Try: Because alzheimer’s disease ad causes brain cells to die the brain works less well over time this changes how a person acts you will notice that he or she will have good days and bad days here are some common personality changes you may see getting upset worried and angry more easily acting depressed or not interested in things hiding things or believing other people are hiding things imagining things that aren’t there wandering away from home pacing a lot of the time showing unusual sexual behavior hitting you or other people misunderstanding what he or she sees or hears also you may notice that the person stops caring about how he or she looks stops bathing and wants to wear the same clothes every day 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

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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

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

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

Try: Caregivers face exhausting emotional and physical challenges on a daily basis being centered spiritually can help offset burnout information prayer and meditation can can help transform circumstances and alleviate stress living a spiritual and gracious life can help you accomplish hard tasks more easily reflecting about the after-life and determining what you believe and why can help you better care for those facing it references adapted from material found in the book caregiving the spiritual journey of love loss and renewal by beth witrogen mcleod

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Categories: Behavior Challenging, Caregiver Needs&Support, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Spiritual

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Keywords: Spirituality beliefs prayer meditation death after-life stress burnout

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

Try: Many end of life issues need to be discussed well in advance of losing ones ability to communicate care recipients cr need to consider the following and discuss with his or her loved ones information what does dying well look like to you do you want to prolong life or allow nature to take its course do you have the right to die do you want hospice care what religious beliefs contribute to your feelings on these matters will the insurance companies or financial limitations be making any decisions for you do you have a will who will make the funeral arrangements do you have any final requests are you afraid to die why or why not references

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

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Keywords: Spirituality beliefs end of life death hospice

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

Try: Compassion fatique is a frequent source of depression among caregivers cg information compassion fatique is the inability of the cg to feel the same commitment and fulfillment that they did when they first began caregiving compassion fatigue is characterized by any or all of the following caregiving has become more stressful and less satisfying feeling like you cannot leave the cr feeling overwhelmed at caregiving sleep disturbance as cr cr’s live longer and need more care cg burnout is on the rise references adapted from material found in the book caregiving the spiritual journey of love loss and renewal by beth witrogen mcleod

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Categories: Behavior Challenging, Caregiver Needs&Support, Cognitive Intellectual, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Social

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Keywords: Burnout caregiver needs compassion fatique caregiver stress

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

Try: Here are some ways to help you learn more about ad talk with a doctor or other health care provider about ad ask your doctor to refer you to someone who specializes in ad ask your doctor or ad specialist about good sources of information check out books cds dvds or videos on ad from the library go to educational programs and workshops on ad visit websites on ad such as www nia nih gov alzheimers or www alz org use search engines to find more information talk about ad with friends and family to get advice and support try to find a support group for caregivers you want a group in which the caregivers are taking care of someone who is in the same stage of ad as the person you are caring for also you may be able to find an internet-based support group this is helpful for some caregivers because it means they don’t have to leave home to be a part of the group the alzheimer alzheimer’s association www alz org is a good resource to help find support groups 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

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Behavior Challenging, Cognitive Intellectual, Emotional Psychological, Maintenance, Medical Physical, Personal, 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

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Keywords: Cognitive impairment support groups memory loss odd behavior challenging behavior

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

Try: Communication is hard for people with ad because they have trouble remembering things they may struggle to find words or forget what they want to say you may feel impatient and wish they could just say what they want but they can’t it may help you to know more about common communication problems caused by ad once you know more you’ll have a better sense of how to cope here are some communication problems caused by ad trouble finding the right word when speaking problems understanding what words mean problems paying attention during long conversations loss of train-of-thought when talking trouble remembering the steps in common activities such as cooking a meal paying bills getting dressed or doing laundry problems blocking out background noises from the radio tv telephone calls or conversations in the room frustration if communication isn’t working being very sensitive to touch and to the tone and loudness of voices also ad causes some people to get confused about language for example the person might forget or no longer understand english if it was learned as a second language instead he or she might understand and use only the first language learned such as spanish 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

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Behavior Challenging, Cognitive Intellectual, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Maintenance, Medical Physical, Personal, 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

