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Whether you are a relative or caregiver, providing care to a loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia is a full-time job. Helping your loved one feel truly loved with long-term care is crucial to their overall health. These cognitive diseases progress at different rates with each individual, so it’s important to take the time to properly care for them. If you don’t have prior experience or training as a caregiver, then it’s highly advised that you seek out professional Alzheimer’s support.

At Coastal Home Care in Worcester County, MD, our professional caregivers are dedicated to providing your loved one with the comprehensive Alzheimer’s support they need to live the highest quality of life possible. We understand that one caregiving approach may not work for everyone so we focus on individualized care instead. As we create a custom plan of care for your loved one, you can be sure that they’ll be safe and comfortable on a daily basis.

To give you an idea of how our caregivers support your loved one, here are a few pieces of advice from our care team:

Plan a Routine

People who are experiencing Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia are likely to suffer varying levels of frustration. As a caregiver, take some time to create a personalized and flexible schedule or routine that offers various activities throughout their day. Doing this will help your loved one significantly reduce their chances of being frustrated.

Set up a Positive Home Environment

Individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia should have the freedom to move about their home as they wish. Caregivers must try to make their in-home environment as safe and comfortable as possible to help them maintain their quality of life.

Adjust the temperature during the day, make sure the water temperature is suitable, and ensure enough light is being produced throughout their home.

As these factors will help them find comfort inside, remember to keep in mind their requests while staying flexible.

Limit Distractions

A common sign of Alzheimer’s is constant distraction. For instance, a person with Alzheimer’s may find little details extremely distracting, such as someone outside doing yard work or the television playing in the background. Be aware of what’s distracting your loved one and limit or remove it from their routine.

Caregivers should try to limit specific distractions to allow their loved ones to focus on their tasks or activities throughout the day. This allows them to maintain their cognitive functions to complete these activities and prevents confusion.

Provide Clear Directions

For every activity and task you plan for your Alzheimer’s patient, provide easy-to-follow directions.

Keep it simple, make it clear, and don’t overload him or her with too much information all-at-once, as it may cause confusion and frustration.

Provide proper instructions so that they are able to take the time to understand and enjoy the activity fully. This will also allow them time to ask you questions or request additional help.

Allow Various Options and Choices

As you care for your loved one, it is vital that you maintain a sense of respect for them and how they would like to live their life. Memory loss diseases can be quite debilitating, so keep an open mind to their requests to ensure they maintain their independence.

With flexible activities and meals, allow them to choose certain things throughout their day, such as a drink to go with their breakfast or an outfit for the day.

Giving them options every so often will help them feel at ease and comfortable knowing they have a decent level of control over their life.

Make it Safe

Treating an Alzheimer’s patient at-home has the advantage of giving them an environment that they’re already comfortable with. This will help make it easier for them to enjoy their day-to-day life and be comfortable with others that are present in that same environment.

As their sense of judgment and mental control gradually degrade over time, they may feel uneasy moving about their own home.

Caregivers can help increase their confidence by keeping their home neat and organized, ensuring hazards won’t harm them.

Be Patient

Losing your cognitive abilities as you age is a challenge and caregivers must be patient and understanding to ensure their loved ones are living life as comfortably as possible.

Be positive and cautious around Alzheimer’s patients, as each individual has progressed with the disease in different ways. If you are a family member, provide them with the support and encouragement your loved one needs to remain safe and enjoy their life to the fullest.

If you require additional assistance, we recommend working with a professional Alzheimer’s caregiver at Coastal Home Care to help your loved one maintain their dignity and quality of life.

Get the Professional Alzheimer’s Support Your Loved One Needs in Worcester County, Maryland

With over 50 million people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia, there are specific strategies that will allow your loved one to live a safe and productive life. Our team at Coastal Home Care is committed to providing your loved one with a custom plan of care that suits their Alzheimer’s support needs. We prioritize your family’s concerns and use it alongside our professional training and experience to create a level of care that works best for your loved one.

Schedule a consultation with us! Contact our Alzheimer’s support team at (866) 687-7307 for assistance today.

