Supporting dementia patients to carry out tasks
Supporting dementia patients to do tasks
The key to supporting someone when they are suffering with dementia is to give them as much support as is possible to enable them to live life as independently as possible for as long as possible. You’ll need to adapt your mindset to try and see things through the way that their brain interprets the world Things that are taken for granted, that we can do with our eyes closed are now very challenging for a dementia patient. Simple tasks such as getting dressed and the order in which clothes should go on, making a cup of tea, or running a bath, become confusing. The dementia patient is embarrassed that they have to ask for help with a task that in the early stages of dementia diagnosis, they are sure that they should know how to do. Frustration and anger can become commonplace as the dementia patient wants to remain independent and not to rely on someone, yet they are finding the world around them increasingly difficult to navigate, and the brain fog that they feel when they try to think how they should carry out the task at hand.
How to approach activities
One way to approach this is to sit dementia patient and carer down and work out what it is that the dementia patient still wishes to do. Have a think about what is realistic, think about what they symptoms are and how they are coping managing activities.
Earlier in the day is better for tackling tasks. The dementia patient is likely to be well rested (assuming that they are sleeping well). Activities should be broken down into sizeable tasks. So if they are challenged with putting on their socks and shoes, approach it with a foot at a time, or a sock at a time, followed by a shoe at a time. Labelling shoes for each foot might help identify the left shoe from the right shoe. Don’t try and do everything at once and the key is to take your time. The patient should not put themselves under undue pressure or duress. They should be prepared to take their time, no one is rushing them in their tasks.
Making sure that the dementia patient has a routine throughout the day, helps with the patient being able to prepare themselves for each task and it helps to give a form of order to the day. If the patient is struggling with any activity, approach the conversation sensitively and don’t call them out for doing something wrong, particularly in front of other people. Allow them time to try and complete the task and don’t try and take over. You can always ask them if they might like some help to find another way to achieve the task. Make the situation and environment as relaxed as possible. So if you have an appointment to get to, make sure ample time is made before leaving the house for the dementia patient to carry out the tasks that they need to do, such as be dressed, put on a coat or their shoes.
Summary
The key to supporting a dementia patient with everyday tasks is to support them in their bid for independence. To enable them to be able to do tasks for themselves, as simple as they may seem to us, will be encouraging to the patient and comforting that they are being enabled to maintain their independence. The loss of being able to carry out a task or complete a skill can be very upsetting to a dementia patient, indeed to anyone with a sudden loss in cognitive ability. By working together and including the patient in decisions about activities and tasks and what they wish to continue doing for themselves, will give them a sense of purpose and help to stave off other side-effects of dementia such as depression.
