Home Care For Alzheimer's Disease
Most families choose to manage the person with Alzheimer's disease at home for the first four to seven years after the diagnosis is made. This takes an enormous toll on the caregiver. Therefore, arranging for in‑home assistance is an essential consideration in planning for the care of the Alzheimer's patient. Beverly's Home Care is affiliated with the Alzheimer's Association network in providing the best home health care for individuals with Alzheimer's disease.
Beverly's Home Care offers various types of home care services including: short term in‑home respite care for Alzheimer's patients. The kind of service one chooses will depend on the amount of assistance required and the finances available. Also, Beverly's home care nursing supervisor will educate the family on the kind of service that is necessary at a particular stage of the patient's disease.
Short Term In‑Home Respite Care For Alzheimer's Patients
Beverly's Home Care respite service gives the primary caregiver a break by providing a replacement that will supervise the patient in the home. The caregiver is then free to do other things, such as attend a support group, go to a medical appointment, or go to a movie with a friend. Our in‑home respite can also be proved in emergency situations when the caregiver has to be away from home. Short‑ term care (five to seven days), round‑the clock or a minimum of four hours a day. Charges are at home care private pay rates. The focus of our respite programs is to enable family members to engage in activities outside the home with the reassurance that their loved‑one is receiving adequate care.
Special Training
The Alzheimer's Association works with private home care agencies including Beverly’s Home Health Care to train aides as dementia specialists. Only those aides who have the special professional and personal qualities needed to work with dementia patients are selected to participate in our training program. The training program includes twelve hours of classroom instruction in basic care of dementia patients, a one-month internship in an Alzheimer’s Day Care Program, and four months of hands-on experience with Alzheimer’s patients, ongoing support and twenty-four hours access to Alzheimer’s Association training staff.
- Recent memory loss that affects job performance.
Everyone forgets things and then recalls them later. Alzheimer's patients forget often, never recall and repeatedly ask the same question, forgetting the earlier answer.
- Difficulty performing familiar tasks.
People with Alzheimer's disease could prepare a meal, forget to serve it, and even forget they made it.
- Problems with language.
A person with Alzheimer's may forget simple words or use inappropriate words, making speech incomprehensible.
- Disorientation of time and place.
People with Alzheimer's may get lost on their own street and forget how they got there or how to get home.
- Poor or weak judgment.
Even a normal person might get distracted and fail to watch a child. A person with Alzheimer's disease could entirely forget the child under their care and leave the house.
- Problems with abstract thinking.
Anybody can have trouble balancing a checkbook; a person with Alzheimer's could forget completely what the numbers are and what needs to be done with them.
- Misplacing things.
A person with Alzheimer's disease may put things in inappropriate places‑an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl‑and not be able to retrieve them.
- Changes in mood or behavior.
Everyone has occasional moods, but people with Alzheimer’s have rapid mood swings – from calm to tears to anger – within a few minutes.
- Personality changes.
A person with Alzheimer’s may change drastically and inappropriately, becoming irritable, suspicious, or fearful.
- Loss of initiative.
People with Alzheimer’s may become passive and reluctant to get involved in activities.
