Adult children of parents with Alzheimer’s disease endure a great deal of emotional pain before the parent passes away. Memory loss worsens over time, and the parent may eventually not even remember their offspring. Then there are the bewildering times when the Alzheimer’s patient seems to recover to a certain extent and becomes quite lucid, remembering family members and friends without any trouble. This person’s loved ones deal with the roller coaster of feeling hope that there has been an improvement while finding out the next day that this improvement was short-lived. An assisted living community that offers Alzheimer’s Nursing Care in Lady Lake FL understands how to help patients on both good days and bad days, and how to provide emotional support for the family as well.
Assisted living staff members who provide Alzheimer’s Nursing Care in Lady Lake FL understand that the patient’s mental condition can change abruptly for better or worse, and then make another sudden and unexpected change. They understand how to respond to these situations effectively. These episodes tend to be more common in earlier stages of Alzheimer’s, although a patient who hasn’t remembered a son or daughter in months may one day surprise everyone by calling that person by name and offering a hug. Medical researchers still aren’t sure why this occurs.
The staff members are ready to respond positively when the resident has these more lucid days but knows not to try to compel those lucid moments when the resident is not doing well mentally. Nurses and other care workers are skilled at subtly helping the person with cues, such as mentioning that it’s nice the person’s daughter could visit today. Many people with Alzheimer’s become proficient at pretending they know their visitors when they don’t, and this makes life less frustrating for them. It can be heartbreaking for the son or daughter who realizes there is no recognition, but they can still have a rewarding visit and a conversation that the patient appreciates.
