Do you believe your elderly parent has dementia? If so, there are many emotions that might be running through your mind. Let yourself feel those and make a list of things you can do from this point forward. The steps that you take do matter and can help your elderly parent to get the assistance they need.
Have a Talk with Your Parent
One of the things that you should do if you believe your elderly parent has dementia is to talk with them about it. It is important to stay as calm as you can during this conversation as it can help to keep your parent calm, as well. If they are still in the early stage of this disease, they probably already recognize they are forgetting things more often and having more confusion with certain things, too. Once you talk to your parent, it would be a good idea to have them go see a doctor for an assessment.
Asking Questions
If your elderly parent needs to go to a doctor for a dementia assessment/testing, it would be a good idea to go with them. That way, you can ask questions about the treatments, their condition, what stage they are in, etc. The most important thing to remember is the testing is a process. Most likely, your elderly loved one won’t get a diagnosis during the first appointment. However, if they are diagnosed with dementia, you can ask the doctor what home care assistance your parent might need, what will happen during this stage of dementia, and what else you can do to assist your elderly parent.
Preparing Yourself
Your elderly parent isn’t the only one who will be affected by dementia. Sure, they are impacted the most and they are the ones who will be losing their memory, becoming aggravated, and forgetting things more and more as the disease progresses. However, you are affected by the disease, too. You need to prepare yourself for what is coming – memory loss, the change in personality, forgetting people and places, forgetting the names of things, etc. It can be tough to prepare for something like this and you can predict everything that will happen. However, you can plant for respite care, elder care help, and home care assistance services.
Conclusion
Do you believe your elderly parent has dementia? If so, hopefully, the information here today helped you to know what steps to take. Between talking to your parent about symptoms they have to take them to see a doctor and preparing yourself, there are many things that will be coming up. However, as long as you keep making lists and plans of what to do next and getting home care assistance services, too, things should go a bit smoother.
If, at any time, your elderly parent gets much worse, bring that up to their doctor as soon as you can. They may be in the next stage of dementia.
Sources
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-caregiving-changes-communication-skills
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-is-dementia