According to a recent report from the Alzheimer’s Association, an estimated 5.8 million Americans over the age of 65 live with Alzheimer’s dementia. This estimate accounts for the individuals, but there are many more affected, particularly families that are involved in their caretaking. When it comes to providing care to a loved one living with Alzheimer’s, there are numerous options to choose from, whether it be working together as a family, hiring in-home care, placing them in a nursing facility, and more.

At Coastal Home Care, we want to help families and their loved ones remain comfortable and stable even while facing the challenges that health conditions like Alzheimer’s bring. Our experienced nurses are highly-trained in providing quality Alzheimer’s and dementia care, as well as providing the best caretaking services for residents throughout Wicomico County, MD for over 10 years. Here is our guide on providing care for loved ones living with Alzheimer’s:

What is Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s is a degenerative brain disease that first degrades one’s ability to think, learn, and recall memory. Over time, it affects basic functions like walking and eating, and will eventually cause the patient to require round-the-clock care.

While it isn’t always made clear, the difference between Alzheimer’s and Dementia is that one primarily causes the other. Dementia is a term that describes the overall symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease, while the disease itself causes these symptoms to arise.

Unfortunately, a cure for it hasn’t been found, but a regimen of certain practices and medications can help improve symptoms for a time. We discuss such practices below.

How to Provide Proper Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care

Form a Day-To-Day Schedule

Among the first things we recommend you do is observe your loved one’s daily habits, like when they regularly wake up and the times of day they are most lucid and cooperative. Consider these, but also remember that there may often be differences one day to the next, so be prepared to adapt as well. With that in mind, form a consistent schedule you can keep with them, ensuring you can regularly care for them in the best ways when they are most comfortable for you to do so.

Learn How to Communicate

One of the most important aspects of caretaking, especially for seniors living with dementia and Alzheimer’s, is clear communication. It is important that your loved one and their caretaker have a mutual understanding and are able to discuss the patient’s needs and preferences. Some helpful things to do is:

• Use simpler word choice and short sentences to make it easier for the patient to understand.
• Maintain a calm, soothing tone.
• When talking, make sure you reduce or eliminate all distractions for them so that they can concentrate on the discussion.

Safely Maintain Hygiene

Another challenge to address is the fact that many with dementia and Alzheimer’s often have a hard time maintaining their hygiene as they begin to have a fear of water, as well as falling and slipping in the bath or shower. First and foremost, make sure that their washing facilities have safety rails and non-slip pads installed, ensuring your loved one’s safety.

Beyond that, you should communicate to them that they’ll be taking a bath or shower soon, particularly during the time of day when they are most amenable to perform activities. Make sure that the experience is comfortable for them throughout by providing a robe, towels, and slippers for when they get out of the shower or bath, as well as testing the temperature of the water before they step into it.

Between showers and baths, you can simply perform sponge baths with them, allowing them to maintain better hygiene without any fear or stress.

Provide Proper Nutrition

A well-maintained and healthy diet is especially beneficial for elderly individuals, whether they have Alzheimer’s or not. However, it can be difficult to serve or feed patients with Alzheimer’s, as they can often be forgetful of or uncooperative during meals. Some solutions that could help include:

• Creating routine mealtimes that are consistent, but flexible to adapt to their daily behaviors.
• Provide a list of meal options they can choose from to foster independence and enjoyment during the meal.
• Serve small meals throughout the day to avoid overeating while also maintaining their nutrition.

Stay Consistently Active

Every elderly individual should also remain active. In the case of your loved one having Alzheimer’s, this can be a challenge, but it’s not impossible to work through with patience and enthusiasm, especially when presenting opportunities for them to enjoy hobbies or activities they enjoy. Here are some suggestions:

• Provide simple, brief activities that have few steps and requirements to them.
• Assist them by breaking down each step.
• Praise them as they complete their tasks, and guide them further if they start getting frustrated.
• Consider adult day services, which offer activities and social settings for seniors, along with food and transportation. This can act as both an interesting excursion and a needed respite for you or another caregiver.

Create an End-Of-Day Routine

Finally, there are numerous individuals living with Alzheimer’s who experience what is called “sundown syndrome”, where they become increasingly agitated and restless during the later part of the day and toward the evening.

