How to Select an In-Home Caregiver for Loved Ones with Dementia?

Understanding how to care for dementia patients can be challenging. It can exhaust and confuse the family members of the patient but make them give up. But caring for people with dementia is simple and doable – provided the right strategies are used. One such strategy is the use of an in-home caregiver. The caregiver is a professional trained to take care of patients with dementia.

How can a caregiver help patients with dementia?

Listed below are some ways how a caregiver can help patients with dementia:

Respite care

This type of care can be done at home or in a nearby senior citizen community. It is temporary respite care. It allows family members of dementia patients to carry out their daily tasks. The task of taking care of the patient is with the respite care staff. While the patient is being taken care of, the patient’s family members can travel, attend a medical appointment, go to their offices, or even go on vacation.

Respite is short-term care. Family members of the patient have to gauge the patient’s emotional well-being before deciding on this care. Respite care can also allow senior citizens to connect with other senior citizens.

Help with daily activities

Patients with late-stage dementia may not be able to perform even basic activities such as bathing, eating, and dressing. They might even violently oppose these activities. During these times, an understanding person has to manage them patiently. Family members may not always be able to do it. In-home care nurses and caregivers can easily handle such patients.

Managing dementia patients exhibiting sundown syndrome symptoms

Dementia patients might experience mid-afternoon and late-night confusion. They might experience unexplained fatigue, aggression, ignoring directions, anxiety, panic, and wandering. Sundowning is not a disease but a set of symptoms that can affect patients with dementia. The exact cause of the symptoms has yet to be ascertained. Some factors might aggravate symptoms. Exercise, low lighting, irregular food habits, irregular sleep habits, infection, and increased shadows in the surroundings might create symptoms.

Caregivers can help dementia patients manage symptoms by assisting patients in sticking to a routine. Dementia patients perform all activities during the day and keep the late evenings and nights to sleep. Dementia patients are encouraged to stay awake and avoid napping. They are given a proper diet that is low on sugar and caffeine.

How do you select an in-home caregiver for people with dementia?

These are some methods of selecting in-home caregivers for people with dementia:

Different types of caregiving

An in-home care service will assess the phase of dementia of a person. Depending on the phase, an attendant can be chosen over a skilled nurse if the phase is an early one. Attendants are expected to assist the patient in cleaning, errands, meal preparation, dressing, and washing. A skilled nurse will not only perform all of the activities of an attendant but will also deliver medication based on the advice of a physician.

Check for references

Talk to the families who have taken the services of the in-home care service provider. Based on the reviews and feedback, make an informed decision. Look for the standards of care and customer service that the in-home medical center has. Look for online reviews. Talk to the medical staff at the in-home care center.

Check qualifications and certifications

Check the caregiver’s certifications, qualifications, and medical affiliations. Caregivers, be they an attendant, nurses, or medical practitioners, must be medically trained. Not everyone can care for patients with degenerative conditions. So, qualifications and credentials matter a lot.

Conclusion

Care24 is a leading in-home care services provider. Care24 provides all-encompassing medical services and medical servants for all medical conditions. Care24 in-home caregivers, attendants, medical staff, doctors, and nurses are trained, qualified, and experienced to provide world-class in-home care.