Making up your mind about moving your loved one to an assisted living home with memory support is an emotional decision. It is natural to feel like you can take care of your loved ones all by yourself. Still, if their doctor has declared an onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s, it is only so long before it becomes nearly impossible to take care of them without any help. Besides, when it comes to taking care of a cognitively challenged person, what’s best for them far outweighs how their relatives feel about it, sending them to a separate living facility, and the decision must be made with a great deal of care and consideration for their needs.
Forgetting to Pay The Bills
While it is not uncommon for people to forget to pay the phone or cable bill now and then, but when it becomes a recurring event and it seems like they haven’t been paying for the services they use regularly it might point to a bigger problem, it could simply mean that their disease has now taken over. It is hampering their capability to perform routine tasks that they were otherwise perfectly capable of executing.
Poor Hygiene
Some people are not too keen when it comes to personal hygiene and might not always smell like roses, but there are baseline standards of cleanliness that you can expect from everyone. Plus, you know how your loved one used to take care of themselves before their diagnosis. If you see a rapid decline in their ability to take care of themselves or keep the house clean, it might be a sign that they are slowly becoming incapable of fully taking care of themselves and might need assistance from specially trained staff.
Safety Hazards
Have you noticed if they leave the appliances plugged in, forget to turn off the stove, or fall often?
These are also telltale signs of their diagnosis kicking in. Although it is possible to take care of these details yourself, but if your loved ones live in a separate residence, then it is time you either call in memory support and have a full-time nurse take care of them, or you send them to a memory care assisted living facility because they might not be capable of protecting themselves sufficiently anymore. People with a diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer’s can seriously harm themselves due to their cognitive decline, so this sign is a serious red flag.
Forgetting Nutrition
People with Alzheimer’s and dementia are often not attuned to their body’s need for nourishment. They can forget to eat their meals or simply not make sure whatever they’re eating is nutritionally balanced and this not only translates into bad health in a physical sense; if their nutrition needs are not met, it can progressively fast-track their cognitive decline, and the disease will start to manifest a lot faster than the original prognosis given by the doctors. This is why it is necessary to monitor their food intake and see if they can meet their nutritional needs by themselves.
Stress For The Family
People with Alzheimer’s or dementia are difficult to keep up with and take care of. Regardless of how much you care for your loved ones, eventually it is bound to get tougher on you, and you will feel burned out while taking care of them. It is possible you could be juggling household and work responsibilities that make it difficult for you to keep track of their needs, and ultimately, you feel like you’re doing such a good job at taking care of them. Memory support is the answer to this problem because it can take a lot off your plate while ensuring the best care for your loved one.
Social Isolation
It is possible that you don’t notice any of the above symptoms, but your loved one might be living alone. Living in isolation can have a rather detrimental impact on the prognosis of cognitive decline in patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s. It is possible that they deliberately isolate themselves due to the shame and stigma around such diseases. If you choose to send them to an assisted living community instead, where they can interact with other people who share their diagnosis, it can help them assimilate into the community and prevent any isolation.
Conclusion
Deciding to hand off the care of your loved one to a stranger’s hands is not an easy decision. Still, if you do your research and find credible memory support living centers, or hire trained staff, you will realize that it not only makes the process easier for you, but it also helps them reap the benefits of a trained staff taking care of them.
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Photo 1, Credit to Freepik || Photo 2, Credit to Freepik (CC0 1.0)
