A care guide for people with Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease causes various symptoms that can make it difficult for sufferers to carry out various daily activities. They become forgetful, sometimes dazed, and even have difficulty caring for themselves. That is why patients need family and caregiver assistance to help with home care. So, what is the home care for people with Alzheimer's disease like?

Care guide for people with Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease which is the most common type of dementia. Initially, the disease attacks brain cells and over time these cells will die. This condition causes a decrease in a person's ability to think, behave and speak.

For those of you who have family members with this condition, dealing with them is certainly not an easy task. Though home care can help patients have a better quality of life. You don't need to worry, see the guide for treating Alzheimer's sufferers below.

1. Pay attention to the diet for people with Alzheimer's

Symptoms of Alzheimer's, namely forgetfulness can prevent patients from eating and drinking properly. Coupled with other accompanying symptoms, such as difficulty moving and decreased vision, it makes it difficult for patients to get nutrition properly.

This is exacerbated by patients who cannot recognize food or forget how to eat. As a result, this condition can make patients dehydrated, lack nutrition (malnutrition), and lose weight.

In order to avoid this, you need to pay attention to the patient's diet. You can apply this treatment for Alzheimer's sufferers by making a schedule of eating and drinking.

Some things that need to be considered in maintaining the diet of Alzheimer's patients are:

• Accompany patients when eating and advise them on the steps to eat right.
• Serve simple food so that it is easy to help the patient get to know the side dishes and dishes that will be eaten.
• Limit foods that contain saturated fat, high cholesterol, high sugar and salt. Conversely, increase your consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products.
• Create a calm atmosphere when eating, so that the patient can focus on his activities. So, turn off the radio or television in the house that is on.

2. Promote communication in an appropriate manner

Alzheimer's disease patients tend to have difficulty communicating. Either they stuttered, had difficulty saying the thing or word they wanted to talk about, or they kept repeating the same questions. Facing patients with these symptoms, of course, will be a challenge for you.

Well, the right treatment for sufferers with Alzheimer's symptoms is to follow speech therapy. Not relying on a therapist, actually this treatment can also be done at home. The trick is to improve communication with patients.

However, the way you communicate with patients is not the same as how you communicate with normal people. Here are some things you should pay attention to when communicating with Alzheimer's patients.

• You have to be patient and listen to the patient's words until it's finished.
• When the patient tries to guess the words to be spoken, try to provide a choice of words that the patient may not have thought of.
• Try to speak in a clear tone, slowly, and if you can, follow through with gestures.
• Avoid speaking in loud tones and yelling.

3. Encourage the patient to exercise and participate in social activities

The next treatment for Alzheimer's sufferers is to make sure the patient is active enough to move around. Well, you can invite him to exercise together. Exercise is healthy physically and mentally.

This physical activity can maintain the patient's ideal body weight, improve patient fitness, improve sleep quality and heart function. In addition, exercise also allows patients to interact with other people. This can improve the patient's ability to communicate.

This social engagement also benefits Alzheimer's patients who experience depressive symptoms, such as mood swings and loneliness.

However, applying this method of caring for Alzheimer's sufferers should not be arbitrary. Most Alzheimer's patients are elderly people who may have other health problems. So, the type of exercise and its duration must be adjusted to the patient's body condition.

Not only exercise, care for Alzheimer's sufferers also includes social activities. That is, you as a companion need to take the time to invite patients to participate in activities that involve interaction with other people. You can invite the patient to sing along, play charades, or name objects around him.

The above activities not only help the patient to stimulate memory skills but also help the patient to improve communication.

4. Pay attention to sleep patterns

Alzheimer's patients often experience sleep disturbances. In order for the quality of sleep to remain good, you must help the patient to sleep comfortably at night. There are several ways to help patients sleep well, namely creating a comfortable and safe bedroom atmosphere.

Try to help the patient sleep and wake up at the same time. Do not let the patient sleep late at night. Before going to bed, you can prepare warm water for an afternoon shower. This helps relax her so she can sleep comfortably.

If the above tips don't help, you should take them to the doctor. Do not give sleeping pills without the doctor's permission because the side effects may worsen the patient's condition.

5. Create a home atmosphere and a safe environment

Treatment for Alzheimer's sufferers also includes conditions at home and in the surrounding environment. The reason is, the calm house atmosphere can help patients to focus on all the activities carried out.

Conversely, if the house is noisy, it will be difficult for them to concentrate. House conditions like this can also stress them out. Of course, this will have a negative impact on his overall health.

Apart from being calm, patients also need a safe home and environment. The reason is because patients are very susceptible to experiencing dangerous incidents, such as falling, carelessly placing or using objects.

Reporting from the Mayo Clinic website, the following things help Alzheimer's patients live safely, including:

• Always keep keys, wallets, other valuables in a safe place so they are not easily lost. In addition, keep sharp objects in a place that is difficult for the patient to reach.
• Keep the medicines to treat Alzheimer's in the pillbox and make sure the patient is not easily accessible.
• Manage patient cell phone with location tracking app. This will be very helpful, from time to time the patient gets lost when leaving the house.
• Get rid of household furniture that might disturb the patient when walking. Also ensure that the floor of the house is always dry and not slippery so that the patient does not slip easily.
• Don't leave multiple mirrors hanging in the house. The reason is because people with Alzheimer's may find the image in the mirror confusing or scary and this can trigger the symptoms.
• Post photos on the walls of the house that can help patients get to know and remember their family members.

How to treat Alzheimer's sufferers above may always be easy for you to apply. So, if you face difficulties, don't hesitate to consult a doctor.