteem Among The Elderly – Helping Them Regain Their Lost Self Esteem
by bobcrabtree1 Posted: Tuesday, 12/22/2009Self esteem is an integral part of an individual’s mental makeup and human psychology. It is an image we have about ourselves, how we feel, how we react to our work, our relationships with family and in general, how we socialize in the community as a whole. Self esteem is viewed as the basis of human psychology and each person is quite aware of their own self esteem. The same awareness of self esteem is present in the elderly, though it may change with the changes in the lifestyle and a change in the roles. As the elderly people become more and more dependent on others, they begin to feel they are unimportant, and that others also perceive them to be so.
Caring for the elderly may not be your first experience at care giving. You may have been performing the role of a caregiver to your children by taking care of their psychological and emotional needs. Self esteem is an important aspect of child psychology too and it is crucial to their success later in life. As the caregiver for your elderly parent, you may have to perform the same functions, though you are not ‘raising them’. That means you have to take care of their physical health, their finances, their living arrangements and their self esteem and mental health as well.
As an individual, one cannot empathize with the elderly parents due to the constant changes that go on in their lives and the great impact it has on their self esteem. Your own sense of self esteem stems from the fact that you are an independent individual and your ability to provide for your kids, perform your job well and also be useful to others in the society. From the viewpoint of the elderly, these factors have changed and the roles have been reversed. This results in a feeling of worthlessness and low self-esteem for them.
The changes that the older adults face in terms of role reversals, dependency on their children or the loss of a spouse can be very difficult to cope. According to the perceptions of the seniors, they cease to be useful to anyone in any way and this increases their feeling of worthlessness. Their pillars of existence and the ideas of life in general begin to disappear. They go from being heroes to their kids to being dependent on their kids, a fact that they cannot accept. Simple things like driving around or even walking become an ordeal.
Loss is always painful, be it loss of a spouse, of mobility, or health or independence. In such situations, it is no wonder that the senior citizens suffer from low self esteem. This is a precarious mental situation that may lead to depression and health problems that will prevent them from enjoying life. If there is no support system, the elderly may even turn to alcohol or drug abuse and in severe cases, suicide.
We as caregivers should try to catch the signs of low self esteem at the earliest. These may manifest in the form of sadness, or losing interest in hobbies, not taking care of oneself, not socializing or having suicidal thoughts, etc. Other symptoms may be narration of pleasant memories repetitively or trying to do things which they cannot cope with.
There are many ways to help the elderly to regain their self esteem. The first is to offer emotional support. Ensure that they are given adequate medical attention for their ailments. Another good therapy would be to allow them to spend their time in the company of their grandchildren. Encourage them to meet their friends and to talk of the old times. As a caregiver, you can be compassionate and patient while dealing with their fears and anxieties.
Abhishek successfully runs an Old Age Home and he has got some great Eldercare Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 80 Pages Ebook, “How To Take Great Care Of Elders” from his website http://www.Senior-Guides.com/560/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.
If you’re fortunate enough to have one or both parents still living,