How to Help Your Loved Ones if They were Diagnosed with Dementia

Your family is the rock of your life. Everyone from your grandparents to your children are the ones that surround you with love and memories you’ll forever cherish. One of the utmost priorities in any family is their health. However, the moment any of them, especially your grandparents, is diagnosed with a threatening disease such as dementia; the feeling of dread is unlike any other.

With the help of dementia caregiver services in Chicago, people everywhere are educated about this condition. For a brief overview of the disease, dementia, despite its circumstance, is not a specific disease, rather an overall term for a decline in a person’s mental capabilities. With this condition, a person’s memory and other cognitive functions are impaired. Dementia is often associated with Alzheimer’s disease, which is actually the most common form of dementia, with over 60-70% of cases worldwide. The second most common form of dementia is Vascular Dementia, which usually occurs after a stroke. This illness affects over 150,000 people in the UK alone.

When your loved one is diagnosed with this condition, though not life-threatening, it can take an enormous toll on them. It’s a good thing that there are some things you can do in order to help them. Here are a few examples:

1. Treat Them the Same as if the Diagnosis Never Happened

   Though this does not mean that you outright ignore the disease. People diagnosed with this condition may be ill, but they should not to be treated differently.

   So, to keep the strength of our family intact, treat your loved ones diagnosed with this condition the same way you treated them before, with lots of love and support.

2. Respect and Understand your Loved One

   People with this condition may start to behave differently, even in erratic or irrational ways. If your loved one is afflicted with dementia, do your best to respect and understand what they’re going through. It may be difficult at times, but always remember that this is just an obstacle in your life; you and your family can definitely overcome it.

3. Allow them Free Reign on What They Want to Do

   As their caretaker, it is your responsibility to keep a close eye on them at all times. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to do it all the time.

   People with dementia, though their cognitive functions’ impaired, still retain a vast majority of their capabilities as a person. As much as possible, if they want to do something on their own, allow them that freedom; grant them this simple wish.

4. Include them in Anything You Have Planned

   Including your loved ones with dementia in anything you may have planned for the family can make them feel as if they don’t have it. This gesture is a great way of showing love, trust, and appreciation to them.

5. Be Active in Your Loved One’s Caregiving

   When your loved one is diagnosed with dementia, as mentioned before, they will need all the love and support from their family. Being active in their therapy is a fulfilling thing to do, especially when you start to see any sign of improvement no matter how subtle it may be.

   Being diagnosed with dementia is certainly a difficult thing. Your elderly loved ones who have this condition should receive all the love and care they need from you. Provide them these as well as support them by following the things listed above. This will, surely, help them get through it as easily as possible.