Real-Life Strategies for Caring for Someone with Memory Loss

Blog Image - MR Caregiver-800x400

Caring for a person with memory loss can be difficult, stressful, and even overwhelming. But it also can be one of the most gratifying, humbling and rewarding experiences in life. Whether assisting a spouse, relative or friend, caregivers are the backbone of long-term care.

Over time, as a loved one’s memory continues to decline, caregiving becomes more and more stressful and challenging. The demand for care naturally increases and time, energy, and effort are taken away from one’s own life. This can lead to, what we call, ‘caregiver burnout,’ or worse, lead to other physical or mental illnesses. Since caregiving can be draining physically, emotionally and financially, the best way to ensure quality care for someone else is to always be mindful of your own self-care. The better you take care of yourself, the better you can take care of a loved one.

Effective self-care begins with the development of a caregiving plan. Though you can never anticipate every detail or situation, getting the basics covered is a great first step. From the start, you must decide what type of care you are able and willing and able to provide. Also, determine which relatives, friends or professionals are available to assist you.

Gaining insight into many of the hurdles you may face, and discovering creative solutions to those challenges, will better enable you to cope with the daily challenges of being a caregiver. Adopting these seven pillars of care can make your role as caregiver more manageable and rewarding:

Caring Acts

What kinds of acts make you feel secure and loved? Consider how the recipient defines caring.

Respect

The desire to be treated with respect doesn’t change at any age or stage of life.

Dignity

A challenging aspect of caregiving is offering advice or help while still allowing the person to be as self-sufficient as possible.

Honesty

Imparting difficult news is tough. Softening the blow by shading the truth may compound the original problem.

Foresight

Successful caregiving requires foresight and planning.

Warmth

Warmth is in the delivery rather than the act itself.

Compassion and Connection

Try to step back and acknowledge difficult feelings. Be mindful of the patient’s struggles and offer compassion.

If you or a loved one is seeking professional for memory problems, Amen Clinics Memory Rescue: BRIGHT MINDS Program is an invaluable service and resource for caregivers. The program is a breakthrough approach to memory issues, aging and Alzheimer’s disease. It’s the best way to improve brain health, reverse brain aging, and protect memory because it addresses all of the risk factors that affect memory.

To learn more about Amen Clinics Memory Program based on Dr. Amen’s BRIGHT MINDS approach, check it out HERE.

3 Comments »

  1. Thank you. Very helpful advice, succinctly stated.

    Comment by Bob Conway — November 24, 2017 @ 7:57 AM

  2. First step is to educate yourself with respect to memory loss, causes, symptoms and remediation strategies. Second you must determine the needs and requirements of your loved ones such as; emotional, personal, and health needs. Thirdly you must safety proof your home, as patients with dementia often exhibit unpredictable behavior. It could be quite difficult to look after a patient with memory loss specifically while fulfilling your other responsibilities, therefore it would be best to enroll the patient in an assisted living facility like Avantgarde where they remain under supervision of certified and professional care professionals 24*7.

    Comment by James — April 28, 2019 @ 10:07 PM

  3. Taking care of someone with dementia is not an easy task. You really need to learn respect, patience, love, and Humility

    It can be very emotional most times working with them but dedication and passion would help you overcome a whole lot.

    Comment by Promise Akinbiyi — August 10, 2020 @ 3:07 PM

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment

Contact Us

Our podcast is back! Keep your brain healthy by listening to Change Your Brain Every Day, hosted by Daniel Amen, MD & Tana Amen!  Tune In

X