Independence with Alzheimer’s Disease: Is it Even Possible?

By Gauthier Family Home Care | March 16, 2022 | Comments Off on Independence with Alzheimer’s Disease: Is it Even Possible?

Have you realized lately that your elderly loved one doesn’t want to do things by themselves? Or maybe, you have noticed they are getting frustrated because they want to do things, but they can’t. Both of these things happen often when someone has Alzheimer’s disease. If your elderly loved one receives this diagnosis, it is important to understand that earlier in the disease, some independence is still possible.

Community Involvement

One way that you can help your elderly loved one to stay independent for longer is through community involvement. There are numerous ways that people with mild Alzheimer’s disease can be involved in their community such as:

 Companion Care at Home in Ada, MI: Independence with Alzheimer’s Disease

  • Attending neighborhood parties with you or a companion care at home provider
  • Going to community events with a home care provider
  • Participating in local bingo or other games

If your elderly loved one needs to stay more independent or if they want to get out in the community, these are all great ways to make that happen. Even though Alzheimer’s disease will progressively get worse, you can help your elderly loved one by getting them out in the community as much as possible in the earlier stages of the disease.

Changing the Environment

If you want to help your elderly loved one to stay as independent as they can be for as long as possible, changing their environment might help. Some of the ways that you can change their environment include:

  • Moving furniture around to prevent tripping
  • Keeping clutter to a minimum
  • Make sure things are on reachable shelves or counters

If needed, you can even hire companion care at home providers. They can be around whenever needed to help ensure your elderly loved one’s home is picked up. For example, if there are cords laying in the walkway, the home care provider can pick those up and tuck them away.

Technology Can Help

Another way that you can promote independence if your elderly loved one has Alzheimer’s disease is through technology use. For example, if you aren’t at your elderly loved one’s home, you can check on them through a security camera. There are so many different security camera systems these days and some of them even allow people to communicate back and forth. These might be the ones you want to check into for your elderly loved one.

You could also install automatic, wi-fi-based thermostats. That way, you or a companion care at home provider can alter the temperature in your elderly loved one’s home. By doing this, you don’t have to worry about them being home alone for a bit of time since you can make sure it doesn’t get too hot or too cold.

Conclusion

Does your elderly loved one have Alzheimer’s disease? If so, and you want to help them stay independent for as long as possible, the tips noted above are a great start. If you need further assistance with helping your elderly loved one to stay independent, be sure to hire elderly care providers. They can go to your elderly loved one’s home to keep an eye on them or to help with various tasks.

If you or someone you know needs help with Companion Care at Home in Ada, MI, contact Gauthier Family Home Care. We provide quality and affordable home care services in our community. Call us at (616) 258-2300 for more information.

Sources

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6748161/

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