Alzheimer Disease: Challenges As A Caregiver

Alzheimer Disease can cause a person to show behavior that they normally wouldn’t.  This means that you, as a caregiver, will be faced with many challenges as you try to give your patient the best care that you can. 

Some of the challenges that you face include physical aggression, verbal aggression, mood swings, wandering, repetition of words, and combativeness.

All of these changes in behaviour can lead to a great deal of tension and frustrations for both you and your patient.  The most important thing that you need to remember is that your Alzheimer patient isn’t behaving this way on purpose.  Their behavior is simply the result of their disease so you need avoid analyzing the situation and looking for solutions when there are none.

There are some common behavior changes that you can expect to see in a person who has Alzheimer Disease.  This includes:

•    Reactions in an overactive environment.  Alzheimer patients can become over-stimulated to the point where they display behavior that is very confusing.
•    Physical discomfort due to medications. 
•    Physical discomfort due to any other illnesses.  Your patient may already be confused and when you add another illness into the mixture the end result can be a big behavior change.
•    The inability to recognize familiar people, things, places, and memories.
•    Your patient may find it difficult to complete an activity or task, or it may take them a long time to accomplish it.
•    Your patient may find it difficult to communicate.  Their language skills will become more and more impaired depending on what stage of the disease they are at.

As a caregiver there are some specific things that you can do to cope with the behaviour changes in your Alzheimer patient whether you are caring for a family member or a friend.  Some of these coping strategies include:

•    Try to be as understanding as you can.  Keep in mind that behavior changes are not directed at you personally but are a symptom of Alzheimer Disease.
•    Stay calm no matter what the situation is about.
•    Practice as much patience as you can.  If you start to feel impatient, try to take a step back and take a few minutes for yourself so that you can get back on track.
•    Be flexible so that no matter what type of a schedule you have designed for your patient you are always ready for the unexpected.
•    Don’t argue with your patient or try to convince them of something.  Always keep in mind that the Alzheimer patient is no longer able to rationalize in the way that they once were.
•    Respond to your patient when they ask something of you.  It will be up to you to determine whether or not the request is rational or not.