Try: Having a conversation about future housing arrangements for the Care recipient (cr) can be emotional and stressful for everyone involved the sooner the issue is discussed the better off the cr will be having a conversation while the cr is still healthy is best because the cr will have control and more choices it is important to learn about the different types of cr housing and what choices may be best for the cr when researching a housing option make sure it covers the required level of care and that it is clear what services are offered and the costs involved many crs prefer to stay at home as they age staying at home may be a good option if the cr has a close network of nearby family friends and neighbors transportation is easily accessible including alternate transportation to driving the neighborhood is safe the home can be modified to reflect changing needs home and yard maintenance is not overwhelming the cr’s physical and medical needs do not require a high level of care information references

Materials: n/a

Categories: Behavior Challenging, Communication, Mobility, Independence

Information: n/a

References: n/a

Keywords: Housing living arrangements

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Nutrition issues are common in many care recipients cr many cr’s with mobility issues have difficulty leaving their home for food meals the following are various solutions depending on the individual cr’s needs take advantage of home delivery many grocery stores have internet or phone delivery services hire part-time help ask a friend neighborhood teen or college student if they would be willing to shop for the cr determine if the cr would be willing to have live in help if the cr lives alone in a large home consider having a housemate companion who would be willing to do the grocery shopping and cooking have the caregiver prepare meals help the cr find someone who can do the shopping and meal preparation for you meals on wheels the program nutritious meals to people who are homebound and or disabled or would otherwise be unable to maintain their dietary needs generally meals on wheels is available to those persons who are not able to provide for themselves contact the local branch to determine if the cr qualifies information references

Materials: n/a

Categories: Behavior Challenging, Medical Physical, Independence

Information: n/a

References: n/a

Keywords: Nutrition food eating

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: When you learn that someone you love has alzheimer’s disease ad you may wonder when and how to tell your family and friends you may be worried about how others will react to or treat the person you also may wonder if there is a right way to talk about it while there is no single right way to tell others we’ve listed some approaches to think about think about the following questions are others already wondering what is going on do you want to keep this information to yourself are you embarrassed do you want to tell others so that you can get support from family members and friends are you afraid that you will burden others does keeping this information secret take too much of your energy are you afraid others won’t understand realize that family and friends often sense that something is wrong before they are told ad is hard to keep secret when the time seems right it is best for you to be honest with family friends and others use this as a chance to educate them about ad information references "caring for a person with alzheimer’s disease your easy-to-use guide from the national institute on aging" by national institute on aging 2011 available at www nia nih gov

Materials: n/a

Categories: Sage, Topic, Behavior Challenging, Caregiver Needs&Support, Emotional Psychological, Maintenance, Medical Physical, Personal, Social, Verbal Communication, So-So Verbal Comm, Poor Verbal Comm, Cognitive Awareness, Somewhat Aware, Unaware, Long-Term Memory, So-So L T Memory, Poor L T Memory, Short-Term Memory, So-So S T Memory, Poor S T Memory

Information: n/a

References: n/a

Keywords: Communication memory loss cognitive impairment odd behaviors family family meeting friends

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Sometimes people with alzheimer’s disease ad are overly interested in sex this is called hypersexuality the person may masturbate a lot and try to seduce others these behaviors are symptoms of the disease and don’t always mean that the person wants to have sex coping strategies to cope with hypersexuality try giving the person more attention and reassurance you might gently touch hug or use other kinds of affection to meet his or her emotional needs some people with this problem need medicine to control their behaviors information references "caring for a person with alzheimer’s disease your easy-to-use guide from the national institute on aging" by national institute on aging 2011 available at www nia nih gov

Materials: n/a

Categories: Sage, Topic, Behavior Challenging, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical, Sexuality Intimacy, Social, Gender, Male, Female, Verbal Communication, So-So Verbal Comm, Poor Verbal Comm, Cognitive Awareness, Somewhat Aware, Unaware, Long-Term Memory, So-So L T Memory, Poor L T Memory, Short-Term Memory, So-So S T Memory, Poor S T Memory

Information: n/a

References: n/a

Keywords: Sex sexuality intimacy relationships marriage communication memory loss cognitive impairment challenging behavior odd sexual behavior

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Agitation means that a person is restless and worried he or she doesn’t seem to be able to settle down agitated people may pace a lot not be able to sleep or act aggressively toward others they may verbally lash out or try to hit or hurt someone most of the time these behaviors happen for a reason when they happen try to find the cause for example the person may have pain depression or stress, and not know how to explain it too little rest or sleep constipation soiled underwear or diaper other causes of agitation and aggression sudden change in a well-known place routine or person a feeling of loss, for example the person may miss the freedom to drive or the chance to care for children too much noise or confusion or too many people in the room being pushed by others to do something, for example to bathe or remember events or people, when ad has made the activity very hard or impossible feeling lonely and not having enough contact with other people interaction of medicines information references "caring for a person with alzheimer’s disease your easy-to-use guide from the national institute on aging" by national institute on aging 2011 available at www nia nih gov

