Living with Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s disease is quite common among older adults and does not have a cure yet that gradually gets worse with time. The brain disorder significantly affects the personality, memory, cognition, and also the physical abilities of the older adults. The dependency on others increases even for doing daily routine tasks. According to the statistics, almost half of the 85 years adults suffer from Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s can take a toll on sufferer’s mental and physical health so it is important to have someone on your side to manage the symptoms. The mobility and memory issues can tax the patience of a caregiver because it is hard to deal with such symptoms.
However, it is important to notice that the disease itself is behind the confusion, odd behavior, or forgetfulness of the patients. Every case of Alzheimer’s is somewhat different and it is essential to get full information about your treatment plans and other coping mechanisms. Following is the description of some challenges that the Alzheimer’s patients face and some coping suggestions to live with the condition:
Changes in the ability to communicate
People having Alzheimer’s disease often suffer from difficulty verbalizing or communicating because of the issues with critical thinking and memory. It is quite hard for Alzheimer’s patients to use appropriate words while making a conversation and they might even forget what they actually want to communicate. Such communication issues can also test the caregiver’s patience at times. But, here are some tips to deal with communication problems:
- Initiate encouraging conversations
- Try to make eye contact with the people around you and describe your feelings
- Explain your body language to others