Sacred Heart Senior Living

MANAGING CHALLENGING DEMENTIA BEHAVIORS - STARTING WITH YOU

If you are living with someone that has dementia, no matter the type, you are going to notice changes in their behavior - some may be good, but some may be less then endearing.

When I ran educational workshops for caregivers and health care professionals and asked the group, "What type of behaviors might you observe in a dementia patient?" I got lots of answers like:

anxiety
agitation
combativeness
shadowing (like they are attached to you)
withdrawal from activities and people
repetition
paranoia
wandering

I then turned to the group after writing down all their answers and said, "Don't any of us ever observe pleasant behaviors". Everyone would get quiet because everyone is bound to have pleasant moments and days.

The next question I would ask is , "How many of you have children and when you brought your newborn baby home that was crying, what do you think were some of the reasons it was crying?" These were their answers::

Because they were hungry
Because they needed their diaper changed
Because they want to be held
Because they were cold
Because they didn't feel well, colic
Because we had too much company today
Because they needed a nap

As a baby grows and we become better at recognizing the babies needs, we would get them into a routine and become proactive to their needs, didn't we?

The truth is, when someone has a dementia diagnosis, they find it hard to communicate their needs so when they are hungry, cold, lonely, overstimulated, have an upset tummy, need a nap - instead of saying, "I need a nap" they may just become agitated. They display these unpleasant behaviors because they have unmet needs.

We need to do the same thing we did for those babies for our loved one living with dementia. We can minimize unpleasant behaviors by becoming proactive to their needs by doing the following:

Get them into a daily routine -
meals at the same time
get them out for a walk in the sun
nap and to bed for the night a the same time
regular visits to the bathroom
limit the time spent with large crowds and noise
give them hugs
give them their medications at the same time
if we notice a change in their facial expression after all that, check for pain or illness:
Are they constipated?
Have they been urinating more or less frequently?
Do they have a fever?
Do their shoes fit?
Does their clothes fit?
Are they too warm or too cold?
Do they have a fever?
Is their blood sugar too high or too low?

If we as caregivers become proactive to their needs and give them routine, we may notice less unpleasantness and more smiles.

The staff at Sacred Heart Senior Living has been trained to notice unmet needs, encourage our residents to participate in activity and keep them in a routine. For more information about Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia and support, please call 610-814-2700 to get information about our monthly support groups.

Karen Francis, MSW, CDP

Memory Care Consultant