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Keywords: Cognitive impairment communication confused confusion memory loss remembering brain train of thought challenging behavior behavior problems

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

Try: Use this list as examples of issues you may face early stage mild can’t find the right words to name things or to complete thoughts scrambles sequence of events when relating a story speaks of past events as if they are currently taking place can’t remember what was just said has difficulty following directions short term memory is affected; may repeat questions and stories makes multiple phone calls to a family member to ask about appointments people places etc becomes suspicious and makes paranoid or accusatory statements becomes defensive if corrected or if his "reality" is challenged middle stage moderate confused if you talk fast or use slang or if you use abstract ideas or offer too many thoughts or choices needs more time to respond to others or to join conversation becomes frustrated if more than one person talks at the same time begins to use substitute words or use unorganized sentences is often reduced to yes no responses out of fear of making mistakes "in public" makes inappropriate odd or impolite statements dementia erases lines not crossed in "polite company" repeats questions and stories sings frequently or speaks in rhyme is prone to fabricate forgotten details late stage severe speaks 1 to 6 words a day uses words that make no sense or may just be sounds repeats what’s been said rather than responding responds to nonverbal communication music sound touch and visual stimulation communicates needs nonverbally through behaviors facial expression and sounds information references "guide to living with dementia" by home watch care givers available at www homewatchcaregivers com

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Behavior Challenging, Cognitive Intellectual, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Maintenance, Medical Physical, Personal, Independence, Some Supervision, Maximum Supervision, 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

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Keywords: Can’t talk confused communication problem instructions doesn’t understand me odd behaviors

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

Try: Several factors about an elder’s condition can put them at greater risk of being abused the intensity of an elderly person’s illness or dementia social isolation; i e the elder and caregiver are alone together almost all the time the elder’s role at an earlier time as an abusive parent or spouse a history of domestic violence in the home the elder’s own tendency toward verbal or physical aggression in many cases elder abuse though real is unintentional caregivers pushed beyond their capabilities or psychological resources may not mean to yell at strike or ignore the needs of the elders in their care information references "elder abuse and neglect warning signs risk factors prevention and help" by laurence robinson tina de benedictis and jeanne segal 2011 available at

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Behavior Challenging, Caregiver Needs&Support, Cognitive Intellectual, Emotional Psychological, Financial, Legal, Medical Physical, Mobility, Immobile, Independence, Maximum Supervision, Vision, Poor Vision, Hearing, Poor Hearing, Verbal Communication, Poor Verbal Comm, Cognitive Awareness, Somewhat Aware, Unaware, Long-Term Memory, Poor L T Memory, Short-Term Memory, Poor S T Memory

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Keywords: Elder abuse caregiver abuse sexual abuse fraud neglect emotional abuse psychological abuse financial abuse

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

Try: Elder abuse is defined as sustained physical or mental abuse of an older individual elder abuse is often committed by the individual’s caregiver when the Care recipient (cr) is in a nursing home or related facility the institution can also commit abuse and neglect unfortunately abuse by the institution is relatively common the abuse and neglect by employees can be related to power and control the employee may want to keep the cr in line to avoid complaints most facilities are not aware of this type of employee conduct so oversight can be helpful to prevent abuse however crs with no family or outside visitors may be more prone to institutional abuse it is also important to consider the institution itself it may be understaffed or have unqualified employees information references

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Categories: Behavior Challenging, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Abuse

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

Try: Abuse and neglect of the elderly has drawn increased attention in recent years elder abuse is defined as sustained physical or mental abuse of an older individual abuse can be either physical or mental physical abuse is conduct that results in a physical injury it can be active such as beating the cr or passive which would be neglect or withholding food from the cr mental abuse can take many forms it can include shouting or yelling at the cr mental abuse is often done to coerce the Care recipient (cr) into doing something that the caregiver wants for example the cr may be put under undue pressure to make a financial decision that will benefit the caregiver one common form of mental abuse is to threaten the cr with institutionalization if he or she does not agree to the caregiver’s demands information references

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Categories: Behavior Challenging, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Abuse

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