If You Provide Care For People With Memory Loss Remember They Spell Love T-I-M-E

Posted on

Apr 23, 2020

The business of providing full time care for people with dementia, strokes, brain injuries, and the like, is all about how well the providers involve and empower their staff. The provider needs to invest in proper training for the caregiver team and allow enough time with residents to allow the resident to trust the caregivers and feel safe in their environment. Seeing familiar faces and seeing them regularly is critical for the resident with cognition challenges.
If this trust is not established and the fear takes hold of the resident, the resident can act out and develop difficult behaviors, or they can feel that they are abandoned by their family and a burden to people and will shut down and pass away. Remember these people spell Love T-I-M-E. The caregivers need the time to work with the resident and show that this person is valued and not a burden. Adjustments for the circumstances that occur each day when they are caring for this resident are common. The staff gets to know the resident extremely well and can
Make sure that when you search for a facility to care for your loved one, that you select one where the staff is handling an appropriate number of people on their shift, 4-6 during the day and 7-8 during the overnight(awake staff ), and that the staff has been and will be in place for a long period of time. Seeing unfamiliar faces constantly is extremely challenging and difficult for this type of resident.
In addition, residents are getting more and more challenging medically and physically as they come to these facilities and age in place. If they don't get the care they need, they have a very difficult journey.
Consider a smaller setting with good staffing for your loved one with memory loss, it often leads to a better journey for your loved one because there is no substitute for TIME spent by familiar caregivers with your loved one.

Editor's Note: This article was submitted by Russ Udelhofen, Administrator of Jaxpointe Assisted Living Memory Care Homes. He may be reached at 303-420-5590 or email at info@jaxpointe.com

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