In this circumstance, there are several ways you can manage your loved one’s change in mood and behavior. Primarily, you should prepare an end-of-day routine for them, ensuring they remain comfortable through the familiarity of their activities towards the end of the day.

Some practices we also recommend include ensuring they avoid stimulants such as alcohol, caffeine, or nicotine, and create a quiet, peaceful atmosphere by winding down you and your family’s nightly activity by shutting off the TV as well as reducing loud noises.

We also suggest you have your loved one perform an appropriate amount of exercise and general activity, as well as avoid taking naps, earlier in the day, as that will reduce the likelihood of them being restless toward the end of the day.

Coastal Home Care: Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care in Wicomico County, MD

Caring for those living with Alzheimer’s is a challenge even for those who have done so for years at a time. However, many of the difficulties such a disease brings can be eased through the strategies we’ve provided above. Additionally, you can support your caretaking resources by hiring an experienced Alzheimer’s and dementia care nurse from a recognized service within the home care industry, such as Coastal Home Care. For over ten years, our highly-trained caregivers have provided an extensive variety of home care services to senior residents and their families throughout Wicomico County, MD. We provide hospice support, post-operative care, elder care, and other services, all suited to the needs and preferences of each of our patients through our personalized care practices.

Contact us at (866) 687-7307 for more information about our services and schedule an appointment with one of our certified caregivers today.

While we are lucky to live and enjoy spending time with our dear parents and grandparents, we must prepare ourselves to assist them as they age. As we all age, we lose the ability to perform more and more of our everyday tasks that are essential to our quality of life. For us at Coastal Home Care, our focus is to ensure the elders we care for maintain their independence and comfort as well as remain healthy and safe.

The services we provide, such as our personalized senior companion care, are tailored to fit each of our patients’ particular needs and preferences. Through Sussex County, DE, we’ve worked carefully with elders and their families to ensure they receive the best, most affordable home care possible.

Below, we provide some instances when you should consider hiring a companion or home caregiver:

Signs of a Lack of Proper Self-Care

There are common signs that indicate when an elder needs caregiver assistance.

One sign is that they are no longer performing certain personal habits, such as daily hygiene, grooming, and dressing. This may be due to them undergoing some form of dementia, or that they’re forgoing their habits because it has become too difficult to do alone.

So, if you notice they no longer dress the same, and are less clean and tidy than before, they are likely in need of assistance.

Other common signs include a general lack of cooking or having nutritious foods around the house, mismanaging or mixing up their medications, avoiding doctor’s appointments, and an overall absence of conversation and companionship in their everyday lives.

While one of these signs may not entirely prove their need for companion care, several of these at once do, and we recommend watching out and addressing them as soon as possible.

Increased Frequency of Accidents/Injuries

Another very important signifier for an elder’s need for home companion care is an increased frequency of accidents and injuries within the home. This is especially true if they are a result of your loved one trying to perform a routine task or chore.

When these incidents occur, most seniors will try to excuse or conceal such events as being a mistake. While it may be true, in order to do what’s best for your loved one, we suggest to remain cautious and try to courteously convince them to install various safety features within their homes, such as non-slip seats and mats in their shower and bathroom.

To make certain that they are always safe and taken care of, hire a senior companion caregiver.

Prevention of Sympathetic/Caregiver Burnout

If you or another family member are the primary caregivers to your beloved elder, it’s important to know what your limits are.

As longtime professional home care providers, we understand that providing the care your loved one deserves involves a vast amount of effort and stress.

From our experience, this has led to what is known as caregiver burnout, which is a state of mental and physical exhaustion caused by exerting vast amounts of patience and effort in caring for someone for most of their day.

Hiring a caregiver for even a few hours every other day can provide you or your relative time that they need to regroup and maintain their own quality of life before going back in to help your elderly loved one’s needs.

Coastal Home Care: Devoted Senior Companion Care in Sussex County, DE

Understanding when it is the right time for you and your loved one to receive the care they need is crucial to ensuring they avoid future injuries or damage to their home, as well as maintaining your ability to sustainably provide the love and comfort you want to give.

