About one out of two patients stays at home until the end of their life.
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease whose evolution obliges carers to be permanently present, sometimes causing certain family conflicts to resurface. If support for the sick person is essential, the family must also be taken into account in the care.
Become aware of your limits
A large number of loved ones, spouse or child for example, may feel guilty about being in good health and seek to repair something by helping the sick person. While this dedication may be seen as positive and admired by those around them, it often hides an exhaustion that makes them susceptible to developing physical and psychological problems themselves.
Knowing how to delegate and get help from loved ones, social services, hospital services or associations also means working on this guilt by accepting to recognize one’s own limits and not fall into mistreatment.
Getting to know the disease
As soon as the first symptoms appear, the spouse or the child may tend to stimulate his parent at all costs to improve cognitive functions, for example. This is why it is essential, as a caregiver, to educate oneself about the disease in order to adapt to its evolution rather than exhausting oneself going against it.
This involves, for example, adapting the living space to limit injuries or falls and approaching time with notes, reminders or calendars, for example. There is no need to exhaust yourself putting objects that are out of place, for example, but rather to use humor to distract your attention or your thoughts.
Knowing how to show creativity and empathy, agreeing to delegate and getting help can improve daily life and provide the best support for your sick loved one, whether they are at home or not.
Find out more: “Alzheimer’s manual: The book for carers” by Jean-Pierre Polydor, L’Esprit du Temps editions
Below, our podcast on the theme: “Disability, dependency: how caregivers are coping with the health crisis”
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