There is probably no harder news to hear than finding out that you have a family member who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease that slowly but surely degrades memory and causes a person to gradually forget how to perform the simplest tasks, even talking is eventually forgotten if the disease progresses far enough. It’s estimated that almost 14 million Americans could be living with Alzheimer’s by the year 2050. Most, if not all of them will need a nursing care plan for Alzheimers. There are several options for Alzheimers home care, but one you should seriously consider is 24 hour live-in home care.
Live-in home care is a nursing care plan for Alzheimers that would see a trained caregiver present with your family member at all times. They wouldn’t be moving in with your family member. What would most likely happen is there would be a team of two caregivers that would switch off, to make sure the family member is always taken care of. There are a number of advantages to having live-in home care and it would be wise to take a few minutes to look at a few of them.
- Help With Medications: One advantage to live-in home care is that your family member will be able to receive any medication on time and with the proper dosage. Unfortunately, as Alzheimer’s progresses, it becomes easy for people to forget about taking important medicines, which can have catastrophic results on their health. Caregivers can be there to make sure these medicines are taken, preventing potential medical emergencies from happening.
- Help With Daily Living: Another great advantage to live-in home care is that trained caregivers can help your family members with their daily living needs. For example, a caregiver can help with preparing meals, dressing and undressing for the day, regular bathing, and making sure the home stays clean. All of these tasks can be neglected as Alzheimer’s or dementia progresses, and caregivers can make sure your family member maintains a healthy standard of living.
- Help With Keeping Your Family Member Safe: One last advantage about live-in home care to be aware of, and this is related to the previous point, is that the caregivers can help keep your family member safe. Advanced dementia can leave people extremely vulnerable, both physically and mentally. By having a caregiver present, it’s more likely that your family member will be kept safe from a potentially dangerous fall or accidentally harming themselves.
In conclusion, it is vitally important to have a nursing care plan for Alzheimers. One option to consider for nursing care is live-in home care which would involve a caregiver being with your family member around the clock. These caregivers can help with important medications, help with daily living, and most importantly help with keeping your family member safe during this difficult time. Having a family member with Alzheimer’s is never easy, but live-in home care can make this time just a little bit easier.