5 Essential Dementia Tips for Caregivers

It is estimated that nearly 5 million people in the U.S. have some form of dementia. Approximately 47.5 million people all over the world suffer from dementia. Although it is not a general part of aging, dementia usually affects older people. Dementia causes impairment of thinking, memory, and communication. This makes living routine life difficult for the person affected as well as for their caregivers. Not only the person affected needs to learn how to cope with the disease, but it is essential to know dementia tips for caregivers as well.

Recommended Read: Tips to Help Recognize The Symptoms of Dementia

Dementia falls under the category of neurodegenerative disease; in such disease, the cells of the brain slowly deteriorate. This is known as progressive brain cell death. It is not yet certain whether dementia causes the brain cells to die, or the brain cell death causes dementia. Either way, the symptoms of the disease are debilitating. As the disease progresses, the affected person will become more and more dependent on caregivers. It becomes necessary for caregivers to practice empathy and patience to communicate with and help a person with dementia effectively. Here a few dementia tips for caregivers to follow:

Positive attitude and body language: Actions always speak louder than words. While communicating with a person with dementia, it is essential to maintain a positive mood. Keep body language, facial expressions, the tone of voice, and physical touch respectful and pleasant. The interactions should be positive and calm.
Fewer distractions and noise: A person with dementia gets easily distracted by external noises and movements. While communicating with the person, a caregiver can turn off the television or the radio, go to a quitter surrounding, close the curtains, or shut the door. Having the person’s complete attention is essential. This can be done by addressing the person by their name, hold their hand to keep them focused, and sit or bend to their level while talking to them.
Clarity in verbal communication: While talking, a caregiver should be careful about the tone of their voice and the words they use. Verbal communication should be as simple as possible; use short and simple words. Speak in an amiable tone without raising the voice or speaking loudly. While speaking to them, it is necessary to be clear, slow, and reassuring.
Simplify questions: A person with dementia has a hard time thinking. They find it difficult to string multiple thoughts together. While asking something, ask one question at a time. Questions that require only yes or no responses are the most effective ones. Avoid open-ended questions or those that have too many options. Use visual cues so that they are able to respond easily.
Practice patience: One of the most crucial dementia tips for caregivers is to practice patience. A person with dementia will struggle a lot while communicating. It is not that they are avoiding your queries or being unresponsive on purpose. It is just that their brain takes time to understand and absorb if something is being asked. This slows down the person’s response to a particular action or question. So, it is necessary to be patient while waiting for them to reply. Even if they do not respond verbally, watch out for nonverbal visual cues and body language that might provide appropriate responses.