Materials: n/a

Categories: Sage, Topic, Behavior Challenging, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical, Cognitive Awareness, Somewhat Aware, Unaware, Long-Term Memory, So-So L T Memory, Poor L T Memory, Short-Term Memory, So-So S T Memory, Poor S T Memory

Information: n/a

References: n/a

Keywords: Agitated agitation aggression aggressive mad angry upset memory loss cognitive impairment challenging behavior

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: As a caregiver you may often use intuition or a "trial and error" approach to decide what to do in a given situation here are some strategies and suggestions that may be helpful in caring for someone with dementia being reasonable rational and logical may not work and could cause problems when the Care recipient (cr) with dementia is acting in ways that don’t make sense you may tend to carefully explain the situation and call upon the cr’s sense of appropriateness to get compliance however the cr with dementia doesn’t have a "boss" in his or her brain any longer and may not respond to your arguments no matter how logical straightforward simple sentences about what is going to happen usually work better than trying to use logic and reason care recipient’s with dementia do not need to be grounded in reality crs with memory loss may often forget important things for example the cr may forget that his or her mother is deceased when you remind the cr of this loss you remind him or her about the pain of that loss also when the cr wants to go home you may try to provide reassurance by telling the cr that he or she is already at home however this approach may lead to an argument it may work better if you acknowledge the cr’s perceived reality by asking questions about it this may have a calming influence on the cr and provide a sense of peace for example what is your mother’s favorite dish to cook what was your home like did you have your own bedroom you cannot be a perfect caregiver just as there is no such thing as a perfect parent there is no such thing as a perfect caregiver you have the right to the full range of human emotions and sometimes you are going to be impatient or frustrated learning to forgive your loved one as well as yourself is essential in the caregiving journey in many cases it is the disease and the situation that is making you upset instead of the cr "therapeutic lying" may reduces stress you may value being honest with all people all of the time in all situations while this is an honorable character trait it may not work for cr’s with dementia in fact it could lead to problems and distress for both you and the cr does it really matter that the cr thinks that you are a volunteer at a day care center instead of a family member if the cr gets agitated when going to the doctor’s office is it okay to take the cr out to lunch and then "coincidentally" stop by the doctor’s office on the way home using this approach will take some sensitivity judgment and discernment on your part keep in mind that "therapeutic lying" may be in the best interests of the cr and you should not feel guilty about it making agreements does not work if you ask the cr to remember to do something or not do something it will soon be forgotten for cr’s in early stage dementia leaving notes as reminders can sometimes help but as the disease progresses this will not work taking action and rearranging the environment rather than talking and discussing is usually a more successful approach for example getting a tea kettle with an automatic "off" switch is better than warning the cr of the dangers of leaving the stove on doctors often need to be educated by you telling the doctor what you see at home is important the doctor can’t tell during an examination that the cr has been up all night pacing the doctor may not know that the cr has been getting out of the house and wandering off sometimes doctors as well as caregivers need to use "therapeutic lying " for example the doctor may tell the cr that an antidepressant is for memory rather than depression in some cases especially with general practioners the doctors may place too much reliance on the gerantologist or neurologist to deal with the cr cr’s dementia issues as a result it is very important for you to communicate what you know about dementia and what you have observed at home with the cr you can’t do it all it’s ok to accept help before you get desperate when people offer to help the answer should always be "yes " maintain a list of things people can do to help you whether it is bringing a meal picking up a prescription helping trim the roses or staying with the cr while you run an errand this will reinforce offers of help it is harder to ask for help than to accept it when it is offered so don’t wait until you "really need it" to get support don’t overestimate or underestimate what the care recipient can do it is often easier to do a task for the cr rather than let the cr to do it on his or her own if you do the task for the cr he or she may lose the ability to be independent in that skill on the other hand if you insist that the cr do the task he or she may get frustrated and agitated there may not be an easy solution for this quandary however as a caregiver you need to realistically assess what the cr is capable of doing you then need need to find the right balance between doing the task yourself and asking the cr to do it this balance may shift in different situations and circumstances and also may change from day to day if you and the cr are under a time crunch trying to get to a doctor’s appointment and so on you may need to do the task yourself at other times you may have the time to coach the cr through the task by providing verbal cues even if the task takes much more time to complete it may be better for the cr to do it with as little assistance from you as possible this may help the cr remain independent and retain important skills in addition it may help the cr’s self-confidence however if the cr in not physically mentally or emotionally capable of doing a task it would serve no useful purpose to keep trying and it would be better to find some other intervention or support for completing the task tell don’t ask asking the cr questions and providing too many choices may cause problems it may be better to just tell the cr what to do for example asking "what would you like for dinner " may have been a perfectly normal question at another time however asking the cr with dementia this question may be problematic the cr may not be able to come up with the right words to answer this question for example the cr may not be able to communicate what type of food is desired or that he or she is not hungry right now saying "we are going to eat now " encourages the cr to eat and doesn’t put him or her in the dilemma of providing a response it is perfectly normal to question the diagnosis when the cr has moments of lucidity one of the hardest things to do is to remember that you are responding to a disease not the person who once was every cr with dementia has times when he or she makes perfect sense and can respond appropriately when this occurs you may sometimes feel that the cr has been faking the symptoms of dementia or that you have been exaggerating the problem just remember that you are not imagining things the cr is having one of those moments that you should treasure when it occurs you then need to move forward grounded in the reality of the disease and continue to do all that you can to enhace the quality of life for the cr information references adapted from family caregiver alliance article

