Area Agency on Aging of Central Texas

Alzheimer’s Caregiving Workshop in the News

Caregiving Tips for Alzheimer’s and Dementia

Thanks again to Delia Jervier from the Capital of Texas Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association for visiting AAACT at Central Texas Council of Governments this past week. Jervier shared great insight on caregiving for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. One point she discussed was that as loved ones digress, there is a tendency to revert to their native language, making communication with facility staff difficult. One example she gave was a Korean woman in Austin who had reverted to her native language and diet, making it impossible to find a care center for her.

Jervier also mentioned that although training is necessary for caregiving, it requires more hours of training to learn how to groom pets that it does to learn how to work with dementia patients.

“People who care for people with dementia don’t get an adequate amount of training for the type care needed by individuals with Alzheimer’s,” Jervier said.

Jervier also stressed that early diagnosis will help the individual with the disease to become more involved in the decision-making process. The 10 early signs of Alzheimer’s she shared include:

1. Difficulty remembering things that just happened
2. Inability to plan or solve problems
3. Losing track of dates, seasons, and time
4. Misplacing things
5. Mood and personality changes
6. Poor decision-making
7. Struggling with conversations
8. Trouble completing familiar tasks
9. Vision problems
10. Withdrawal from social or work activities

Thank you to Temple Daily Telegram for covering this workshop. To read the complete article, visit tdtnews.com.