Quality of Life (part 5)

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

Alzheimer's Society
Alzheimer's Care
Ethical Guidelines

What can be done to enhance the quality of life of people who provide care?
Strategies to enhance the caregiver's quality of life include:

Learning about Alzheimer's disease, understanding how it progresses and learning how to communicate with people with the disease.
Talking to close friends about one's needs, the needs of the person being cared for and where the two sets of needs conflict.
Finding ongoing support from groups or from one-on-one relationships.
Taking regular breaks from caregiving, for a few hours, days or weeks, and finding activities that help one get away from caregiving responsibilities and tasks.
Recognizing the signs of stress and developing ways to deal with them.
Taking satisfaction in the work one is doing to provide quality care.
Learning to ask for and accept help.
Making sure the doctor knows that one is caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease, to ensure that one's health is monitored and appropriate treatments obtained.
Becoming aware of one's own feelings and reaction to stress. Taking care of one's needs throughout the course of the disease.
Planning for changes, recognizing that there may be difficult decisions ahead.
Acknowledging the need for companionship and physical intimacy. Relationships with family and friends should be fostered as much as possible.
Listing the negative and positive aspects of caregiving, and seeking help from others to increase the positives and decrease the negatives.
Learning about available community resources by contacting the local Alzheimer Society.
In closing...
The quality of life of the person with Alzheimer's disease must be a central focus of care. It is vital that those providing care respond to that person's needs, wishes and values. The ultimate goal of care must be to provide a sense of well-being for that person.

At the same time, it must be recognized that the quality of life of the caregiver can be as important as that of the person with Alzheimer's disease. When conflicts arise, communication, information, self-awareness, support and understanding can help caregivers find solutions to ensure that their own quality of life does not become a casualty of the disease.



Resources:

From the Alzheimer Society of Canada:

Are You Caring for Someone with Alzheimer Disease? Remember to Take Care of Yourself Too!
Guidelines for Care
Other:

The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer's Care. Virginia Bell and David Troxel, Health Professions Press, Baltimore, MD, 1997.
Dementia Reconsidered: The Person Comes First (Rethinking Ageing). Tom Kitwood, Open University Press, 1997.

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