Dementia Training Could Help In-home Care in Westchester
Helping In-home Care in Westchester Understand their Clients Better
Living with a senior who suffers from dementia (or Alzheimer’s disease) is extremely challenging. Family, friends, and providers of in-home care in Westchester all know the experience of giving a senior with dementia a very simple task to perform, only to discover that they accidentally made the situation worse than before. How can we learn to be more patient and understanding with our loved ones who are suffering from a disease we don’t understand?
Finding Out How it Feels
In Chicago, some medical students and nurses are getting a taste of just how it feels to go through life with dementia. To simulate the handicapping effects of dementia, participants put on a number of devices that dull their senses. Blurred glasses obscure eyesight; earmuffs make it hard to hear; and gloves make writing and other delicate tasks nearly impossible. In addition, instructors speak quickly and don’t provide any help—the “demented” students are on their own.
Developing More Understanding
The participants in the experiment agree that it taught them one primary lesson: Be sensitive to the obstacles that seniors with dementia and declining cognitive ability face! When they found out how hard it could be to simply locate a notebook with poor vision and write in it with clumsy fingers, they realized the need to give seniors tasks that they can handle in their unique conditions. They also learned different ways that they can help their patients and clients by anticipating problems ahead of time.
Lessons for Los Angeles Eldercare
It’s always difficult for us to mentally place ourselves in someone else’s shoes, but it is incredibly helpful for people like Los Angeles eldercare professionals, who deal with dementia on a daily basis. Want to see for yourself just what it’s like to have poor vision or hearing? Put on a pair of earmuffs or very dirty glasses—it won’t be long before you take them off in frustration. You will have a little better understanding, though, of what it’s like to live with dementia.