In-Home Care for Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias

To care for your loved one in their own home, focus on creating a safe, stimulating, and supportive environment and ensure any other health conditions are well-managed.

Address safety hazards in your loved one’s home

Maintaining your loved one’s safety and mobility is key and it’s important to acknowledge that safety needs change as dementia progresses:

• Basic accommodations around the house can reduce safety risks in the early stages of dementia. This can be as simple as removing tripping hazards, such as rugs and electrical cords, to create clear walking paths or adding grab bars in appropriate areas.
• In the later stages of dementia, full-time supervision and more extensive home modifications may be needed. These might include automatic-off kitchen appliances and alarmed doors and windows to minimize unsafe wandering.

Foster a stimulating environment

Appropriate stimulation through exercise and social activities can reduce agitation and make dementia symptoms more manageable. People living with dementia need socialization. Whether through group activities at a local senior center or frequent family visits, interaction can help improve your loved one’s quality of life.^[01]

• Seniors with early- and middle-stage dementia may benefit from memory exercises and productive activities.
• Some people who have late-stage dementia may benefit from sensory stimulation from basic activities, textures, sights, and sounds.^[02]

Incorporate in-home memory care supports into daily routines

With the right tools and technologies, such as dementia care apps, family caregivers can care for someone who has dementia over a longer period of time. Seniors who are diagnosed with dementia often face a long period of cognitive decline, but in-home caregivers can help by providing memory aids and opportunities for success.

Memory aids

Memory aids may help people become more organized and manage the symptoms of memory loss. The American Psychological Association (APA) offers several recommendations:^[03]

• Use a calendar, journal, or to-do list as a memory substitute for daily tasks
• Set alarms or automatic reminders for medication and meals
• Establish a daily routine consisting of engaging and meaningful activities.

Encourage success through accomplishments

By emphasizing strengths, caregivers can help seniors who have mild to moderate dementia feel a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Continued learning and achievement can reduce agitation over memory loss and slow the process of cognitive decline, according to the APA.^[03]

• Simplify tasks and routines. Your loved one may no longer be able to select their own clothes or get dressed, but choosing and putting on a hat each morning could be their responsibility.
• Provide visual and verbal cues for everyday activities. Labeling a bathroom or closet could help seniors find the door they’re looking for and avoid accidents.
• Break tasks into small steps. Although making lunch may be a complex task, straightforward objectives like taking bread out of a bag or peeling a banana may be more manageable.
• Select easy, productive activities your loved one enjoys. Consider their interests, and explore at-home activities for adults with dementia.
• Work on a puzzle or play games such as cards or trivia.

Ensure other health care needs are addressed

Some health conditions, when coupled with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, present additional challenges. For example:^[04]

• Diabetes, high blood pressure, and other underlying conditions can be exacerbated by dementia symptoms, leading to poor quality of life.
• Mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, that predate the onset of dementia, may intensify a loved one’s dementia symptoms.
• As dementia becomes more severe, poor dietary habits such as inconsistent mealtimes, overeating, undereating or eating non-nutritious food can occur or worsen.

Regular medical treatment and appropriately administered medication can help a loved one stay in their home longer.

Let our care assessment guide you

If you’re taking care of someone who has dementia, it’s important to ensure your own needs are met, but it’s not easy.

“Caregivers struggle with a lot of guilt. People often feel cheated – they and their partner were planning trips and other ways to enjoy retirement. Then their partner’s diagnosed with dementia, and they feel cheated. And they feel guilty about feeling cheated because their partner is the one who must live with the disease,” says Carol Bradley Bursack, an eldercare advocate and author of the book Minding Our Elders.

Bursack recommends that spousal and family caregivers take advantage of any resource they can find. That might include:

• A grief counselor. “Because it is grief they’re feeling. It’s important to have someone who can validate that their own needs and feelings are important. They don’t love their spouse any less because they have these feelings,” Bursack says.
• An online support group. “This has been one of the blessings of the internet,” Bursack says. “Especially for caregivers in the ‘sandwich generation,’ there’s no way they have the time to travel to another appointment. Many people struggle just getting themselves to the dentist,” she says.
• Online therapy. “Again, online has been a huge step forward for spousal and family caregivers. The obstacles to self-care are enormous,” says Bursack.

“There’s comfort in being able to take care of someone, but there’s a lot of burden too,” Bursack says. She recommends that family caregivers acknowledge the weight they’re carrying and seek the help of professionals.

Hiring a home care aide to provide respite care is a good way for family caregivers to get a much-needed break. It may also improve the quality of life for people living with dementia. ^[05] A home care aide can:

• Help with activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, and eating — especially during late-stage dementia, when someone may refuse these necessary tasks
• Help managing symptoms of sundown syndrome
• Sensory or reminiscence therapy to reduce agitation and inspire positive memories
• Pet therapy to help alleviate anxiety and depression
• Interaction and person-centered care while family caregivers work, run errands, or attend to other obligations

Rather than a long-term commitment, respite care provides a temporary break for caregivers. While someone else cares for your elderly family member, you can travel, go to medical appointments, see a friend, or simply relax and recharge.

Gauge your own emotional well-being during this time. Sometimes, family caregivers find that respite care gives them the time and space to consider whether residential memory care may be a more appropriate option.

If a loved one’s dementia progresses to the point where their safety, health, or quality of life can’t be maintained, it may be time to consider memory care.

“Caregivers often don’t have anyone caring for them,” Bursack says. “It’s impossible to overstate the burden of just the administrative tasks of caring for someone who has dementia. The doctor’s appointments, the medications, the risk that they’ll get hurt – it never ends,” she says.

“Being told to take care of yourself quickly becomes another thing on your to-do list,” she says.

“Some caregivers fear their loved ones will not be as well taken care of if someone else is caring for them. But you have to adjust and do the best for everyone involved, and that includes you,” she says.

Talk with a Senior Living Advisor

If you feel you need assistance caring for your loved one at home, reach out to A Place for Mom’s Senior Living Advisors. They can provide information about respite options, professional dementia home care, or memory care in your area — all at no cost to your family.