Materials: n/a

Categories: Behavior Challenging, Caregiver Needs&Support, Cognitive Intellectual, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical, Some Supervision, Maximum Supervision, Somewhat Aware, Unaware, So-So L T Memory, Poor L T Memory, So-So S T Memory, Poor S T Memory

Information: n/a

References: n/a

Keywords: Memory care alzheimer alzheimer’s disease

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: In addition to changes in the brain the following things may affect how people with ad behave how they feel sadness fear or a feeling of being overwhelmed stress caused by something or someone confusion after a change in routine including travel anxiety about going to a certain place health-related problems illness or pain new medications lack of sleep infections constipation hunger or thirst poor eyesight or hearing alcohol abuse too much caffeine problems in their surroundings being in a place he or she doesn’t know well too much noise such as tv radio or many people talking at once noise can cause confusion or frustration stepping from one type of flooring to another the change in texture or the way the floor looks may make the person think he or she needs to take a step down misunderstanding signs some signs may cause confusion for example one person with ad thought a sign reading wet floor meant he should urinate on the floor mirrors someone with ad may think that a mirror image is another person in the room information references "caring for a person with alzheimer’s disease your easy-to-use guide from the national institute on aging" by national institute on aging 2011 available at www nia nih gov

Materials: n/a

Categories: Sage, Topic, Behavior Challenging, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical, Verbal Communication, So-So Verbal Comm, Poor Verbal Comm, Cognitive Awareness, Somewhat Aware, Unaware, Long-Term Memory, So-So L T Memory, Poor L T Memory, Short-Term Memory, So-So S T Memory, Poor S T Memory

Information: n/a

References: n/a

Keywords: Memory loss cognitive impairment communication personality challenging behavior frustration words feelings facial expressions upset confused angry sad surroundings environment change

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Paranoia is a type of delusion in which a person may believe, without a good reason, that others are mean lying unfair or out to get him or her he or she may become suspicious fearful or jealous of people in a person with alzheimer’s disease ad paranoia often is linked to memory loss it can become worse as memory loss gets worse for example the person may become paranoid if he or she forgets where he or she put something the person may believe that someone is taking his or her things that you are the person person’s caregiver someone with ad might not trust you if he or she thinks you are a stranger people to whom he or she has been introduced the person may believe that strangers will be harmful directions you just gave the person may think you are trying to trick him or her paranoia may be the person person’s way of expressing loss the person may blame or accuse others because no other explanation seems to make sense information references "caring for a person with alzheimer’s disease your easy-to-use guide from the national institute on aging" by national institute on aging 2011 available at www nia nih gov

Materials: n/a

Categories: Sage, Topic, Behavior Challenging, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical, Cognitive Awareness, Somewhat Aware, Unaware, Long-Term Memory, So-So L T Memory, Poor L T Memory, Short-Term Memory, So-So S T Memory, Poor S T Memory

Information: n/a

References: n/a

Keywords: Paranoid someone’s out to get me forgets forgetfulness memory loss cognitive impairment anxiety odd behavior

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Con-artists tend to prey on the elderly family members and strangers may try to manipulate senior adults because they believe that he or she is ignorant be aware of the danger signs information danger signs to be aware of phone calls from strangers asking about money family financial or legal matters door-to-door salesmen visits from strangers with titles that sound official ask for id and call to verify before letting them in offers for anything free home repairs subscriptions home tests phonecalls mailings or salespeople using scare tactics references adapted from information found in the book the complete eldercare planner by joy loverde

Materials: n/a

Categories: Behavior Challenging, Cognitive Intellectual, Communication, Financial, Legal, Personal, Social

Information: n/a

References: n/a

Keywords: Finances con-artist legal financial danger

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Accepting the death of a loved one is a process that includes in any order denial shock anger depression bargaining for time and acceptance information normal grieving can exhibit any or all of the following weight loss lack of appetite feeling despair feeling helpless vivid dreams or nightmares of the deceased feeling angry at god the deceased the healthcare provider and family grieving should not be given a time limit grieving should be encouraged and the griever should feel comfortable enough to cry and to express themselves and their feelings unhealthy grieving includes the following depression and talk of suicide continuously speaking of the dead in the present tense in unhealthy ways drug or alcohol abuse isolation poor self care that continues for a long period of time references adapted from information found in the book the complete eldercare planner by joy loverde

Materials: n/a

Categories: Behavior Challenging, Cognitive Intellectual, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Personal, Social, Spiritual

Information: n/a

References: n/a

Keywords: Death grief grieving end of life despair depression spirituality

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed