When your loved one is living with dementia, whether in the early stages or more advanced stages of the disease, it is vital to find the right dementia care services to help your loved one and provide much-needed relief for your family. Dementia requires very specialized care and treatment, which means you need highly trained dementia care supervision for your loved one. These are some of the things you need to look for when exploring your dementia care home health options.
They Offer Specialized Dementia Care Services
Formal memory care is much more than simply supervision to make sure your loved one doesn't harm themselves. Of course, that is part of the process, however, skilled dementia care services offer much more than that. You can expect that they will:
- create structured daily schedules for patients.
- administer medications as needed.
- provide nutritious meal planning and preparation.
- offer specialized daily activities to promote cognitive memory retention.
- encourage independence among patients while assisting patients with daily tasks and personal care when necessary.
Consider dementia care providers who have specific training in using art or music therapy to promote cognition, spark memories, and enhance communication among dementia patients who have withdrawn from the world around them. Art and music have proven instrumental in helping patients express emotions even in non-verbal stages of the disease.
They Provide Stability in Care
The other thing you want to explore when choosing home health dementia care services is stability. Dementia patients thrive on routine and consistency. It is not in their best interest to have new care providers rotated into their lives too often.
While no company can promise the same staff members for the duration of treatment, they can provide consistency in the form of only a couple of people who rotate shifts and follow the same routines during their shifts. Having that consistency can help your loved one avoid negative episodes and feel safe.
They Deliver Solid History of Providing Quality Care
While home health dementia care services often treat multiple patients over a day, week, month, or year; there is only one patient you are particularly concerned about. Understanding the history of the home health organization and how they've treated other patients with similar health concerns can help you make informed decisions about whether you want to trust them with the task of providing care for your loved one.
Finding dementia care services for your loved one can be a huge weight off your mind and ease the burden of caring for a loved one with dementia on your entire family. Service providers that offer all these things and more can be instrumental in making that happen.
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