Challenges of Caring for Elderly with Dementia at Home

Dementia care at home for elderly can be hard. Symptoms of dementia develop gradually. Infact initially, symptoms of dementia are often confused with simple signs of aging. However, as dementia progresses, what initially appears to be mild forgetfulness can eventually transform into confusion, short-term memory loss, mood swings and more. Because of this, dementia care at home for elderly can be hard. However, there are several healthcare providers that offer dementia care at home and can make things easy and manageable for family members and caregivers of dementia patients at home.

What Is The Extent Of Care A Dementia Patient Needs?

The extent of care required by a dementia patient depends on how advanced the condition is. As dementia progresses, caregivers often have to take responsibility for all aspects of a loved one’s life. From dressing and eating to entertainment, medication and financial management. Individual-centered care for people with dementia can be intensive and continue for a long duration of time.

What Are The Challenges For Caregivers Of Dementia Patients?

Caregivers for dementia patients at home face several challenges. For better understanding, they can be divided into 3 categories of care:

1. Daily Life Challenges

The practical aspects of everyday life may not seem like a ‘challenge’ until you are faced with the task of regularly caring for someone who has difficulty caring for themselves.

In dementia care at home for elderly, these challenges can mean:

• Building Dementia-friendly Homes:

People with dementia have problems with balance and are more likely to fall.  dementia nursing care at home often means sealing off stairs, clearing away sharp objects, and making sure the area they reside in is as safe as possible.

• Managing Finances:

From claiming benefits and tax relief, to paying care and housing costs, to legal considerations such as writing wills and issuing powers of attorney, caregivers of dementia patients often have to plan and execute a lot of tasks related to finances.

• Social & Emotional Support

Caring for a loved one with dementia also means keeping their spirits up. This includes chatting or spending time with them, arranging visits or interactions with their friends, and helping them pursue creative hobbies such as painting and drawing.

2. Ensuring Physical Wellbeing

When most people think of caring for someone with dementia at home, the first thing that comes to mind are the routine tasks that ensure physical wellbeing of the patient. It takes extra effort to take responsibility for someone’s well-being every day. Some of the challenges may include:

• Hygiene Related Tasks

Caregivers for dementia patients at home need to look after or undertake all hygiene related tasks for the patient, whether it’s helping them bathe, cleaning their clothes or keeping their home and surroundings clean. These are tasks that need to be continued consistently and it can make caregiving exhausting for family caregivers for dementia patients at home

• Cooking and Feeding

Eating healthy and on time is very important for the health of patients with dementia. Over and above cooking and preparing meals, sometimes even feeding the patient can be a challenge. Family members or caregivers for dementia patients at home need to devote extra time and effort to plan meals and feed the patients to ensure they are eating well.

• Physical Activity & Exercise

Depending on your loved one’s age and how advanced the dementia is, this can be relatively easy or very difficult. Ensuring that the patient does enough physical activity and exercise is important for their wellbeing. However, this needs to be done in a very planned, organized and enjoyable way to avoid accidents, falls or injuries.

3. Emotional and mental wellbeing

One of the biggest challenges in dementia care is dealing with the unpredictability of a loved one’s mood. As memories fluctuate, they may experience attitude changes, eliciting more basic emotions that are difficult to understand and manage.

The most common emotional challenges in home care for elderly with dementia include:

• Feelings of Loneliness and Sadness:

Not surprisingly, people with dementia often feel isolated and lonely, which can lead to feelings of sadness and depression. One of the key roles of the caregiver is to make the patient feel loved and valued.

• Aggressive Behavior:

One of the difficulties in caring for people with dementia is mood changes and bouts of aggression. Calming someone with dementia who is agitated to the point of aggression can be hard and it needs a lot of patience and empathy from the side of caregivers and family members.

• Feeling Paranoid and Confused

People with dementia lose their sense of where they are and the identities of people close to them. They may also experience hallucinations. Making them feel safe, time and again, is one of the most important responsibilities of caregivers for dementia patients at home.

