How Memory Care Helps With Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible disease that affects the brain by affecting the brain cells progressively. Patients of this disease typically suffer memory loss and potentially even the ability to perform simple tasks.

Alzheimer's patients will need a lot of care as the disease progresses and brings additional symptoms like severe memory loss, cognitive disabilities, wandering and getting lost, repetitive questions, and behavioral and habit changes that can cause the patient to make poor decisions that can be life-threatening. With these effects associated with Alzheimer's disease, memory care is a primal care way to help Alzheimer's patients cope with the challenges that come with Alzheimer's disease.

What is Memory Care?

For patients with Alzheimer's disease, memory care is specialized care offered to enable them to cope with the deficiencies and disabilities of Alzheimer's disease. Memory care aims not to cure the disease as the disease is irreversible completely but to help the patients, especially senior citizens live a normal life despite having Alzheimer's disease.

Memory care facilities bridge this gap by allowing family members to go about their usual activities while at the same time having peace of mind that their relative is receiving the best care while they are away from them. 

The family members maintain regular visits to ensure the care is as they expect. It is no doubt that memory care helps Alzheimer's patients through the following ways;

Providing a Calm and Protective Environment

One of the fears that people close to an Alzheimer's disease patient is the wandering and loitering habit. Alzheimer's patients are known to be highly susceptible to wandering and even getting lost if left alone. Memory care facilities have safety and security features that ensure the safety of the patients inside. 

At memory care facilities, safety and security should be non-negotiable as the potentially wandering patients should be kept secured to prevent any instances that may make them stray. Memory care facilities ensure they have security features such as doorbells, strict monitoring of entry and exit of personnel to contain the Alzheimer's patients within the confined spaces. 

As Alzheimer's is associated with memory loss issues, memory care facilities are also designed so that they are not complex to go around. The utilities for the patients are kept so that it is easy for them to locate to avoid the confusion and disorientation that can come about with complexity. 

The facilities also have enough space where there are gardens and courtyards outside to give the serenity of an outdoor experience which helps to be a calming effect on Alzheimer's patients.

Specialized Round-the-Clock Care

Memory care facilities have trained staff who are specifically trained to give quality care to Alzheimer's disease patients. There is also maintenance of a low staff-to-patient ratio to ensure a personalized approach to Alzheimer's patients. 

At memory care, the patients are engaged in mind-boggling activities such as brain games, which help in stimulating their brain to keep it active. Staff at memory care facilities are also trained to compassionately take care of Alzheimer's patients in a specialized non-drug approach which helps reduce medication used to treat Alzheimer's. This allows the patients to cope naturally in their set environment without the need for medication. This approach allows Alzheimer's patients to keep their brain activity in a natural setting free of drugs.

Coordinated Care with Other Healthcare Professionals

Alzheimer's patients are mostly senior citizens who may require health care different from Alzheimer-related conditions. Memory care facilities go the extra mile by assessing the needs of their residents and determining which needs require specialized care that can be offered by professional healthcare practitioners other than them. 

They liaise with the healthcare professionals to make visits to their facilities and, if need be, provide personalized transport for the residents to visit the healthcare professionals. This helps the residents access medical care and checkups that may be vital for them. 

Additional Supportive therapies

Memory care facilities help their residents who are affected by Alzheimer's by offering supportive therapies which are helpful to the management of Alzheimer's disease. Therapies provided to Alzheimer's patients in memory care facilities include;

Music therapy—This therapy helps Alzheimer's patients relax their moods, improve their cognition, and reduce aggressive behavior that may be observed with Alzheimer's disease patients.

Occupational therapy—Occupational therapy is offered in memory care facilities to aid Alzheimer's patients in coping with memory losses and reduce their cognitive abilities.

Reminiscence therapy—This therapy is offered in memory care facilities to help improve the sensory abilities of residents who have Alzheimer's to help them cope with memory loss.

For specialized care for Alzheimer's patients, don't hesitate to contact us to learn more about the memory care services at Care New England and Butler Hospital.