Any tips on caring for mother with Alzheimers at home?
June 29th, 2010
My neighbor went ahead and brought his mother home from the inpatient care facility. She has Alzheimer’s/dementia. Her medication is helping but she is limited in her understanding and abilities. So far she has been cooperative but she does become very angry about imagined thefts, etc. Perhaps some of you remember that my neighbor is confined to a wheelchair himself. He has a specially equipped van so he can drive them around and he’s doing the cooking. He has limited assistance from other family members but they have made it clear that he is his mother’s primary caregiver.
Do you have any helpful suggestions I might pass on to him?
Sorry for the awkward wording in my question. This is one of those "This is the rest of the story" situations that may seem odd if you didn’t hear the first part of it.
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Posted in Caring for Alzheimer's | 
Tags: alzheimer, awkward wording, caregiver, dementia, family members, inpatient care, medication, neighbor, quot, rest of the story, wheelchair
My mother died 3 years ago from this. You do the best you can.
some good tips here, but in the end they will have to have 24 hour care and a nurse in the building.
He needs to make sure the locks on the doors are all set during the day. AZ patients will wander out of the house when you are not looking and end up getting lost a block away.
It’s good he wants to help her but he needs to call social services for in home help with her because she will get worse and really fight him. Then as it progresses she will not move and he will need help getting her to the bathroom and feeding her.
i am not sure where abouts you are in the world but where i am (england) you can get a carer to come around every morning and night and care for people with illnesses such as alzheimers and i think it is free.
may want to give that a try.
People with Alzheimer’s have the potential to be explosive but respond very well to affection and understanding. If he can impress her with the fact that he loves his mother very much and wants her with him 1/2 the battle is over.
Not sure whether you are in the UK or elsewhere. In the UK, carers, especially those with a disability themselves, should be able to get some home help, although this is often not enough, and if the lady becomes angry because she imagines thefts etc., this could become quite painful and frustrating too.
I think it is quite sad that the other family members are little forthcoming with assistance.
There must be some Altzheimers support groups in the area, which could give advice and support. The Citizen’s Advice Bureau should also be able to let your neighbour know what kind of help he is entitled to, financial and otherwise.
Make sure the doors have secure locks so that mom can’t slip out unnoticed during the night.
There’s a new product on the market that shuts a stove off if no one is in the kitchen for a set period of time. It’s a motion sensor. You set it for the time you want…10 or 15 minutes, or whatever. Good if mom might turn the stove on.
With him being in a wheelchair and her have AZ, Social Security would probably pay for a personal care attendant to come in on a daily basis to help with her needs. Worth looking into.
Well, this is a tough situation. I was a live in caregiver for a friends mother with Alzheimer’s. It is very frustrating day to day. With children you teach them, they forget, you teach them, they remember. These patients go backwards. They lose memory of doing very basic things. Or they have a vague notion but not quite right. As in the case where the "soiled" underwear were put into the dryer.If in the US, he may call a local hospice. It is a wonderful free organization. I truly, truly suggest he calls. Very sweet volunteers can be helpful in areas that he is having difficulty. They will also have similar experience and knowledge in this area. Their is also a bracelt ID available with phone # and medical problem, just in case…Blessings to them both and you too for being a caring neighbor.
If you check out caregiver.com it has some very useful information.
If your neighbor is confined to a wheelchair it will be difficult for him to care for his mom as her disease progresses. There are some good suggestions on here, but I’m afraid that eventually he will have to consider 24 hour help or a full time care facility. My prayers are with them, he will never regret caring for her as long as he can.
Bless his heart, he is taking on quite a challenge. Here are some good websites with good information in regards to Alzheimer’s, and Caregiving.
Help for People Providing Alzheimer’s Care
Alzheimer’s Association
http://alz.org/co/in_my_community_14189.asp
alzcast.org
http://www.alzcast.org/index.asp
ALZ.com
http://www.alz.com/
TODAY’S CAREGIVER.COM
http://www.caregiver.com/index.htm
Our Alzheimer’s.com
http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/
Providing a Safe Home Environment for Alzheimer’s Patients
AgingCare.com
http://www.agingcare.com/Featured-Stories/114872/Providing-a-Safe-Home-Environment-for-Alzheimer-s-Patients.htm?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=December%2031,%202008&utm_campaign=Newsletter+-+December%2031,%202008
About.com:Alzheimer’s Disease
http://alzheimers.about.com/
You are always welcome to visit my 360 Blog. You can email me if you would like to.
I am old. If I could not live effectively on my own I would rather die than become a burden to others, especially my children.