Dementia can be a tough disorder to deal with. There are many behaviors that your elderly parent might portray if they have dementia. Dealing with these behaviors can be confusing at times. You might not be sure what you are supposed to do and you might become frustrated. However, there are some tips on how to handle dementia behaviors. Once you can get familiar with these behaviors and what to do about them, you can better handle the behaviors.
Aggressive Speech or Actions
Your parent might start saying things like, “I just want to go home!” or “I will not eat this!”. These may even result in your parent throwing their food, hitting you, or doing other aggressive things. The number one thing to keep in mind when your parent says or does these things is they aren’t doing it towards you. It is nothing personal. They are feeling uncomfortable or fearful and this is leading to their outbreaks. The best thing you can do is try to figure out what is causing their fear or discomfort. Do this once you have made sure you or your parent isn’t in danger. Don’t engage in arguments with them.
Being Confused About Times or Places
If your elderly parent is confused about why they are at a particular place or what time something is happening, you will want to explain to them. However, you should know that wanting to be home or in a familiar place is common in senior citizens. They often get confused about places they aren’t that familiar with. You can simply explain where you are or even show your parent pictures of what you are doing. Do not go into long conversations with your loved one about why they just can’t do what they want to do. This will only confuse them even more.
Poor Judgment
Do you notice that your parent is using poor judgment. They may not be handling things as well as they could be. The dementia is causing changes in their brain and body that are causing this lack of judgment. In fact, there are deteriorating brain cells when someone has something like Alzheimer’s or dementia. The first thing you will want to do is assess what is happening. If you see there are things happening, don’t jump onto your parent. See if you can help them in small ways, so they don’t get embarrassed. Maybe hire senior care providers to come help them with things, so they aren’t as embarrassed as if their own child was seeing their poor judgment. Don’t offer to take over everything at once. This can be very alarming to someone who has dementia. In many cases, they won’t realize what all is happening. They forget things easily and it might overwhelm them to have someone take over everything at once.
These are some of the ways to handle dementia behaviors in your senior parent or other loved one.
Sources: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/managing-personality-and-behavior-changes-alzheimers
https://www.alz.org/media/Documents/alzheimers-dementia-related-behaviors-ts.pdf
If you or an aging loved-one are considering Senior Care Services in Michigan, please talk to the caring staff at Hope Senior Home Care today 313.881.3132.
