A Specialist Guide to Caring for Dementia at Home

“Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of progressive conditions that affect the brain,” according to Dementia UK, a leading dementia charity. Put simply, when a person’s brain cells are prevented from working properly by a particular disease, such as Alzheimer’s, it affects their ability to think, speak and remember information.

Terminology can be muddling when you first receive a diagnosis of dementia as many people think that the term ‘dementia’ is the disease itself, but it isn’t; “Doctors typically use the word ‘‘dementia’’ to describe common symptoms – such as memory loss, confusion, and problems with speech and understanding – that get worse over time.” Dementia can be diagnosed at various stages but is most common in people aged over 65.

It’s not unusual for people living with dementia to exhibit behaviour that challenges when in the later stages of their dementia journey. The most important thing to remember when someone displays such behaviour is “Always try to see things from the person’s perspective,” the Alzheimer’s Society says.
“People with dementia can sometimes find it hard to understand what’s going on around them. This can be confusing and frightening for them.”
Family members might not understand why their loved one is behaving this way – such as walking endlessly around the house or getting up in the middle of the night – but by examining the way they live their life it might give some clues and prevent frustration. Looking at the person’s working life, for instance, may reveal that they used to get up in the early hours every day.

Because Helping Hands have been supporting people living with dementia since we were established in 1989, we really are the UK’s dementia care at home experts. Our fully-trained carers are chosen specifically for their natural qualities of compassion and kindness and go through a rigorous training and assessment programme when they join us. As the UK’s most widely trusted home care provider, we consider it our responsibility to always deliver the highest quality care, all fully regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the Care Inspectorate Wales, and our exceptional amount of positive Trustpilot reviews demonstrates this. Helping Hands’ industry-leading home care service has been reviewed by 3450 people, and our 150 branches across England and Wales are staffed by local care teams delivering incredible support for people in their area. Chat to us today about dementia care on a visiting or live-in care basis where you live.