Dementia Care: Visiting Angels Provides Insight into Care and Symptoms

With the recent release of the HBO documentary on Robins Williams, dementia care, and specifically Lewy Body dementia, has been top of mind for many across America. At Visiting Angels, we have been helping families living with dementia find stability and assistance for more than 20 years.

As the nation’s largest in home care company, we provide comprehensive dementia care services across the country as well as support and insight into how families can better cope with dementia.

What is Dementia?

Dementia is not a specific disease, but a term that is used to associate a variety of memory-related concerns. While Alzheimer’s disease is the most widely known form of dementia, Lewy Body dementia is the second most widely diagnosed form of this condition.

Connie Hill-Johnson, owner of Visiting Angels Cleveland, was recently featured on HLN News discussing dementia’s symptoms and ways families can help their loved one live successfully at home with dementia.

Some of the most common symptoms of dementia include:

• Increasing confusion
• Depression
• Difficulty caring out daily tasks
• Difficulty caring out following instruction
• Short-term memory loss

What is Lewy Body Dementia?

Lewy Body dementia is a specific form of the disease that according to the National Institute on Aging is “associated with abnormal deposits of a protein called alpha-synuclein in the brain. These deposits, called Lewy bodies, affect chemicals in the brain whose changes, in turn, can lead to problems with thinking, movement, behavior, and mood.”

Lewy Body dementia can be difficult to diagnose because symptoms are often similar to Alzheimer’s. In the case of Robin Williams, his Lewy Body dementia was originally diagnosed and treated as Parkinson’s disease.

How Dementia Care Can Help

As Hill-Johnson explained, family members are often the first line of defense when a loved one is diagnosed or begins to show sign of dementia. As family members step in to offer assistance, it’s common for everyone to feel stress. Adult children are often juggling their own families, careers, and responsibility and it can easily become overwhelming to also find time to help Mom or Dad several hours a week.

Professional dementia care services provide the relief and assistance families need to better cope with the effects of this condition. Caregivers can provide assistance with a wide variety of needs including:

• Preparing meals
• Light housekeeping
• Wandering prevention
• Walking and mobility assistance
• Medication reminders
• Transportation to doctor and/or therapy appointments
• Help getting dressed
• Hygiene assistance

Bringing in a caregiver to provide dementia care at home is often one of the best ways for families to cope. Extended care at home allows your loved one to continue living at home and to also receive the continuity of care they need. Having a regular caregiver will be a comfort as the dementia progresses. Staying at home provides a sense of comfort that seniors with dementia need.