In Canada alone there are more than 750,000 people living with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. One-in-five Canadians age 45 and over are providing some form of care to seniors who have long-term health problems. These unpaid family members are performing a great service to both the individuals with dementia and society as a whole, but they pay a hefty price with their own wellbeing and an increased financial burden.
Keeping Seniors with Alzheimer’s Safe Room-by-Room
Ensuring that your senior loved one remains as self-sufficient as possible, and yet safe around the house requires a delicate balance. For those caring for a person with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, that challenge increases ten-fold. Caregivers providing care for someone with Alzheimer’s must be diligent about identifying potential dangers in the home.
Memory Loss in Seniors: When Is It Normal? When Is It Not?
Aging normally involves a certain degree of memory loss. But what degree of memory loss in seniors and elders is normal, and what is cause for concern? This article gives advice to caregivers for identifying memory issues in seniors.
Speaking in Tongues: Facts about Aphasias
Aphasia is a communication disorder that occurs when the language centers of the brain sustain damage from illness, dementia, or injury. In seniors, the most common cause of aphasia is stroke. Victims of aphasia have difficulty communicating with others and may also have difficulty comprehending what others are saying, and this difficulty can be quite severe or very mild, almost unnoticeable.
Uncovering Pain in Seniors with Dementia
Many studies indicate that although dementia patients experience severe or chronic pain, they regularly receive fewer analgesics than healthy senior adults. This can primarily be attributed to the fact that while a healthy senior can verbalize pain and discomfort, dementia patients, especially those in the late stages, cannot.
Help Seniors with Dementia Stay Engaged with Activities
In the early stages of dementia, many seniors show less interest in what were once their favorite activities, and that can be hard on family and loved ones who want to help them. Routine activity, as long as it is carefully planned, can enrich the lives of those affected by dementia and support them in many ways .
Good Nutrition and Its Impact on Alzheimer’s Disease
Senior nutrition and nutrient intake has a huge impact on the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease, making a brain-health diet extremely important for Canada’s seniors and elder care providers.