Dementia is a progressive disease that impacts every aspect of someone’s life, along with their loved ones’. It affects cognitive function, memory and behaviour, meaning the right care plan is essential to uphold mental and physical well-being.
The initial reaction from loved ones is usually to take this responsibility on themselves, but this isn’t always possible. As symptoms progress and lead to more challenges, professional care may be the best option. Live-in carers allow your loved one to remain in the comfort of their own home while receiving safe, compassionate care.
Today, we’ll explore how a live-in carer can help manage your loved one’s dementia symptoms, aiming to improve their quality of life and overall well-being.
What Is Dementia?
Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of conditions affecting the neurological system and brain function. These are progressive and lead to cognitive decline, which makes it difficult to complete activities of daily living independently.
Alzheimer’s is one of the most common forms of dementia, making up 60-70% of all cases. Other types include Lewy body, vascular and frontotemporal dementia. While all come with their own unique symptoms, the most common signs of dementia include:
- Memory loss and difficulty remembering events, names and faces
- Cognitive impairment
- Difficulties with organising and planning
- Inability to find the right words or follow conversations with loved ones
- Mood and behavioural changes, including anxiety, anger and depression
Stages of Dementia: When to Seek Help
Dementia typically progresses through several stages, but there are three main categories used when describing someone’s condition. These are:
- Mild Cognitive Impairment: The early stages, where symptoms are noticeable but not severe enough to significantly impact everyday life.
- Moderate Dementia: Symptoms progress to become more apparent and intrusive, affecting daily activities and requiring a degree of support.
- Severe Dementia: Cognitive function deteriorates and physical impairments progress, often requiring comprehensive care.
Knowing the stages of dementia and how they affect your loved one is essential for knowing when to seek help. Most people can continue living independently with mild cognitive impairments, but as symptoms progress, so will daily challenges and care requirements.
Family members often provide as much support and assistance as they can, but a number of challenges may appear, such as communication difficulties, emotional strain between loved ones, and aggravated behaviour. To avoid the dynamic negatively impacting your family, a live-in carer may be needed.
How Live-In Dementia Care Can Support with Symptoms
The thought of introducing a live-in carer can be daunting, especially when your loved one gets confused with new faces. However, the right carer offers plenty of benefits to dementia patients and their families, providing support with symptoms in more ways than one.
Offering Care in a Familiar Environment Reduces Confusion
One of the main reasons why live-in care is preferred for dementia patients is that it helps them stay in their family home, rather than having to move to an assisted living facility. A move can be incredibly stressful on dementia patients, so instead of putting them through this and risking the progression of their condition, choose live-in care.
A live-in carer will stay at your loved one’s home to provide round-the-clock care. Country Cousins will match your loved one with a professional, compassionate carer experienced in dementia care, so you don’t have to worry about a stream of new faces coming and going. They will be able to make a connection with their carer and build trust in them through our services.
Continuous Monitoring Ensures the Right Care is Always Provided
Your loved one’s carer will be with them night and day, keeping an eye on their health and well-being. This includes monitoring overall health and noticing anything that requires medical attention, transportation to and from appointments, and reassurance when meeting new doctors and health professionals.
Our carers will adapt your loved one’s care strategy based on their evolving symptoms and their doctor’s recommendations. We’ll support them as their dementia progresses through its stages, making them as comfortable and confident about their changing symptoms as possible.
Live-In Care Offers a Better Sense of Safety and Security
People with dementia often experience memory loss or confusion. In later stages of the condition, this might materialise as forgetting faces or believing they’re in someone else’s home. A live-in carer will be with your loved one continuously to prevent them from getting agitated due to their forgetfulness.
It’s not uncommon for dementia patients who believe they’re not at home to leave and wander the neighbourhood, trying to find their ‘real’ house. This puts them in a dangerous position, so having the security of a live-in carer by their side ensures they don’t get lost or leave the house on their own.
Managing Sundowning Through Consistency and Care
Sundowning is a common term in dementia care, and it’s where patients experience an increased sense of agitation, confusion and other mood changes. This usually happens in the late afternoon to early evening, when the sun begins to set. Sundowning can be particularly difficult on family members, as many report feeling like their loved one changes into someone else.
There’s no way of eliminating the possibility of sundowning altogether, but a good carer will manage it through maintaining a consistent routine and keeping lighting optimal to avoid darkness from triggering negative emotions. They’ll use distraction and calming techniques when sundowning starts setting in, and schedule activities in the morning as much as possible to avoid a change in the routine causing unnecessary stress.
Support Through Difficulties with Motor Skills
Certain types of dementia cause difficulties with motor skills. Some dementia patients might find it more difficult to move around the house without losing their balance or falling, while others may find using their hands a challenge as symptoms progress. Some patients need assistance with eating, drinking, moving around and caring for themselves.
A Country Cousins carer will support your loved one through any challenges they face as their condition progresses, while prioritising upholding their dignity and encouraging independence. From steadying them while moving around to supporting them with cooking and eating, a carer can improve your loved one’s quality of life by making everyday easier.
Handling Hallucinations and Delusions in a Professional Manner
One of the toughest things people with dementia face is hallucinations and delusions. Seeing your loved one experiencing this is incredibly challenging, and many don’t know how to handle this situation properly to support the person going through it.
A carer experienced in dementia care might use several techniques to support their client through their delusions. These include validating their feelings, reassuring them and offering a distraction. After a short period of time, live-in carers can often spot triggers and do their best to remove them to avoid delusions altogether.
Help Dementia Patients Communicate With Loved Ones
Certain types of dementia can cause speech and language difficulties, making it harder for patients to converse with loved ones and find the right words to communicate their needs. This is very difficult for patients, often leading to social isolation and mental health problems.
A live-in carer might be able to foresee speech and language symptoms and put systems in place to help your loved one communicate more effectively. This might include teaching them to use communication aids, actively listening and creating a consistent routine. Being around your loved one for so long might make them more in tune with their reduced speech, boosting your communication.
Companionship and Emotional Support
The mind and body go through massive changes as dementia progresses, often leading to feelings of confusion, worry, anxiety, anger and fear. This is completely normal, but you might not know how to help your loved one. They might feel isolated and lonely, especially if you can’t be with them all the time.
A live-in carer will offer as much companionship and support as your loved one wants, actively listening to them and conversing about their worries. Country Cousins aims to reduce carer changes as much as possible, so instead of your loved one feeling like they’re in the presence of a professional carer, they’ll hopefully come to think of them as a friend.
Talk to Our Team Today
As the UK’s longest-serving introductory live-in care agency, we have been providing compassionate live-in care to those who need it since 1959 – all from the comfort of their own homes.
Give us a call today on 01293 224 706. Our experienced team is on hand to help from Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm. Alternatively, contact us through our online enquiry form.