• Boredom and Lethargy:

Boredom is a common problem for people with dementia. Patients might feel unmotivated and lethargic, and this can lead to emotional instability as well as physical health issues. During home care for elderly with dementia, it is important for caregivers to ensure that the patient is occupied with some or the other activity.

When To Seek Professional Support For Elderly Patients With Dementia?

Support and care for family members and caregivers of patients with dementia is just as important as support for the patient themselves. Caring for a patient with dementia can be exhausting, and without seeking the right kind of support, it can lead to caregiver burnout. As a family member or caregiver involved in home care for elderly with dementia, if caregiving duties are becoming burdensome or challenging, you should consider bringing in professional healthcare providers for help. Seeking dementia nursing care at home  can be long term, short term, or it can be for extra help around the house. Either way, asking for help is always a sign of strength and shows how much you care for your loved ones and want the best care possible for them.

Dementia Nursing care at Home In Dubai | First Response Healthcare

First Response Healthcare (FRH) is a leading home healthcare company that provides personalized, compassionate, high-quality medical services through a team of qualified doctor on call, nurses and physiotherapists. We can provide support for a variety of healthcare needs, including dementia nursing care at homein Dubai. You can avail FRH’s services 24 hours a day, all days of the week, including public holidays. The FRH nursing team consists of a team of highly trained, qualified and licensed nurses who provide professional services by following international best practices and tools. Over and above dementia home care services, our team of nurses can also help with, IV medication administration, monitoring and physical exams, postpartum care, geriatric care, pediatric care and more.

FRH Offer Home Care Nursing Services For:

• Post-Operative Care
• Palliative care
• Geriatric (Elderly) Care
• Maternity & New-born care
• Child Care & Babysitting.

Why Should You Choose FRH For Nursing Needs?

• Provide personalized emergency care to ventilated patients.
• Encourage independence and support in older patients.
• Assistance with activities of daily living, bathing, hygiene management, etc.
• Administration of oral, enteral, and intravenous drugs
• Help with post-operative rehabilitation and pain management.
• Feeding via peg tube or NG tube.
• Provide treatment for tracheostomy, ostomy, colostomy, urostomy, ileostomy.
• Provide wound care and management.
• Offer careful postnatal care for mother and child.
• Provide careful pediatric care and monitoring.
• Provide vital sign monitoring, oxygen therapy and monitoring.
• Provide blood sampling and PCR testing.
• Provide psychological and emotional support.  

What Makes FRH’s Home Care Assistance Unique? 

• Personalized Care Plan: After assessing the patient’s condition, our team will create a care plan specific to the patient’s needs and requirements.
• Dependable Post-discharge Care: Our nurses provide dedicated care 24/7, implement care plans, and continuously monitor clinical conditions to ensure a successful recovery.
• Medication Compliance: Our nursing staff are trained to administer all types of injections and to ensure complete compliance.
• Wound Care: Our nursing staff are qualified and well-trained to manage wound care using optimal infection control methods for complex and difficult-to-heal wounds.
• Elderly care: Our nursing professionals are trained to care for elderly patients who require special medical care and assistance with daily living. 
• Patient education: Our nursing staff also provide continuing education to patients and families in their own home.
• Chronic disease: Our nursing staff provides care for all chronic conditions, including pain management.
• Diabetes management: First Response home nursing team offers home diabetes care programs for people with type 1, type 2 and prediabetes.
• Flexible Packages: We provide both long-term and short-term care to meet your needs.
• Only DHA Licensed Nurses: All of our nursing staff are qualified, trained and experienced to monitor and treat your condition. General and specialized home care. 

To hire dementia home care service in Dubai, all you need to do is call on 0505050387 or 800DIALDOC. You can also book an appointment online by visiting https://firstresponsehealthcare.com/ae/dubai