DEMENTIA CAREGIVERS MUST LOOK AFTER THEMSELVES

Being a caregiver for a person who suffers from Alzheimer's disease or dementia is an incredibly difficult job. Depending on the stage that the patient has reached one has to be constantly watchful and carry out many duties such as healthcare and perhaps if the patient is a loved one at home, cook and clean. Under these circumstances the job is constant and often physically hard as well as emotionally demanding.
Many caregivers neglect themselves by focussing entirely on the loved one and forgetting their own health and well being. Indeed, quite a lot of caregivers are so involved with their loved ones and so stressed out that they die before the patient.
If the caring experience is new to you the first thing is to acquire knowledge. There are a large number of books available and a lot of information on the internet. A particularly good one, with access to a mass of information is 'The Alzheimer's Reading Rooms'.
If your patient is in the early stages of dementia, as I am, they will still be able to care for themselves and live a normal life. The main and immediate problem will be memory. This will largely be forgetting names, faces, things to do etc. If the patient keeps a diary and makes notes of things to do this will help. The patient should be encouraged to do as much as possible for himself. This is not only good for the patient, but good for the caregiver.
Another problem that may quickly develop is a reduction in cognitive ability. This will not be in every respect and may be only intermitent at this stage. For example I am still writing books, but I increasingly struggle with the internet, but some days are better than others. Also, at the early stage balance may become a problem and the person may be prone to trip or knock their head. This obviously calls for a watchful eye from the caregiver.
As time moves on these problems may get worse, until the job of the caregiver becomes full time. Before this happens the caregiver must make plans for other family members or volunteers to be available to give the principal caregiver regular breaks. This is most important and plans should be made earlier rather than later.
By this time the principal caregiver will have read and learned the key facts in dealing with dementia patients. These include never arguing with the patient and not drawing their attention to their failings, as doing so will stress the patient and make your work much harder. You will have to have learned how to enter 'Alzheimer's World' [ see the 'Alzheimer's Reading Room' and have read 'Contented Dementia' by Oliver James.
This book sets out the way to move patients away from the stress of dealing with recent memory and move their thinking back to the earlier parts of their life which they will remember. A lot of role play is required to make this work, but if you can act out the roles your work will be dramatically reduced and you will learn how to divert anger and aggression from the patient. These are mainly caused because of the loss of memory problem. Imagine how frustrated you would be if you knew that there was something that you should know, but you had forgotten it.
So what is good for the patient is ultimately good for you. And you must consider what is good for you as well as your patient.
You must find other helpers to give you breaks and even allow you to get completely away on occasion.. You must get a medical check up at least once a year. You must eat properly and get exercise and you must have some time for yourself to read or watch television.
You must learn to deal with the challenge of dementia and possibly Alzheimer's in a balanced way. I