Not surprisingly, adult children with aging parents in memory care frequently have anxiety and questions about visiting their loved ones. Common concerns include: Will mom/dad even know who I am? What should I say? Do my visits have any value? How often should I visit mom/dad in memory care?
Today, respite care offers busy and often overstressed family caregivers the opportunity to relax, decompress and re-energize while their loved ones receive professional care. Respite care also provides an ideal caregiving solution for loved ones when caregivers need to be away for business or vacation.
We’ve always known that a good night’s sleep is good for our physical and emotional health. Getting enough “zzzzz”s makes us feel refreshed, alert and ready for the day.
“Recent research studies also suggest that there is a dangerous downside to not getting sufficient sleep,” says Susan Irrgang, RN, LNHA, Executive Director at Saunders House in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
“At-home caregivers of those living with memory loss face multiple challenges, which typically increase as the disease progresses,” says Susan Irrgang, Executive Director of Saunders House located in Wynnewood, PA. “Among the most difficult are psychological symptoms such as delusions and paranoia that often appear during the middle and later stages of memory loss.
“After a long, cold winter, many of us view the warm sunny days of late spring and summer to be a welcome blessing,” says Susan Irrgang, Executive Director of Saunders House, located in Wynnewood, PA. “However, if you have a loved one at home with Alzheimer’s disease or other form of dementia for whom you’re providing memory care, it is important to know that summer can also bring additional challenges to their safety and health.
“If you’ve assumed the role of primary caregiver for a loved one requiring memory care, it is very important that you begin organizing a caregiver support team as soon as possible,” says Susan Irrgang, Executive Director of Saunders House, located in Wynnewood, PA.
Memory care authorities explain that providing daily memory care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or other form of dementia can be extremely taxing on your physical, emotional and spiritual health – even to the point of causing exhaustion and ‘burnout.’
