“How will I know when it’s time to find a nursing home for my mom?”
At the mid-stage of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias a caregiver often has to manage the challenges of:
· Difficult behaviors such as agitation and restlessness, or the extreme reaction to an event or situation which the person with dementia doesn’t understand
· Wandering, and the challenges of keeping someone safe in the home, particularly during the nighttime hours
Care can be a 24 hour a day / 7 day a week task as the person with mid-stage dementia often has day and nighttime routines mixed up. This can create difficulty managing the person safely in the home during the hours a caregiver is sleeping, or may be in another part of the home.
The late stage of Alzheimer’s disease usually requires intensive, around-the-clock assistance. A person in late-stage Alzheimer’s usually:
· Has difficulty eating and swallowing
· Needs assistance walking and eventually becomes bedridden or chair-bound
· Needs full-time help with personal care, including toileting
· Is vulnerable to infections and pneumonia
· Loses the ability to communicate with words
At this stage, care requires a fair amount of physical capacity and endurance, as well as additional caregiver support which may strain or exhaust financial resources.
If you are not sure if it’s time to select a nursing home, ask yourself a few questions:
Safety:
Is the person with dementia safe?
Has he/she left the house alone and/or gotten lost?
Health:
Is the health of the person with dementia at risk?
Is my health as a caregiver at risk?
Is he/she incontinent of bowel and/or bladder?
Care needs:
Does the person with dementia need more care than I am able to give right now?
Is it becoming too difficult for me to care for the person with dementia?
Have I exhausted financial resources needed for paid caregiver support in the home?
For more information call 317-215-5111 or www.behomelivelife.com
