People living with Alzheimer’s Disease face many challenges. So do their carers and loved ones. Both the individual, their carers and their family members need regular support on a number of different levels to improve quality of life and make dealing with the condition a little easier for all concerned.
This article is going to take a closer look at Alzheimer’s care and just what services for support are available. Loved ones, family members and personal carers can only do so much when it comes to assisting someone who has Alzheimer’s and expert assistance can make all the difference.
Consider Professional Palliative Care Services
Palliative care is a service designed to assist individuals who have a terminal illness or life-limiting condition. As Alzheimer’s Disease is considered terminal (as in there is yet no cure for it), palliative services and support are the best fit for a person living with Alzheimer’s and their carers.
The outcome of expert palliative care services is to enable the individual and those around them to live life as normally and as comfortably as possible while going through a difficult situation. This includes the management of symptoms, as well as offering support on a number of levels.
Nurses in this specialist field receive intensive training on how best to assist people living with a terminal condition, including Alzheimer’s Disease. Holistic care and support are available for individuals and their loved ones.
Personalised Support Services
A professional palliative care in-home service will understand that a blanket approach to Alzheimer’s care simply isn’t comprehensive or flexible enough. Support services need to be personalised to suit the individual and their carers. Everyone’s lives are different and everyone’s circumstances vary, so a tailor-made care approach is the only logical solution.
This personalised approach to caring for someone with Alzheimer’s ensures the quality of life that results is in line with the individual’s wishes and those of their carers and loved ones.
Palliative care in the home also means that the person with Alzheimer’s will be surrounded by familiar things and all of their belongings. Even though their memory may be fading in and out due to the condition, it’s still a positive approach for the individual to be in familiar surroundings. Also, familiarity can sometimes help to slow down the progression of the disease.
Nobody really wants to spend what time they have left in a hospital-type environment and neither do their loved ones. In-home, personalised palliative care provides the perfect solution to avoid that outcome.
With the input of everyone involved, in-home palliative care services will be planned out beforehand to ensure individual requirements are met and that everything runs seamlessly.
Examples Of Palliative Care Services
Some of the services in-home care will provide include washing and feeding, pain and medication management if required, social care, which includes emotional support and conversing and tasks such as doing the shopping and providing transportation. There is also help with domestic tasks such as house cleaning and laundry and the preparation of meals.
As mentioned throughout the article, assistance and support services are not just for the individual living with Alzheimer’s, but for everyone concerned, including carers and loved ones. Support services also include psychological and spiritual support.
How To Go About Getting Care For Someone With Alzheimer’s
The first step in the process of organising palliative care for an individual with Alzheimer’s Disease is to get a referral from a GP. Once a referral to a palliative care service has been secured, your care provider will perform an assessment of the individual’s specific needs and living requirements. It’s at this point that a tailored and personalised in-home care support and assistance plan can be formulated.
Your palliative care service provider can also organise and arrange other things as necessary, such as the transition from a hospital to the home, liaising with medical professionals and much more.
In Conclusion
Palliative care for people with Alzheimer’s offers support and assistance on just about every level and the good news is that loved ones and carers also get the help and support they need as well. It’s good to know that professional help is available so no one has to travel the journey feeling like they’re all alone.
