Are You a Good Dementia Detective?

If you are a good Dementia cop, you probably learned that your Alzheimer's patient is not guilty of a crime. If you are a bad Dementia cop, you are probably upset all the time by the behavior of your Alzheimer's patient.It is pretty easy to blame a person living with Alzheimer's for everything they do.It is not unusual for caregivers to tell me that their loved oneis mean or a real challenge to manage. Most often when I ask, have you given any serious thought to why they are mean or hard to deal with they answer no.Touch and Kindness in Dementia CareBy Bob DeMarcohttp://www.alzheimersreadingroom.comThebad cop might conclude that Alzheimer's patientsare "bad" by nature.A good cop on the other hand might decide to investigate and look for clues to the behavior.Understanding dementia patient meannessExperience tells us there are two major reasons (among a long list) why Alzheimer's patients are mean, or express challenging behaviors.Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading RoomEmail:One thing that makes Alzheimer's patients mean is infections, most often urinary tract or bladder infections.Most Alzheimer's patients cannot tell you when they have an infection, are not feeling well. As a result, they tend to get ornery.The Connection Between UTI and Worsening DementiaDoctors and doctors aidesare not good at detecting urinary tract infections (UTI). Why you ask?They typical personal care doctor in America schedulespatient appointments every ten minutes.The goal to get the patient in an...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - Category: Neurology Tags: alzheimer's awareness alzheimer's care Alzheimer's Dementia care of dementia patients at home caregiving dementia care dementia help for caregivers family caregiving health memory care Source Type: blogs