A New Year of Caregiving

In another day it will be a new decade, a new year and time to review how your caregiving is going. Are things the same as a year ago? I doubt it, if you are caring for a family member with memory loss. Diseases of memory loss like Alzheimer's are usually progressive and constantly giving the caregiver new challenges. It may be time to see whether you need to learn new skills to address the changing challenges.
In early memory loss, you learned to tolerate the repeating of information or questions. You were aware that some skills were being lost. You grieved the losses to your way of relating to your family member; perhaps learned how to assume responsibilities he or she once had.
What are your challenges now? Is it adapting to loss of speech? Is it looking at whether it is time for more help, perhaps in the area of a day program? I hope you've located, joined and consistently participate in a support group.
When caring for someone with a chronic progressive illness like Alzheimer's, you must forever be adapting your life to the disease. Keep reading caregiving books and articles. Attend seminars by the Alzheimer's Association to keep up with new trends in care. It isn't as hard with the right information. You can enjoy your family member again; only in a different way.
We've recently added a new service to our list; one of activity planning. Without planned activity to fill the day, caregiving can be very tedious. We will be sharing some of our ideas from time to time. If you have activities that have worked for you, share them with us.