Spring Arbor Living Blog

Taking care of a relative suffering from Alzheimer’s can be trying, stressful and emotional as the disease progresses.

Yet many families want to keep their relative close, and provide the best care they can from home. It’s important to remember, however, that you can’t care for someone else if you get too run down yourself.

Here are some tips for caregivers that can help you stay healthy and be better able to provide the patience and understanding necessary to the care of their loved one.

1. Share the responsibility. Being the sole person responsible for your loved one’s care can be too much. When you’re run down, stressed out or frustrated you won’t be a good caregiver, and you won’t be doing yourself any favors. Going on too long without a break can lead to emotional and physical health deterioration in your health. Get other family members to help so you have time to yourself as well.

2. Take time for yourself. Make time for the activities that you love at least once a week. Lowering your stress levels will reduce your risk of illnesses and make you feel mentally better. You also want to make sure that you’re nurturing your relationship with your children and family. Caring for a loved one takes a lot of time, but spend time with others as well.

3. Don’t blame yourself. When caring for someone with a disease like Alzheimer’s, accidents will inevitably happen now and again no matter how careful you are. Don’t put all the blame on yourself and further stress yourself out. If you’re doing the best you can, understand that you cannot plan for or prevent every possibility. Learning to relax a little and step back will give you some perspective and lower your stress levels.

4. Join a support group. Don’t go through the stress of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s alone. Caretakers can find support groups. There are numerous websites and blogs dedicated to providing advice, support and laughs to lighten the mood. Finding emotional support is key to keeping yourself mentally healthy and able to care for your loved one.

While being a caregiver can sometimes feel like an all-consuming task, it’s important to pull out a few moments each day to think about yourself and your health. If you are happy, healthy you will be able to provide care and take care of your life as well.

Understand that there are Alzheimer’s care facilities that can meet your needs where your loved one can be happy. Contact Spring Arbor Living in your area for information when the time comes where you feel you or your loved one may be better off with professional care.
 
Original article – Alzheimer’s Reading Room

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Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementing disease afflicting the elderly. There are approximately 4 million people suffering from this disease. The millions of people who suffer from this disease must be cared for either at home or in a care facility.

Caring for an Alzheimer's patient at home

About two thirds of those suffering from this disease are cared for at home by family, usually a spouse. As the disease progresses it carries with it a huge burden both physically and psychologically on the care givers. It is vital that the care giver access support systems that can provide reassurance, support groups, literature and strategies for coping with someone who has the disease.
 
Too often the strain becomes too much for a spouse trying to cope all alone with an Alzheimer's sufferer and they themselves have a physical or mental breakdown.

Choosing the right type of care facility

As the burden of care increases many families seek care for their family member outside the home. Finding the right Alzheimer’s care facility can be a difficult process encompassing many concerns.

Understanding the level and type of care facility where your family member is most appropriately cared for is critical. Choosing Assisted Living communities with levels of care is important. Too often families will place an Alzheimer sufferer at the wrong level, either in a facility that offers more assistance than the family member needs or worse making the family member cope with living in a facility that doesn't have the necessary support services required to meet their needs.

Contact Spring Arbor in your area. We understand the needs of those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease we can match their needs with our custom care plans.

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Alzheimer’s disease is a debilitating mental health disease for the patient and the family. There are ways to extend the quality of life for both the care taker and the victim, but that involves commitment and honesty on both sides of the disease.

Caregivers can extend the time that their loved ones are in their own homes by establishing routines and being committed. However, this takes a toll on the caregiver, often resulting in depression and decreased mental and physical health.

At the onset of Alzheimer’s, the most successful patients are those who have a supportive family that is involved in the process, understands the implications of what is happening, and who is cared for properly.

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Do you know where most of the millions of people who have dementia live? They live at home where family and friends provide the vast majority of their care.

That's why caregiving has been called the fastest growing unpaid profession in the United States.

During the past year more than 67 million Americans provided care to a family member, friend, or loved one, many of whom are suffering from different stages of Alzheimer's disease or some other type of dementia.

If you're a caregiver, you know first-hand what it's like: Getting swept up in tasks -- bathing, shopping, cooking, feeding, making arrangements for medical care, managing behavioral problems, making decisions for the ill person that you have never had to consider before. All the while trying to cope with your own anxieties and fears.

Possibly your are facing a situation where you're likely to become a caregiver. You are most likely wondering how you can make the many difficult decisions that anyone who steps into this demanding role has to confront.

It's an extremely hard job and it usually feels like you're in it alone. But you're not. When a loved one has Alzheimer's or a related dementia it can seem as though few options are available. Spring Arbor offers "Special Care Cottages" programs that are custom designed for residents with these unique challenges.

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