Alzheimer’s and dementia are both common conditions that a lot of people tend to develop when they get older. It can be an incredibly difficult ailment to treat due to the fact that there is no cure; rather, the best thing you can do for someone who has Alzheimer’s or dementia is make them as comfortable as possible. The most effective ways to do this are going to vary depending on what stage your loved one is at with their dementia. This article will go into more detail about how you can effectively care for someone throughout these different stages.

The Early Stages

It’s more than likely that your loved one isn’t going to need as much care or assistance throughout the early stages of their Alzheimer’s or dementia. In fact, chances are your role is going to be much more centered around helping them come to terms with their diagnosis and remain positive moving forward. This can be quite a daunting period, and as such, your help and continued support are going to be some of the best things that you can offer.

  • Accept the diagnosis

One of the hardest things that your loved one is going to need to do is accept the diagnosis of dementia. This could be difficult for you and other family and friends as well, and as such, it is important that you act as a support network for one another. Be sure to grieve but also try to remain positive. Don’t let denial prevent you from being able to help and seek intervention at an early stage.

  • Make use of the different resources available to you

There are a huge variety of different resources available to you, and these will all be able to help you throughout this tough time. You could reach out to a care facility such as the Catholic Care Center who is able to provide some top-quality memory care. Then there are other organizations available too, like the Alzheimer’s Association that is available in your country. All of these will make moving forward a lot less stressful than it could be.

The Middle Stages

As symptoms progress, your loved one is going to need more care than they did previously, and you are going to need to be available to provide much more hands-on care as well. Your loved one is likely going to experience much more extensive memory loss and start to find familiar settings more unfamiliar. You should continue to take advantage of the aforementioned resources that are available to you, but then there are other things you can do as well.

  • Join a support group

You are not alone in this experience and as such, you should seek the help and continued advice from others that have been through it. If you join a support group, then you are going to be able to talk to people about their first-hand experiences and learn from what they did when working through the different stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

  • Keep track of things you are grateful for

This may sound like a counterintuitive option given the fact you are going through such a tough period; however, there is no getting around the fact that if you are taking moments out of every day where you make a note of things you are grateful for, this will make the whole experience more comprehendible. This could be something such as a joke your loved one made or something they did that reminds you of why you’re so close to them.

The Late Stages

As the diagnosis reaches its late stages, it is more than likely that your loved one is going to require 24-hour care. This is because they are going to find it difficult to walk or handle any personal care themselves. This could also manifest itself in difficulty eating and make them more vulnerable to infections, whilst also finding it difficult to properly express their needs.

One of the most important things here is to be able to acknowledge your feelings and give yourself time to experience them properly. This is important because you will likely experience a huge range of emotions, such as feelings of grief and loss, as well as relief that your loved one’s struggle is coming to an end. There is no right way to think about this period and whatever it is you are experiencing is totally justified. Give yourself time to feel what it is that you are feeling, as then you will be in the best position to take care of your loved one.