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| Alzheimer's Disease |
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Their Real Worldä Creating Sensitivity to Alzheimer s
Successful Interventions for Challenging
Behaviors
AND the reasons
why How would you feel if your son or daughter, or your wife or
husband, or a total stranger: ·
Followed
you into the bathroom each time you went? ·
Cut
up the meat on your plate? ·
Tried
to undress you for bed? ·
Didn
t let you go anywhere alone? ·
Told
you it was time to take your shower? ·
Stopped
you from going out the door? ·
Are
always telling you what to do? That s how a person with Alzheimer s Disease feels.
WHY? Because THEY do not know that they have a dementia, and
they cannot understand why YOU are behaving this way with them.
The care
partner must keep in mind, that people who are more progressed in their dementia
do not realize that they lack the ability to do the things they use to do, or
that they now have poor safety awareness. Try as they may and due to the
progressive nature of their dementia, they are no longer able to comprehend
these things these changes in their life. This causes them to feel increased
confusion, frustration and fear. These EMOTIONS that they feel, for whatever reason, are the cause of challenging behaviors. Think about the different behaviors you encounter as their care partner . Definition of
Intervention:
to occur between points of time;
to come in or between in order to stop, settle or
modify
Know
their history. What do they like and dislike. What was their regular routine.
What are their favorite things AND what are the things they like the least. Know
or learn what works for this person and what doesn t
work.
In example: If your person with
dementia is a Sun-downer [becoming anxious/agitated usually in late afternoon
and the evening hours] and you already know this, then a plan should already be
in place for this person before the sun-downing behavior occurs. Whether it be
their favorite music, game or movie or a task that makes them feel productive
and useful, the activity should begin at least fifteen minutes before the known
time of the behavior. This is being proactive and protecting them from the
negative emotions they would have otherwise felt.
Validate the way they feel.
Although the care partner may not always understand why this emotion is
occurring, if the person with dementia is angry or upset do not tell them not to
be or that everything is just fine. These are normal
emotions that we all feel for whatever reason at that particular time. It may
well be the accumulation of many little frustrations.
In example: Tell them you are sorry
that they feel sad or upset or that you don t blame them for feeling angry, give
them a reassuring hug, or simply tell them with your facial expression or body
language that you understand. Give them a few minutes to vent, or cry and then
encourage them toward a more positive place, something they enjoy or find
comfort in, [activity/task, snack, song] without bringing up the past emotion
again. ·
Allow them to feel that
their thoughts and feelings are valid and do matter to
you. ·
Listen to them, reassure
them; be there for them in that moment
Consciously encourage positive emotion. Negative feelings of
confusion, fear and frustration will typically remain due to the nature of the
disease/dementia, but everything else in their environment, in their world,
should convey something positive or pleasing to them.
In
example: We
have virtual control over their immediate environment and everything in it
should be pleasant and non-intimidating to them. Encourage yourself to have
increased awareness of what they see, hear smell, taste and touch. Ask yourself:
Can I make this better more positive for her/him? ·
Purposefully promote
positive emotion and purposefully avoid negative emotion. Smile, compliment,
tell them you missed them or that it s so good to see them.
·
The care partner should make
every attempt to make the person with dementia feel respected & normal,
useful & content, safe & reassured, loved & wanted and very, very
special. Enter
Their World: Communicate
with them through their eyes and not yours. They live in their new world of
dementia and they re not coming back to ours, as we know
it. Address
their need: Their
behavior has a reason behind it. Consider and/or recognize what their need may
be.
Is it: Emotional
[i.e.
sad, bored, afraid etc.],
Physical
[i.e.
thirsty, cold, tired etc.],
Environmental/Sensory
[i.e.
noise, light, the conversation etc.]. Ask
yourself How would I feel? :
How might you feel if you had to face the daily confusion and
uncertainty of dementia? What emotions would build within you if your needs were
not known, met or addressed? What
behaviors would we exhibit as a means to convey our frustration in trying to get
someone, anyone, to understand what we re trying to say or explain?
That
s how people with Alzheimer s & Dementia feel too. Mal
@TheirRealWorld.com
ãTRW2007 |