Dementia home care can help your loved ones remain independent

What is dementia?

Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of progressive conditions that affect the brain. There are over 200 sub-types of dementia, but the five most common are:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Vascular dementia
• Dementia with Lewy bodies
• Frontotemporal dementia and
• Mixed dementia.

The brain is made up of nerve cells (neurons) that communicate with each other by sending messages. Dementia damages the nerve cells in the brain so messages cannot be sent from and to the brain effectively. This prevents the body from functioning normally.

Symptoms of dementia

Dementia affects people in different ways and symptoms develop at varied rates. The symptoms of dementia can include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, this is usually the earliest indication of dementia. Other early warning signs of dementia may include any of these symptoms:

• Remembering events from years ago more easily than recent ones
• Confusion in a familiar place
• Problems keeping track of personal belongings
• Forgetting to do routine household tasks
• Struggling to remember a name
• Other forms of cognitive impairment

These changes are often small to start with, but they can become severe enough to affect daily life. A person with dementia may also experience changes in their mood or behaviour. Dementia can affect a person at any age, but it is more commonly diagnosed in people over the age of 65 years. A person developing dementia before age 65 is said to have young onset dementia. There are over 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK and this is set to rise to over one million by 2021. This number represents the millions of families with loved ones who require special care and support to live a fulfilled life with dementia.

How we can help

Living with dementia can be a bewildering experience, requiring significant lifestyle changes for the whole family. At Bluebird Care our specialist dementia care services can provide the essential support you need during this time. Regardless of which type of dementia is diagnosed and what part of the brain is affected, each person will experience dementia in their own unique way. Through our years of providing home care to many elderly people with dementia, we have a lot experience to deal with and answer any questions you may have. All of our carer’s are trained to the highest level of Dementia Care. We offer a service that promotes continuity providing a regular daily routine with a familiar face. Our carers understand the importance of reassuring and supporting someone with dementia to keep as much independence as possible. Also, to provide them with continued dignity and respect. Our carers will assist the client to carry out tasks independently where possible, sometimes it may be a case of just prompting tasks to be carried out, or it may require tasks to be done. The carers all encourage people to remain doing as much for themselves as they can while being there in case assistance is needed. They have experience dealing with dementia and know that it can sometimes be quite frustrating to someone with dementia needing to rely on others for support, the carers can help to come to terms with this increasing assistance at a pace that is comfortable to the client and not pushing for too much too quickly.