What are some of the lessons we can learn from dementia? We can learn about them in a classroom. We can read books, watch videos and listen to audio about the subject. Or, we can learn through experience of taking care of someone who has dementia.
We can ask them how they feel? Ask them every day what they want to do? Ask them if they feel like talking with someone, or if they would like to visit someone.
Below are three lessons we can learn from dementia.
Don’t Take Dementia Personal
When you are caring for someone you have loved and known for many years, it’s often difficult to separate the person you once knew with the one who has dementia. At times, you will feel sad, hopeless, and confused. You will sometimes hear them say things to you that make you anxious, slightly irritated, or even angry.
Never take anything as personal that you hear from an elderly loved one with dementia.
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We Can Learn What It’s Like to Live with Dementia
The only way we can truly learn what it’s like to live with dementia is to care for someone who has it. There are various technical gadgets on the market that simulates what it’s like to have dementia, but only people who have it can give you better insight.
This brings us to an interesting question. If you are caring for people with dementia, are your activities and planning based on what you think they like and should be doing, or do you listen to them, and build your schedule around what they suggest?
It’s important to remember that people who have dementia can live with it, and although it causes them to forget, they still have many activities they can still enjoy.
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We Continue to Enjoy Music When We Have Dementia
Music remains a part of our lives, even when our memories begin to fade. Music can continue to have a calming and joyous effect on seniors with dementia. We try to provide all of our residents with a personal playlist on an iPod or similar device. Music is powerful. It triggers emotions as well as memories from the past.
The way that music quickly makes seniors happy is a universal message. Hearing songs that they have enjoyed for most of their lives remains beneficial when they have Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, too.
