Caring For Someone Who Has Alzheimer's Disease

In late stage Alzheimer’s, memory problems have now become much worse, both for recent events and for long-ago happenings. Things you, as the caregiver, may have just said to your loved one will not be remembered, and you may have to repeat... Full Answer

Verbal communications in the late stage of the disease will have become quite limited. “Yes” and “no” may be the only words the person can form regularly, and they may develop a kind of short-hand to express themselves. For... Full Answer

Hallucinations occur when the patient sees or hears something or someone whom you, the caregiver, cannot see or hear. Most of the time, these sensations are relatively benign and do not disturb the patient, although they may be upsetting to you.... Full Answer

As the caregiver, you may notice the patient experiencing either depression or apathy. Spontaneous activities will grind to a halt; the patient will not eat, get dressed or participate in any activities. Trying to distract the patient or offering... Full Answer

Sleep disturbances, including a complete reversal of the day-night cycle, is a troublesome behavior that may occur. And if your patient cannot sleep, you, as the caregiver, are not going to be able to sleep either, which will very quickly run you... Full Answer

As the disease progresses the patient becomes less and less aware of when they need to go to the bathroom. While in the middle stages this can probably be managed by taking the patient to the bathroom every couple of hours with only the... Full Answer

Caregiving becomes tougher as the disease progresses. Many more areas of the patient’s functioning are now affected. Patients may now experience not only short-term but long-term memory loss as well. Just in case it is not clear what is meant... Full Answer

As both short-term (recent) and long-term (remote) memory become increasingly impaired, the caregiver will need to serve as surrogate memory to the patient, filling in blank spaces where needed, or glossing over the issue of failed memory.... Full Answer

Other members of your family have an interest in the well-being of your loved one with Alzheimer's—your children, a brother or sister, an in-law or other “interested parties.” These individuals may at times tell you that you should be... Full Answer

It turns out that having a similar routine of activities each day works best for persons in the early, and even in the later stages of this disease. What that routine will consist of depends on what routines the person has followed before they developed... Full Answer