Coastal Home Care can help through our numerous services, including dependable senior companion care, efficient medication management, and much more. Our caregivers are fully certified and undergo rigorous hands-on training to ensure they consistently provide high-quality care to each of their patients.

Contact us at (866) 687-7307 to get more information or schedule a caregiver today!

For years, games and activities have continuously offered people of all ages intellectually challenging and stimulating ways to keep our minds active. Not only do they improve our cognitive abilities, but they also enhance our daily functions.

With technology constantly advancing, there’s an even wider expanse of games available. However, if you have aging loved ones, then they may need extra help finding activities to do, especially if they’re digital.

If your family is unable to spend regular time with your elderly family members, then consider connecting with an experienced companion care provider for assistance. Coastal Home Care offers personalized companion care in Sussex County, DE, to ensure families are receiving the additional caregiving support they deserve.

To give you a few more ideas, here’s a list of games and activities that have proven to improve the mental and physical effects of aging:

Brain Training

Engaging games is one of our greatest pastimes. They’re known to improve memory, daily life skills, cognitive ability, emotional wellbeing while challenging the brain to get creative to solve problems.

Help your loved one find activities that truly speak to their interests and capabilities to ensure they’re enjoying themselves as they age. Here are a few classic brain training games that never get old:

• Bingo
• Crossword Puzzles
• Jigsaw Puzzles
• Scrabble

Digital Game Apps

Digital apps, such as the ones listed below, are also said to have aided in the improvement of everyday cognitive abilities and functions, which may include cooking, buying necessities, and handling personal finances.

When it comes to digital games on mobile devices, they’ve become even more popular. Check out a few of these digital game apps below:

• Elevate
• Lumosity
• Peak
• Memorado

Arts & Crafts

Helping your loved one take on a new hobby like playing or listening to music, meditating, and creating art are great ways to improve their hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and sustain their dexterity.

When your elder is physically creating with their hands, it engages their mind, as the creative process, in a sense, helps them stay active.

Staying Social

Over 6.5 million Americans age 65 and older experience various levels of depression. Loss of independence and increased disability are often the causes of this in older adults.

Socially engaging games or activities helps those who have tendencies toward isolation or depression.

Social activities may include deep conversations, volunteering with various organizations in your area, book club, community walking group, and much more.

Choose Compassionate Companion Care in Sussex County, DE

We understand that there are times when you may not spend as much time as you would like to with your aging loved ones. At Coastal Home Care, it’s our pleasure to assist you with the additional companion care support your family needs.

We accommodate any level of companionship your family member is open to and are looking forward to discussing it further with you to ensure we are providing you with everything you need at this time.

We’re open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Connect with our companion care team at (866) 687-7307 for more information.

Elder care is a challenge for many individuals and families throughout the country. To properly address this challenge, we at Coastal Home Care suggest having a safety net put in place for when your parents or grandparents are no longer able to fully care for themselves.

Our team of highly-trained nurses has provided numerous forms of care, including hospice care, medication management, companion care, and attentive post-operative care, all for residents and families throughout Sussex County, DE.

Here are five essential tips you should follow when caring for the elders in your family:

Establish a Support System

The very first thing we recommend you should do is to build a support system: a group of reliable individuals besides yourself that will promptly and adequately assist in caring for your loved one. This system can include other members of your immediate family, relatives that live in the area, or close friends.

Work together to form a potential schedule that provides adequate coverage of your loved ones’ daily activities, ensuring they always have a companion and transportation. If your support system includes many individuals, but with little time to permit in directly assisting in elder care, consider pooling your financial resources in order to hire an in-home caregiver.

Observe Closely

Although it may seem intrusive, be alert to potential behavioral and physiological changes in your loved one.

This can be difficult, since nearly every elder desires to maintain their full independence for as long as possible, and may try to hide any changes that could cause them to lose it.

Closely observing their condition can ensure you and your support system provide the appropriate care before any sort of crisis situation that might occur.

Prepare Meals

Proper nutrition is often difficult to maintain for older people because they no longer have the stamina or ability to shop for groceries and cook their own meals.

