Having to experience an aging parent’s battle with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia can be an incredibly painful experience, and one that you may not be entirely sure how to manage. It may not just be you that’s burdened with this growing problem, either; as your parent’s illness advances, the responsibility for helping to care for them may fall on other members of the family, too, and it’s important that everyone involved knows how to approach the situation in the right way.
A crucial thing to remember throughout this process is that your parent is losing more and more control over their own life and actions. That means two things: one, that you and other trusted members of your family will have to help determine your parent’s daily schedule in an increasingly detailed capacity while seeking the best possible options for memory care; and two, that everyone involved will need to be able to approach the situation with the same level of empathy and understanding to help your parent through this tough time.
Knowing these important steps is one thing, though, while knowing how to go about them is another entirely. What does helping your parent with their daily routines look like? What do you need to be prepared to handle? Don’t worry; while it’s a mentally and emotionally tough process, you and your family aren’t alone, with resources like this blog post to help guide you toward the right path forward in assisting your parent up until (and during) high-quality memory care services are available to them.
The unfortunate reality of dementia is that your parent will begin to lose their grasp of what their regular routine is meant to look like over time. The first clear signs of this might include forgetting about things like weekly rituals, such as visits to a favorite place with family or friends, as though they didn’t know it was happening or weren’t even aware of it. Eventually, though, it will progress to even basic tasks like showering.
What does this mean for you and your family? It means that you’ll need to step up and help your parent as their situation worsens over time, especially as they begin to lose track of their necessary everyday tasks. Assist them in planning out their schedule each day and help them perform the activities you’ve settled on for those days.
At first, this may simply seem like taking a more active role in their daily lives and joining them for their regular activities; eventually, your role will need to be a much more engaged one, actively helping them perform these activities as needed.
Between the emotional difficulty of the situation and the time required for you to give an adequate level of attention and care to your parent’s basic needs, it can be challenging for everyone involved to remain steady and keep up with the demands of the disease your parent is suffering from.
As much as it’s important to stay in an emotionally caring and understanding place for one another through this tough time, it’s also crucial to give that level of understanding to your parent, too, and to understand that this is likely a temporary situation up until the point that you can find a memory care service that’s right for your parent’s needs.
At Sage Medical, we know that helping a parent or any loved one cope with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia is immensely challenging. That’s why we offer the highest-quality Albuquerque memory care services possible; to take some of the pressure off of your family and provide the same level of effective, empathetic care to your parent. Contact us to learn more or to get started.
