| 1. Difficulty to recognize peoples, places and situations |
As AD progresses, elderly individuals begin to forget things, as it is inherent in this disease |
- Be patient and try not to disagree with elderly individuals with AD. |
| - Always keep in mind that elderly individuals with AD do not repeat the same questions over and over to mock or irritate you, but because they do not remember some things. |
| - Do not be ironic or embarrass elderly individuals in font of other people. |
| - Value what elderly individuals with AD tell you, even if you do know it is only their imagination. |
| - Answer the same question as many times as elderly individuals ask you to. |
| - Some elderly individuals with AD do not recognize their own home at some stage of their disease. If they ask you to take them home, do not answer that they are already home as this will make them angry and, at times, aggressive. Say you will take them, walk around the house or block, on foot or by car, return home and get in through a different door if possible |
| - If elderly individuals with AD have a car, you should hide the keys. Change the place of objects that pose risk to their health or put them in a safe place. |
| 2. Forgetting the way home |
At a certain stage of this disease, elderly individuals with AD often forget the way home. |
- Prevent elderly individuals with AD from leaving without you knowing where they are going. |
| - If possible, follow them without their noticing it, due to their forgetfulness. Tell them you need to go to the same place. |
| - Try to put a badge on the clothes of elderly individuals with their name and full address on it. |
| - Warn the neighbors, explaining about their disease and leaving an address and contact number. |
| 3. Family members' refusal to accept Alzheimer's disease |
Many family caregivers are not supported by other family members |
- Try to have family meetings to explain the situation, make group decisions and talk about this disease. |
| - Share your responsibilities with the family. |
| - Invite other family members to go to consultations with professionals. |
| - Keep the disease diagnosis at hand to show it to other family members. |
| - If possible, make a schedule with the times and days when each family member will contribute to the care. During this period, try to take at least a day off per week (one morning or afternoon). |
| - Be patient when talking to the remaining family members. Remember that each individual will accept the disease on their own time. |
| - If the family has sufficient conditions, seek a professional to prevent family members from being overloaded. |
| - Try not to force elderly individuals to bathe so as not to embarrass or irritate them. |
| 4. Difficulty to accept bathing |
At a certain stage of the disease, some elderly individuals with AD refuse to bathe, not being willing to do it or stating they have already done it |
- Try to find pleasant ways to encourage elderly individuals with AD to keep their personal hygiene and to enable them to realize they have not done it yet. Try to turn this into a game, where the elderly individual with AD plays against the family caregiver. Thus, each time they bathe, both of them score; the one who does not bathe will lose. Mark the dates and offer prizes. - Do not trust the sound of running water from the shower exclusively. Try to care for and help the elderly individual during bathing time without their realizing it. - Take the key from the bathroom door to prevent them from being locked in. |
| 5. Difficulty to deal with money |
At a certain period of the disease, some elderly individuals lose sense of the value of money or its existence entirely |
- Do not take money from elderly individuals with AD altogether, so they will not feel robbed, dependent or inferior |
| - Identify whether the elderly individuals with AD have lost the sense of value of money or its existence. If they have forgotten about the existence of money, it can be taken away and given back little by little, according to what they need. If they have forgotten about its value, but the attachment to it remains, replace large bills for small ones, maintaining the same number of bills. |
| - Inform and explain about Alzheimer's disease in the markets and other businesses close to the home of elderly individuals with this disease and leave a contact number. |
| - At the more advanced stages of AD, when they have no conditions to manage their finances, even small amounts, a family member usually becomes responsible for this task. It is important to be clear about the expenses with the remaining family members. |
| 6. Difficulty to control de medication by oneself |
Some family caregivers find it difficult to manage the medication of elderly individuals with AD, especially when they have other diseases. |
- Try to give as much autonomy to the elderly individuals with AD as possible. If they have conditions to take their medications alone, divide these by time into separate containers and label them as "morning", "afternoon", and "evening", or the exact times when they should be taken |
| Thus, it is the caregiver who will be controlling the medication, although the elderly individuals with AD will have the impression that they will be in control and they will feel independent as a result. |
| - If the elderly individuals do not know how to read or do not have conditions to do this anymore, a "sun" and "moon" can be drawn to indicate "morning medication" and "evening medication". |
| - In situations when the caregiver has to give the medication, write the medication time on the container where each pill is to avoid memory lapses/wrong times. |
| - Stay close to elderly individuals with AD when they have to take their medication to avoid mistakes or even to prevent them from being thrown away without you realizing it. |
| 7. Aggressiveness of individuals with Alzheimer's disease |
At a certain stage of the disease, some individuals with AD can be verbally or physically aggressive |
- Try not to take things personally. |
| - Remove objects that may pose a risk to elderly individuals with AD or their caregivers. |
| - Never strike back. |
| - Try to change the subject, draw the attention of elderly individuals with AD to other things that attract them and that they like. |
