Looking After Someone With Dementia: Tips For Better Care

When a loved one develops dementia it can feel like a whole lot of pressure to know how to support them and provide them with the very best levels of care. The truth is that it’s completely normal to feel like this; caring for a loved one with dementia can be extremely difficult to manage and cope with. It’s a lot to take, so it’s normal to feel like this.

The good news is that while providing care and support to a loved one living with dementia can be stressful, there’s plenty of guidance and support available that you can take advantage of.

To put you in a position to feel better equipped to offer them care, we’ve put together a handy guide to some of the best tips for offering quality support that will actually help and improve their quality of life.

Read on for everything that you should know about offering the very best dementia care.

Treat them with respect and dignity

When it comes to caring for a loved one living with dementia, it’s absolutely vital that you understand the importance of treating them with care and dignity. This means making sure to ask them how they feel about different things, from the car that you are offering them to how you are helping them to manage everyday tasks.

Treating a person with dementia with dignity and respect is important because it ensures that they feel valued. What you don’t want to do is treat your loved one like a child; just because they have dementia does not invalidate their right to being treated in a dignified manner. This means caring for them and supporting them with understanding and kindness.

Get professional support

It’s important to realise that caring for someone living with dementia is hard. There’s no two ways about it; providing care to a loved one is always going to be a lot to take and manage. It’s going to have an impact on many aspects of your life. That’s why it’s so important that you think about potentially getting some professional support to help make things easier for everyone.

There’s lots of incredible dementia care available, it’s simply a case of taking the time to source high-quality dementia care that both you and your loved one are happy with. Take the time to do your research on the best local care for people living with dementia and source some support that makes life easier for everyone, without compromising on the quality of your loved one’s care and support.

Focus on activities

For keeping someone living with dementia busy and their mind active, activities are a great option. It’s easy for people with dementia to feel agitated and stressed, particularly when they get to a point where expressing their opinions, thoughts and feelings becomes difficult, which is where activities can come in extremely useful.

A popular activity for people living with dementia is fiddling with a fidget blanket, because it keeps their minds and fingers busy. Arts and crafts are another popular option, that can be a great way to keep them busy. A lot of people living with dementia also love playing with life like dolls and pets, as these can help to stimulate older memories.

Caring for someone living with dementia is never going to be an easy task, but there are steps that you can take to make things a little easier for everyone, while also improving your loved one’s quality of life.