Dementia & Alzheimer’s Care

Family Resource Home Care provides quality care for seniors living with Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, in 2015 there were 5.3 million people in the US living with Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias. That number is expected to increase to over 7 million by 2025. Agencies, businesses, and organizations that serve the senior population are responding to this challenge. If you or your loved one is among those impacted, know that Family Resource Home Care has the experience and expertise to help.

Dementia is best described as a collection of symptoms caused by changes in the brain and marked by cognitive decline. As the disease progresses, memory loss, thinking problems, and personality changes that occur have a life-changing impact on the individual and their family and friends. Caring for a loved one with dementia is extremely challenging for families.

For those who choose to keep their loved one at home, the time often comes when outside help is needed, both to provide the level of care required and to give the family caregiver(s) respite and time to manage their own lives. Our caregivers are trained to work with seniors with dementia from those least affected to the most severely impacted.

How can seniors with dementia benefit from Home Care?

Caring for a person with dementia can be a challenge for family members. Oftentimes the individual will require a considerable amount of assistance requiring more time and expertise than a family can provide.

Experienced Family Resource caregivers can help manage the care of your loved one with dementia, maintain and even improve their quality of life, and help them stay safe and comfortable in their own home. Family Resource caregivers:

• Assist with ADLs: bathing, dressing, toileting, hair, skin and nail care
• Assist with ambulation and transfers. This can range from simple stand-by assistance for safety/cueing to full hands-on care depending on where the person is in their disease process
• Meal Preparation, meal planning, grocery shopping
• Assist with feeding
• Will do Light Housekeeping, laundry, and linen changes
• Assist with and encourage regular exercise
• Provide Transportation for appointments and leisure activities
• Provide supervision to assure safety during the day and also at night when wandering often occurs
• Provide management of problematic behaviors using techniques such as redirection or distraction
• Document and report to family and other professionals involved in the person’s care
• Provide socialization and Companionship

How can families caring for a loved one with dementia benefit from Home Care?

Nearly 15 million Americans provide unpaid care to a person living at home with Alzheimer’s Disease or other dementia. These family caregivers want to help and do a remarkable job. However, providing care for someone with dementia is usually an emotionally draining, exhausting, and overwhelming experience.

These feelings only increase as the dementia grows more pronounced and the demands on the caregiver increase. Many studies have looked at caregiver stress and the emotional and physical damage that can occur if the caregiver does not take time to care for themselves. Support and assistance are essential and this is where Family Resource Home Care can help. We will:

• Provide support and respite. Having an agency caregiver come in either regularly or just from time to time can give the family a much-needed break
• Take over tasks, such as bathing, that family caregivers may find overwhelming
• Provide nighttime coverage so that the family caregiver can sleep
• Provide coverage for blocks of time, or even over several days, by caregivers who will assume responsibility for the day to day care of their loved one, allowing the family caregiver(s) respite

How do you establish services for someone with dementia?

At Family Resource Home Care, we start by listening.

We know that your loved one is much more than the sum of their medical and cognitive mental conditions. When you call us for an in-home assessment, we will use the time to learn all we can about your family member from their health history to their current interests and concerns. We will work with the senior and family caregivers to determine what goals are important and what needs they have.

From there, our client care supervisors will develop a detailed and personalized care plan with special attention paid to each and every condition. The next step is to match a qualified caregiver with your senior and ensure there’s a good match of personality and skill. The caregiver will know and understand the care plan and follow the steps outlined. If the caregiver, senior, or family ever has any questions about the care, supervisors are available by phone 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

The Family Resource caregivers who work with our clients with dementia are all experienced and many have had additional training in dementia care. These caregivers have a special skill set that allows them to work effectively with their clients. They are extremely patient and compassionate and have often developed “tricks-of-the-trade” to encourage clients with dementia to do things they have been resistant to doing previously (bathing is often one of those activities).

Every Family Resource caregiver is trained, and most have their own insured vehicle to escort your loved one to appointments, shopping, and social outings. Plus, we carefully select and screen our caregivers with thorough background checks, required references, and an in-depth interview. We only work with caregivers who are genuinely kind and care about their clients.

If your senior loved one has Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, you can trust the team at Family Resource Home Care will provide the best quality care to keep them safe and happy in their own home.