Choosing A Great Assisted Living Center

How To Help Your Parent Who Has Alzheimer's Disease

10 September 2017 by Amanda Palmer

If one of your parents has Alzheimer's Disease, you are probably discovering that this illness is not only hard on the person who has it, but it is also very difficult for family members who care for that person. Besides the physical strain that caring for an Alzheimer's patient brings, there is also often an emotional strain. If this is true for you, from home care to placing your parent in a special memory care center, here are some ideas that might lighten your load:

At Home - Of course, you have already made sure that your parent with Alzheimer's Disease has received proper medical attention and is taking his or her medications correctly. There are other things you can do to help:

• Think of having a set routine for your mother or father. For example, start the morning with a chart that has the day of the week and the month on it. 
• Consider writing down the things you plan to do together for that day. For instance, write in order that you are going to the store, to the post office and to pick up clothes at the dry cleaners. As you go through the day, let your parent know which activity is next.
• Consider joining a support group for those who care for Alzheimer's patients. 
• Think of keeping a journal where you record important things that you need to share with your mother or father's doctor.

​Professional Care - As difficult as it may be, at a certain point you might have to be realistic about the fact that you can no longer give your mother or father the proper care he or she needs. When that time comes, you have some good options:

• At first, you may just need at-home health care. When you make arrangements for that care, be sure that the service that will provide it knows that your parent has Alzheimer's. Knowing that will help the service know which caregiver to send.
• When even at-home health care is not enough, there are wonderful assisted-living facilities that have special programs for Alzheimer's patients.
• At a memory care facility, there will be special activities for your parent to enjoy. He or she will probably be part of a small group that gets to be comfortable with each other.
• The caregivers at a memory care center are trained to interact appropriately with patients who have Alzheimer's disease.

Think about always carrying photographs of family members with you. Wherever you are with your parent, he or she will probably enjoy looking at familiar faces and hearing about dear ones he or she has had in his or her life.

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