Ground Rules for Handling Troubling Dementia Behavior

For a lot of caregivers who provide in-home care services for family members with dementia, the most challenging issues to handle are usually the personality and behavioral changes that occur. So, our care team at Destiny Home Care has come up with a handful of ground rules that might be of help to you:

• Check with your loved ones’ doctor
  Your relatives’ behavioral problems may be due to an underlying medical reason, like pain, incontinence, adverse side-effects from medications, or hallucinations. You might want to consult their primary care physicians to know whether there are medications available to help you manage the problem. This is especially helpful if your family members are receiving skilled nursing care in Kansas.
• You cannot change the person
  It is vital to remember that the loved ones you are caring for are suffering from a brain disorder that has shaped who they have become. So, try to accommodate the behavior instead of controlling it. Behavior normally has a purpose for people with dementia since they may not be able to effectively communicate their wants or needs.
• What works in the present may not work tomorrow
  Multiple factors can influence troubling behaviors. Add to that the natural progression of their disease, and you might well be aware that the solutions that are effective today might have to be modified tomorrow. To manage difficult behaviors, it is essential that you utilize creative and flexible strategies.
• Get support from other people
  When the burden becomes too much to bear, you can always ask for help from a reliable provider of home care in Overland Park, Kansas.