Activities To Keep People Living
With Alzheimer’s Disease Involved
By:
Sam-Smith
Alzheimer’s disease is considered the 7th
leading cause of death in the United States in 2004. The death
toll continues to rise every year. The disease is the third most
costly in the U.S.
Heart
disease and cancer are the first and second
most costly respectively. It is recorded that there 24 million
people with
dementia worldwide, the figure will more than
double by 2040.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease that is irreversible with
no known cause or cure. The disease affects two major types of
abilities. Alzheimer’s affects the very simple everyday
activities such as dressing, eating, bathing, dressing, using
the toilet, and even walking. One needs to be assisted in order
to accomplish such tasks.
The other ability affected by the disease are the performance of
more complex tasks like managing finances, driving a car,
preparing and cooking meals and working in a job. It is normal
for people with the disease to experience problems with complex
tasks first which later on move to the more simple everyday jobs
as the disease progresses.
Treatment is vital for people with Alzheimer’s disease. Treating
a patient requires the conglomeration of the expertise of a
family doctor and various medical specialists like psychiatrists
or neurologists, psychologists, therapists, nurses, social
workers, and counselors. Because the disease affects not only
the patient but the whole family as well.
It is very important that family members work closely with the
doctors in administering the treatment. The family should be
informed of activities that are dangerous for people with
Alzheimer’s disease. Some of these activities include driving or
cooking.
Treating dementia related symptoms of Alzheimer’s vary. But such
treatments can only be effective if the dementia is caused by
factors like medications, alcohol, delirium,
tumors, depression, head injury and
infections. There are, however, some treatments that are being
used to "cure" the well being of a person afflicted with the
disease.
Activities like playing music, personal interactions, playing
videotapes of family members, walking and light exercise and pet
therapy have been found to be successful in helping people
develop friendship, mutual support and spiritual connectedness
with the people around them.
However, one should remember that such activities can be
beneficial to one but could be detrimental to another patient.
The best activity for a person with Alzheimer’s varies. Former
hobbies or points of interest of a person could also be used to
help people with the disease and their families to cope.
One could assist the person to engage in activities like
supervised gardening, singing, cooking, painting and drawing as
long as routine is established. It is very important to engage
in these activities on a regular basis for this could help the
person establish a sense of stability.
Some therapies combine various activities and have proved to be
fairly successful and garnered some favorable results. Such
programs combine music, exercise, crafts and relaxation which
obtained the best results.
Some even add various structured sessions like meditations,
sensory awareness and guided imagery in their attempts to calm
and pacify the already unstable behaviors of patients with
Alzheimer’s.
Aside from daily
physical
exercise and social activities, some of the
things that you also need to consider in treating a patient are
proper
nutrition
and
health maintenance; daily activities that will
give the feelings of accomplishment for the individual; keeping
the patient out of harm’s way; and knowing the physical and
emotional limitations of the patient, the care giver team and
the family.
Article
Source: http://www.articlerich.com
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