This has led to many cases where they may skip meals or eat pre-made, processed foods that have less nutritional value than home-cooked meals.

Some solutions may include having a daily companion present to help them cook or provide weekly pre-prepared meals.

Ensure Home Safety

At a certain point in the aging process, we may be unable to move about our own homes without risking injuries from falling or slipping.

That is why it’s important to install numerous safety devices throughout your loved one’s home to ensure they do not end up injured.

These installations can include placing grab bars in each bathroom, in both the shower/bath and near the toilet, so that your loved one can keep their balance.

Also tape down any loose floor rugs to avoid slipping hazards, as well as place rubber mats in and outside your shower/bathtub. Find out more ways to ensure the safety of your loved ones by discussing your concerns with a professional elder care service.

Maintain Activity & Independence

While it’s important to be attentive and cautious, you should also provide ways for your elder to stay engaged and active in their daily routines.

Have them take time each day to exercise, whether it be a walk outside or by using low-impact exercise machines. This not only helps keep their health and standard of living high but also helps strengthen their mind and liven up their moods.

You should also allow them to maintain a sense of their own independence, whether it be giving them time to work on a hobby they still enjoy or take them out to various social, religious, or recreational events and gatherings they’ll enjoy.

Coastal Home Care: Experienced Post-Operative Care in Sussex County, DE

Following the tips above can significantly increase the chances of retaining or even improving the quality of life for your elder loved one. At Coastal Home Care, our trained and certified caregivers always cooperate with patients and their families, seeking ways to guarantee the comfort and contentment of their patients in living their daily lives. They are trained to provide personalized home care services, from attentive dementia and Alzheimer’s care, and sympathetic hospice support, to committed post-operative care. For over ten years, we have provided excellent home care support for elderly residents throughout Sussex County, DE, all of which have been highly-satisfied by our professional and compassionate nursing staff.

Contact us today at (866) 687-7307 and learn more about our services.

When you are away, having a companion for your sick or elderly loved one can be very beneficial. It provides them a companion to speak with and confide in. This companion also ensures the health and wellness of your aging loved one.

At Coastal Home Care, we provide highly-trained registered nurses that are dedicated to providing individualized support to their patients. Our company has worked in the home care industry for over ten years, providing dependable companion care services, medication management, and post-operative care to numerous residents and families throughout Wicomico County, MD. We personalize our Plan of Care services for each patient.

Here’s how having a companion care aide can help support you and your loved one:

Provide Companionship

First and foremost, a companion care aide provides connection and social interaction to your loved one. Everyone has a busy schedule and may not be able to provide enough time with their loved ones to hear about each of their current issues and developments.

A companion care aide can support your elder by spending time with them throughout the day and checking on your loved one’s overall well-being. This relieves the stress of leaving your loved one at home by themselves and gives them someone to talk to throughout the day. It will also ensure that your loved one has someone to consistently communicate with about their needs.

Improve Quality of Life

Companion care aides go beyond being there for your loved one. They strive to create a symbiotic relationship that helps enable them to thrive. They help resolve various emotional and physical problems, relieve your elder’s stress and discomfort they may have, and much more. They even assist with any housekeeping duties that your loved one may not be able to do on their own.

Different Types of Companion Care Aides

There are two different kinds of companion aides that specialize in certain forms of care.  These  include:

• Elder Care – Elder care is a 24-hour service involving caring for and assisting your loved one throughout their day. They provide support in daily tasks and routines such as transportation, grooming, running errands, and more.
• Hospice Care – Hospice care companions are focused on providing comfort and care to patients with terminal illnesses, both through counseling and pain management.

Coastal Home Care: Reliable Companion Care Services in Wicomico County, MD

At Coastal Home Care, we understand the importance of companionship, whether it be hospice care or simply someone who your loved one can chat with daily. Our nurses are devoted to providing compassionate companionship care beyond just doing chores around the home. They want to create a true relationship with your loved one so that they feel comfortable sharing their concerns.

Call us at (866) 687-7307 or fill out our form and learn how our registered nurses and certified caregivers can provide your loved one safety, comfort, and connection.