Some of the more common triggers for dementia like a change in environment, having personal space invaded, or being emotionally overwhelmed may be easier to handle if you mentally practice your response before you react.
Keeping an active social life, regular exercise, and continuing activities the person enjoys, or finding new ones, can help to reduce behaviours that are out of character. Read more about activities for dementia. Other things that can help include: providing reassurance.
There is at least moderate evidence consistently supporting air pollution, aluminium, silicon, selenium, pesticides, vitamin D, and electromagnetic fields as putative environmental risk factors for dementia.
Here, I'll discuss three types of trigger: external, internal, and synthetic. These each have different strengths and weaknesses, and each can be used to design great behaviors that form lasting habits.
Generally, people with dementia become agitated due to three potential trigger categories: Medical, physiological and/or environmental.
Comfort the person with verbal and physical reassurance. Distraction or redirection might also help. Giving your loved one a job such as folding laundry might help to make her feel needed and useful. People with dementia may become uncooperative and resistant to daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating.
Is there an anger stage of dementia? Not really. A person with dementia will progress through the stages of dementia but the changes have to do with level of functioning, not with anger. That being said, we can cause a person with dementia to be angry without realizing it.
Keep well-loved objects and photographs around the house to help the person feel more secure. Try gentle touching, soothing music, reading, or walks. Reduce noise, clutter, or the number of people in the room. Try to distract the person with a favorite snack, object, or activity.
People with dementia think about the same things that any human thinks about — emotions, relationships, daily life, tasks to accomplish, and more. Receiving a life-changing diagnosis of dementia does not strip a person of their humanity and personhood.
For men and women with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, it can be especially beneficial. Watching movies and TV shows can help keep their brain active, which can stimulate positive memories, improve mood, and even increase socialization.
The person with dementia usually doesn't remember if you have been there for five minutes or five hours. Ultimately it's better to visit three times per week for 20 minutes than once a week for an hour.
Often when a person with dementia asks to go home it refers to the sense of home rather than home itself. 'Home' may represent memories of a time or place that was comfortable and secure and where they felt relaxed and happier. It could also be an indefinable place that may not physically exist.
I'm going to discuss five of the most basic ones here: 1) Don't tell them they are wrong about something, 2) Don't argue with them, 3) Don't ask if they remember something, 4) Don't remind them that their spouse, parent or other loved one is dead, and 5) Don't bring up topics that may upset them.
Allow the person to keep as much control in his or her life as possible. Respect the person's personal space. Build quiet times into the day, along with activities. Keep well-loved objects and photographs around the house to help the person feel more secure.
One of the most common causes of death for people with dementia is pneumonia caused by an infection. A person in the later stages of dementia may have symptoms that suggest that they are close to death, but can sometimes live with these symptoms for many months.
Symptoms generally progress steadily. However, a person may experience a sudden worsening of dementia symptoms. This can be part of the disease progressing or a sign of a serious medical problem. A sudden change in thinking or behavior can be the result of delirium, stroke, or other health conditions.
Studies have shown music may reduce agitation and improve behavioral issues that are common in the middle-stages of the disease. Even in the late-stages of Alzheimer's, a person may be able to tap a beat or sing lyrics to a song from childhood.
Stress affects the immune system, which is known to play an important role in the development of dementia. A key hormone released when you're stressed, cortisol, has been linked to problems with memory.
Triggers are anything that might cause a person to recall a traumatic experience they've had. For example, graphic images of violence might be a trigger for some people. Less obvious things, including songs, odors, or even colors, can also be triggers, depending on someone's experience.
While most adults know that teasing or bullying can trigger a behavior issue, many are not aware that some children also respond negatively to unwanted praise. Other common behavior triggers include overstimulation (bright lights, loud noises, etc.), transitions and having to interact with someone they don't like.
Specific situations that often trigger aggression have been described as “situational triggers” (Lawrence, 2006) and have served as the basis for an instrument designed to “predict individual differences in the kinds of events and antecedents that make people feel aggressive” (p. 242).
People with dementia begin to feel lost, confused, and insecure. Attention-seeking behavior displayed by needy elderly people with dementia is their way of asking for help.