Coping Strategies for Alzheimer's Disease Caregivers
If you are a caregiver for someone suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD), 当你试图提供照顾和理解你所照顾的人的行为变化时,你可能会面临困难的挑战. Understanding the behavior of a person with AD can help lessen these difficulties.
People with AD may exhibit the following behaviors:
- Extreme anxiety about daily life, 这可以通过问问题和重复曾经熟悉的事件和/或人的信息来表现, 提前为约会/日托做准备,没完没了地使用笔记和提醒.
- 对过去习以为常的任务漠不关心或缺乏主动性,尽管现在感觉压力很大. 例如, 总是喜欢谜题的人,但不再玩谜题,因为这些谜题太难了,需要他/她不再拥有的技能.
- 当人们对环境的理解能力和控制或表达情感的能力下降时,可能会出现频繁的躁动. 例如, a person with AD may strike out at a caregiver.
Coping Strategies
The following strategies may help you cope with caring for someone with AD:
Set realistic and attainable goals. 经常, 照顾者试图让一切都好起来,努力实现不切实际的目标,最终筋疲力尽,沮丧不已. 也许你的目标是确保你的病人干净、舒适、吃得好. But accepting success at 80 percent, 例如, 会让你享受你可能会因为没有达到目标而烦恼的时间吗. Although difficult, 试着去适应一个不太整洁的配偶或不太整洁的家.
Anticipate misinterpretation by your patient. AD患者可能不再能够准确地解释语言或非语言提示, which can cause anxiety and frustration for both you and your patient. 尽量在你的交流中保持清晰和简洁——必要时使用相同的词语或信息重复一些事情. Reduce extraneous noise and distractions when trying to communicate. 不要使用容易混淆的代词,比如他、她或它,而是使用名字和特定的头衔.
Remember that all behavior has a purpose. 许多专家认为,阿尔茨海默病患者表现出的一些行为症状, such as shouting or striking out, 有意义. Although the person does not generally intend to disrupt things or to hurt someone, they do intend to be noticed and perhaps communicate a need that is not being met. 除了, it is important to remember that while these behaviors 有意义, they are not intentional and the person is not doing this "on purpose," but more likely trying to convey a message that they can longer explain in words. 慢下来, 试着通过他们的眼睛看十大赌博平台排行榜,试着回应行为背后的“感觉”, rather than the behavior itself, may prevent an emotional crisis.
Enjoy the good times. 许多阿尔茨海默病患者在患病后期仍然保持身体健康,保持舒适和十大赌博靠谱网络平台社交活动的能力. 因此, continue to socialize, 旅行, 积极参加对你和你的病人都有乐趣的活动. 经常, 熟悉的活动对AD患者来说仍然是愉快的,应该鼓励. 然而,尝试学习新任务或开始新的爱好可能会令人沮丧或不堪重负.
Reminisce about the past 并鼓励讨论熟悉的人和地方,唤起你和你的病人愉快的感觉. Memories from the distant past are not usually affected and watching family videos, 看照片或回顾过去的旅行可以让你和你的病人继续分享经验和感受. 允许你的病人与家人、孙子和朋友分享他们记得的历史. This is fun for everyone and helps your patient feel connected to their loved ones.
是灵活的. Remember that AD is a progressive disease. Your patient's symptoms and needs will change over time. If strategies such as notes or reminders are no longer working, don't use them. 在一个阶段成功的干预可能在另一个阶段变成挫折和灾难. Seek help, ask for advice and learn from others who have had similar experiences. More challenging behavioral symptoms of a patient with AD, such as resisting care or being aggressive, 对护理人员来说是否特别困难,通常需要非常个性化的方法. 和你的十大赌博平台排行榜谈谈治疗方法,包括药物和非药物.
安全
Your patient's safety is an important priority. As the disease progresses, 记忆力和判断力受损,患者往往无法预测或避免危险情况. 对于照顾者来说,这可能是一项巨大的责任,需要创造性的应对策略. The following recommendations may help ensure your patient's safety.
监督 对阿尔茨海默病患者来说可能是必要的,因为他们变得更健忘,判断力下降. 最好是单独评估每种情况,并根据需要逐步提高患者的监督水平. 这将帮助他们在尽可能安全的环境中保持尽可能多的独立性和自主权. It is often difficult to determine the level of supervision needed. 它包括评估患者当前和潜在行为的风险和后果,以及保护患者所涉及的轻松/不适.
When evaluating your patient's need for supervision, behaviors to review include:
- Ability to handle emergencies when left unsupervised
- Ability to use appliances safely
- Ability to safely answer the phone or door when left alone
- Tendency to wander. 这可能发生在晚期,当患者对自己在哪里或试图找到一个熟悉的人或地方感到困惑时. If there is a concern about this, enrolling your patient in the Safe Return program should be considered. 这个程序, which is administered by the Alzheimer's Association, 为AD患者提供全国登记和身份识别,以便在他们走失或迷路时帮助找到他们.
监督 strategies may include:
- Simple reminder phone calls for medications
- Alarms on doors to prevent exiting
- Personal supervision to prevent physical injury or harm
Modifying the environment 限制你的病人接触潜在的危险环境可以让他们继续保持独立和安全. Especially in the early stages of AD, 提醒和提示在你的病人的环境可能足以确保他们的安全. 例如, 把一项任务所涉及的步骤贴出来,或者给存放物品的地方贴上标签,这对你的病人非常有帮助.
In the later stages of the disease, 你可能需要采取一些策略来限制你的病人接触潜在的危险情况, 例如,在装有潜在危险材料的橱柜上安装儿童安全把手.
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加州大学旧金山分校健康 medical specialists have reviewed this information. 它仅用于教育目的,并不打算取代您的十大赌博平台排行榜或其他医疗保健提供者的建议. 我们鼓励您与您的供应商讨论您可能遇到的任何问题或疑虑.