Dementia Behavior Management Tips
Learn how to effectively manage challenging behaviors in dementia patients with these practical tips. Discover alternatives to arguing, distraction and diversion techniques, and reminiscing as a tool for caregiving. Optimize your dementia home care approach and improve your caregiving experience.
Dementia Behavior Management Tips address decreasing or eliminating challenging behaviors. Each of these strategies should be included in your caregiver toolkit. This will optimize your caregiving and decrease challenging and negative behaviors.
Arguing with a person with dementia is a lose-lose circumstance. Remember, the individual with dementia does not have the capability to reason. The have lost the ability to think like a typical individual can.
To effectively communicate with someone that person must have the ability to reason. This is a capacity that is being lost daily by your family member with dementia.
Behavior Interventions Can Slow the Progression of Dementia
Alternatives to arguing or disagreeing with a dementia patient... recognize that they do not comprehend the logic of what you are trying to communicate. You are most likely going to develop a stressful situation. This can result in an emotional outburst. This could result in negative behaviors such as crying, hitting or acting out.
A dementia home care approach is to appeal to your family member on a psychological level. This means if you say something that was misunderstood. You may not escalate the situation; you could intensify negative and unwanted behaviors.
You will discover to choose your battles. Prevention is easier to handle, than de-escalating a situation. You will both lose if you want to confront and disagree with a person with dementia.
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When needed, interruption and diversion are good tactics
To provide caregiving as the disease progresses, you will utilize techniques... diversion and interruption. These are important techniques in your day-to-day toolkit of dementia care tips. Distraction may aid your family member with dementia to forget what’s upsetting them. It may stop an unwanted or negative behavior, if for a brief period of time.
Diversion is transforming focus by removing activity.
Diversion is a technique to use to get the dementia patient to take part in some activity. This is done to occupy their mind and body on something else.
Activities may be simple things such as:
• Assisting with chores
• Exercising, such as walking,
• Reading (if able) or being read to
• Offering a snack or meal time
• Some task of daily living.
These activities can be a diversion that encourages involvement. The activity should be at a level that the dementia patient is able to function. Even if the dementia patient recognizes they are upset... they could delight in the very next moment about being involved in another activity.
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We all have a past, and we are now affected to a degree by our encounters. Take time to learn about your family member with dementia and their past. If in the early stages, learn straight from them. If you can, get information from other family members and friends. This will permit you and others to acknowledge your relative more as an individual. Not simply as somebody that has dementia.
This could be a bit more involved than you think it needs to be. It can help substantially helpful with your dementia home care strategy.
The person with dementia is still your mom, your grandma, your sibling, or your spouse. Dementia robs your family member of their ability to think – not yours!
Knowing as much about the previous life also might offer comfort to the dementia patient... in the middle to later stages of the disease. A completed person centered care profile can provide details to stimulate discussions. It can offer outside caregivers’ information to make your family member feel safe.
Reminiscent treatment-- an useful tool
Most of those with dementia, as most aging adults, have some warm memories of the past. Discovering something new about your family member, that you didn’t already know... is always a precious find. You will enjoy knowing this information in the future.
Many dementia patients, in the later phases of the disease, will remember life as they were growing up. Or remember a time served in the service. They may remember a favorite job or occupation. They will no longer have short term memory but, long term memory is still ingrained in the brain.
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Use humor and wit
Those with dementia won’t acknowledge jokes. Yet they will be most likely grin when someone smiles at them, and laugh when another person laughs. A dementia patient could mirror you and your feelings, which might be an advantage. If you are content or happy, this will rub off on your family member with dementia, in an positive way.
Be aware of orienting to the present
Being oriented to... time, location, person, and place is generally an excellent thing. It is not always an advantage to orient a disoriented person with dementia. Keep in mind; an individual with dementia is living in the moment.
Reminding your family member that a loved one has passed. Could cause a person with dementia to.. Mourn all over once again. It is as if they just learned the news.
If your family member thinks their dead spouse is still alive. Let them. It is more vital to keep your family member in great spirits and not trigger them grief or undo stress and anxiety. It is better to keep your family member with dementia on an even keel. Distract them to avoid telling them bad, unnecessary news. It is better to tell them their deceased family member is at the store, at work or someplace else. Then distract them with an activity. Hearing that their family member has died, can cause terrible grief and sadness.
Bear in mind to appreciate personal space
Each of us has a personal space. This is the space each individual unconsciously determines. It is the physical distance we should be from an additional person. This is in order not to feel threatened or harmful. Depending upon the relationship with a person, personal space will vary. To make things a little bit harder, personal space can vary with a dementia patient. This can vary from day to day.
Be aware of your family members sense of personal space, as long as possible. Attempt not to breach this unless important to maintain health and wellness. Appreciating this dementia home care technique will definitely save you undo tension. And avoid negative behaviors.
Never treat your relative with dementia as a child
It does not matter how much brain damage dementia has caused. Or whether or not your family member with dementia is acting as a kid. Many individuals with dementia are still adequately conscious to understand. How they are being attended to. Treat them with dignity and respect.
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