Caregiver Tips

Caregiver Tip 101: You should capture your parent or loved one’s key life facts so caregivers will be more familiar with Mom or Dad.

Psalms 102(KJV): 1-2…Hear My Prayer, O Lord, And Let My Cry Come Unto Thee. Hide Not Thy Face From Me In The Day When I Am In Trouble; Incline Thine Ear Unto Me; In The Day When I Call Answer Me Speedily.

The greatest love in the world is that between a parent and a child; a love so incredibly nurturing; so deeply endearing. But roles have been reversed. Where Mom and Dad took care of you, now you are placed in the position to care for them. This is more than financial caring. It’s caring associated with overseeing their everyday well being. As time moves on…caring for Alzheimer’s for you may become even more difficult.

You’re worried. You work every day and they can’t be left alone. You are the sibling that lives out of town and travel home to help oversee their care. You currently manage a family and whenever Mom or Dad visits, they are excited, frustrated, and angry. They can’t even find their way to the bathroom alone.

With my Mom, her state of independence had her lost in downtown Chicago, it had her driving a car when she was no longer able; it eventually had her forgetting my name. The prayer from Psalms 102 was representative of my state of mind. I also read this prayer quite a bit for my Mom. I wanted God to know there was someone praying on her behalf.

Praying for her became even more vigilant when as a family we had to place her in an assisted living facility. My God the guilt I felt-the lonely expression on her face when I had to leave her.

They didn’t know her. Outside of her name, they didn’t know she was a mother of six. They didn’t know reading from the Bible gave her comfort. They didn’t know she once worked at a bank. Because she was great at numbers, she could best most in a game of bid whist.

I took her core lifestyle memories and captured them on poster so anyone who entered my Mom’s room could engage her in dialogue. I watched staff and emergency medical teams use this tool on more than one occasion. From this poster they were able to know her nick name, talk about her hometown, Chicago and talk about her children. My thoughts were, this is her room and this is her story. You should talk to her about subjects meaningful to her loving past.

Later, in several highly recognized books on Alzheimer’s, I learned my creating this poster helped with memory retention. The information I provided were key details of her past and most likely retained by the Alzheimer’s mind.

So if you consider placing your loved one in the care of others, be sure to capture for them vital information on their life. It will help them keep important memories alive and provide the staff greater resources when caring for your parent.

Look at the following site to gather additional information on caregiving:
http://www.nia.nih.gov