13 July 2017
 Categories: , Blog

With the beginning stages of dementia, you will likely not notice signs. For example, in the beginning, you may notice your parent loses things a lot but will find them later. Because you notice that your parent is acting strange, however, they are likely in the second stage or further. To help you determine this, below are the stages you will notice and when it is time for you to get a caregiver for your parent:

Stages of Dementia

As your parent progresses through the disease, they will start to have some memory loss and forgetfulness. You may notice that your parent repeats themselves a lot. They also may have finance programs, such as spending much more money than they normally.

The next stage of dementia their symptoms become much worse. Your parent will likely not be able to cook or use the phone. They may have problems with incontinence. You will notice your parent has a hard time talking, such as they will not be able to say the right words.

After this stage, things become much worse. Your parent may not be able to dress their self or go to the bathroom on their own. Their memory loss will increase, and they will not be able to remember their phone number, their address, and other things. As they progress, they will get lost easily, and not able to remember the names of their family members.

In the last stages of dementia, your parent may not be able to talk at all and will lose awareness of their surroundings.

Caregiver

Once your parent gets to the point where they cannot take care of their self you need to hire a caregiver if you are not able to stay with them full time. This will ensure your parent stays safe in their home and will not harm their self, such as if they try to cook something or they try to take a bath on their own.

There are agencies that you can find that have caregivers that specialize in dementia care. Because your parent will not be able to do hardly anything, make sure the caregiver will perform all the duties they need to.

There are caregivers that can live with your parent. They also can stay all day until you or another family member can get to their home and stay all night with them.

Once your parent gets very bad, you should consider a care home for them. Make sure the home has employees experienced working with dementia patients. Ask the caregiver, as they will be able to give you some names of great care homes in your area.

The most important thing you can do is to take your parent to the doctor. They can do tests to confirm they have dementia. They can then prescribe medication that can help your parent with their symptoms.